Dan, Bonnie and I rode over to the next town to see about hooking up to the internet but for some reason the internet connection wasn’t working there. The guy said we could hang out for an hour or so to see if it would come up but we decided to back track and head for the port town where we came onto the island. I topped off my gas tank at the little service station that is there even though I could probably go another hundred miles before needing fuel. I suppose that is stupid as I have to carry that extra fuel weight but I feel better when I know I have lots of fuel in case I need it. We found a really nice little internet shop and the line was a little slow so I only added a couple of photos to each of the road logs that I posted. We actually looked at hotel rooms in both towns but found them a little seedy and the prices of them were ten bucks for me being solo. Here at six bucks is a lot better deal and I don’t have to be in town. It is so nice being out here in the country even if I am at a sort of resort place. My room neighbors just came in and they had been out in one of the kayaks and said that they went over to the inlet near by and were able to see the howler monkeys. The got pretty close but they started howling and one big one that they didn’t see sounded like he was pissed off, so they left.
After we got back I went in and took a nice nap. I had to have the fan on since it was still fairly warm even though it had rained a little when we were in town. The temperature just stays about the same all the time. It did cool off somewhat last night and it was really pleasant this morning. It is always nice when riding and today since I was only going to be riding with Dan and Bonnie on the island I didn’t wear my riding jacket, which made it really nice. We saw some tobacco fields in full leaf and some that had been picked. I noticed a big barn covered with plastic sheets that I could see some of the tobacco leaves hanging in to cure. We have seen several big trucks that have been hauling bananas. Some of the bananas are really big ones and I guess they must be the plantain ones. For lunch today I had fried chicken pieces with rice and several of the fried bananas or plantain, not sure which, but they were very good.
12-7-05
I got up early as usual and went out to look over the kayak situation. I found the kayaks on a rack but the paddles were no where to be seen. I waited until the staff finally got rolling for breakfast and had a bite to eat. I then asked if I could take out a kayak and they helped me locate a paddle and then outfitted me with a kayak that I had to kneel in. dang, my knees don’t bend that much anymore so they got me a nice little one that I could sit in. It was calm and quiet and I snuck along the shore and was able to get really close to some nice birds. I was never able to get into the lagoon and see the monkeys. I think I was in the monkey area but they evidently sleep in late or at least they don’t seem to start their noise making until late afternoon.
Don and Bonnie +bike X
We left around nine in the morning and made it to the port town and went down and bought our tickets for the dock fee. There are three fees to pay to get the bike and yourself across from the island to the mainland. The bike, yourself, and the dock I think that is the way it went. I think it only cost about seven or eight bucks for the trip each way.
We went up town and had some lunch and a quick check of the internet. Yippee, my new debit card is on its way to Costa Rica.
When we got back to the ferry there was a truck loaded with green banana that was loading. Geez, that was a heavy load for the boat and it really put a huge bend in the loading ramp as it loaded up. We stuck our bikes along the side and the crew roped them to the side rails. The huge truck they roped as well with huge ropes. I think I have a photo if so here it is.
Banana truck X
It was very calm to start out but as we got into open water, it started getting very rough. There were white caps and a pretty good roll to the boat. It was good that they tried to stabilize that truck other wise I would have had a squashed motorcycle. The boat had too much of a load to be really safe I thought if it really got rough out there. As it was the boat was really too heavy in the back and every once in a while water would pour in the back loading ramp. They didn’t completely raise that ramp and if they would have, it might have kept the water out. It wasn’t really a problem even though the water was somewhat rough.
We met a guy at the hotel that worked for the Peace Corps and he had made it to the island by hitching a ride on a banana boat. The cool thing is that it was a sail powered boat. He said that they didn’t charge him anything and people don’t charge for a lot of stuff like camping on their farm. I suppose if you asked how much to camp they might try to figure out what to charge but he says that most things are offered for free. He was staying with a family while he was on this short vacation and the family wouldn’t allow him to buy anything.
12-8-05
We were having breakfast when this horse cart pulled up and the gal went out and bought milk for the restaurant. Evidently he had 12 cows or so not too far out of town and comes in daily to deliver milk. That has to be about the freshest milk around anywhere. What makes it so unique is the BMW of today’s technology right next to something that is so old but still right for today.
