On the road . June 2009 . Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia
Artenet Internet, Quepos,
Costa Rica, 04-06-09
Nicoya to Quepos (3 cycle days; 1 ferry
trip; 221km; 1237m)
Nicoya to Playa Naranjo (75km; 388m)
Playa Naranjo to Jacó (78km; 682m)
Jacó to Quepos (68km; 167m)
Turner green
Even though we sleep through the alarm and are plagued
by flats tyres before we even get started, it doesn't
deter from another fantastic day of riding in Costa
Rica. Take a quiet winding French country lane and pop
it into the richest of tropical surroundings and that
is what cycling on the Nicoya Peninsula is like. Friendly
inhabitants and diverse landscapes filled with mangoes,
bananas, corn, rice, all arrays of palms, mangroves,
murky rivers; one lane bridges, parks; quaint villages;
and not to forget plenty of cows. It is almost unbelievable
to think that this area was dry as a bone just three
weeks back. I just have a wonderful time admiring each
and every view and its potential of becoming a Turner
landscape.
Local friendliness
Hardly anyone is using the road leading to Playa Naranja.
The trip is a little more rolling...
Tip of the month: teatowel pan caddy
We have mentioned this
tip before, but with the rise in popularity
of cooking-caddies, we would like to re-iterate
one of the many uses of the common 100%
cotton teatowel. Tea towels can act as an
insulator too and we use ours as a cooking
caddy. Pasta only needs to be cooked for
a third of the cooking time and then wrapped
up and left to continue soaking until the
sauce is prepared. Rice takes a little longer
but performs exactly the same.
When camping and staying
in colder environments, we also place our
enamel plates on the top and bottom for
extra insulation. Added benefit here being,
it also warms the plates up before serving
the meal. So, not only can you use the teatowel
for drying your dishes or a picnic cloth
for preparing the sandwiches roadside, but
it can save on your fuel consumption as
well.
Nicoya (Costa Rica) - Cartagena (Colombia)
Kilometres: 955 kilometres and 180 metres
Riding days: 13 only
Alti meters: 6796 metres
Weather: morning sun, afternoon RAIN and thunder
Best accommodation: Paradise Inn in Las Lajas, Panama. Luxurious bungalow with huge bed, hot shower, swimming pool and wifi. And very hospitable owners...
Special thanks to:
Fabian Arcila for taking us across the Darien
Gulf from Panama to Colombia on his Sailing Koala • Linn, Stan, Florence and Morgan for a great time!
Breakdowns:
02: flat (Ali)
03: flat (Son)
13: flat (Ali)
14: flat 2x (Son), 1x (Ali)
15: flat (Ali), flat (Son)
17: flat (Ali)
28: flat (Son)
30: new tyres Ali, new front derailler and headset
Son