Milk cart-BMW X
It was a nice day for a ride other than the wind was blowing hard in spots. It was only a little over an hour to the border and we made it through it without too much of a problem. We did have to wait quiet a while in one line but the border guards were nice and they even had signs up saying that they work for free.
We met a guy from San Francisco who was riding a Honda shadow or something like that. It looks like a full size Harley and he had it packed down pretty good. He had the same problem going through the Honduras border and felt like a plucked chicken. Yah, that is what it feels like.
On a better note a flower for the flower lovers out there. X
On the other side of the border the road was in great shape and we thought that all the horror stories about the Costa Rica roads was all bull shit until we went a little further. Damn, the roads are just as bad as Baja in Mexico. Trucks and cars crossing over the imaginary centerline to find a passable route through the big potholes was sometimes exciting as they didn’t give the bikes much room. We had to watch the road like hawks and still hit a few. The dang shadows across the road form the trees make it almost impossible to see them. We slowed way down and maybe averaged 40 kilometers an hour or around 35 mph. I said it was bad and the truck drivers had a really rough time of it. Bonnie talked with a young gal at the border and told her that they were hoping for a new government who would fix the roads.
I will have to say that so far things look cleaner than the country before and we hear that everything is more expensive here. We were also told that they used US dollars and not so much the local currency but that is not the way we have found it so far. I didn’t have a whole lot of money when we crossed the border but more than Dan and Bonnie so I paid for most of the fees which weren’t that bad and we finally made it to a larger town where we hit the bank and got Colones. We were told the rough exchange is about 500 to one so we both got 100,000 Colones; which makes you feel like a millionaire with all that big number cash in your pocket. The coins are really neat big brass ones. The biggest is worth 500 so it is about a buck.
We made it into Canes and looked around some before we found rooms in a small hotel. My room cost me about $12 and I think Dan paid about $18 or so. This room has a big ceiling fan that really honks so it should be fine tonight. It is off the main roads too so should be quieter than some. It is much nicer to have a room off the main drag as these rooms down here have little soundproofing other than if they are made of concrete, but usually they have screened vents that really let in the noise. This morning at about 4 o’clock they started blowing up big firecrackers and then a band started playing. All this before sunrise, actually first light. I met an architect down town after breakfast and he said it was the virgin Mary day and that is what all the festivities was about. There were quite a few young girls dressed in white and very fancy headed to the church with candles. They take this religion stuff very seriously down here. Oh, on that same subject I hear that those candles I lit for my friend Roger may have done some good. He is back at work at least. I hope you are all healed up and haired over Roger!
12-9-05
Another nice day for riding although it was a little windy at times. The road started out bad but then got better as we went along. I had to watch like a hawk again all the way since there were bike killer pot holes all along the way. We got into some traffic snarles too where they were trying to fix short sections of the road. We took advantage of all the lineups to sneak to the front of the line. That is such a great feeling to work your way to the front of the line passing all those slow trucks in one slick swoop.
We made it into San Jose just after noon and I found us a lot to park our bikes in right down town. We found a place to eat and then we split up as I wanted to go to the gold museum that is under the park square and Dan and Bonnie went to look for a hotel room. At three oclock we met at a hotel restaurant that I had told Fabiola that I would meet her at. When she didn’t show up I finally realized that she must have gotten my email today and figured I would be in tomorrow. Gee, what do I do now. I finally went to check my email and sure enough I got an email from here saying ok and dated today so she figures I will be in tomorrow. I met back up with Don and went with him to his hotel and rented a room for the night. I will meet with Fabiola tomorrow and get my new replacement debit card.
We found a place to park the bikes overnight and went out looking for a place to eat supper. There is a huge party going on and everyone is throwing confetti. I am covered with the stuff as everyone seems to want to hit the big gringo santa clause. Everyone is having so much fun and the sellers of the confetti are doing a great business. People are even scooping it up off the sidewalk there is so much of it. Dan talked with someone and they told him this goes on for six days with music and party time. These folks really know how to get in the spirit of Christmas.
I need to get down there and find an internet shop and get this off and get back to the party.
I had sent Fabiola (my daughters husbands sister) an email the night before telling her that I would be there manana which means tomorrow.