The rest of the story,or, Chapter two

When you are gone for a few months "shit happens". There were a few issues not on the menu when I left. A little plumbing, lots of dead battery's, empty fuel tanks for house heat, and a lot of catching up with people who were concerned about my well being. There was no problem occupying my time with social catch up, general maintenance and repairs around the house and garage.

The KLR was left in the hands of a bonded shipping agent in Costa Rica at the end of March, the deposit with a bonded shipping agent made the motorcycle exempt from the import duties and registration charges for Costa Rica. I flew home on the first of April and waited to see if I would ever be contacted by a shipper. 

The shippers have lead me to believe that the KLR is in transit and will be arriving in Tampa Florida soon. I think  "soon" in Tico might translate a little different than in Engles. So I wait for word from the receiving agent informing me of it's arrival and will buy a one way ticket to Tampa. There I hope to collect the moto and get some maintenance done in preparation for the ride back to the N/W. The KLR will need new brake pads, tires and an oil change, and I expect it might have starting issues because it has sat idle for 2 months with a gas tank at minimum. I plan to rely on local shops and AAA if I have to. Once in the "Way Back" I had to call AAA while on a tour in California while riding a Hyabusa, they are  helpful if you have the correct coverage.

I expect the trip back to the Low Foggy and Soggy will be a lot different than the first leg. The weather will be more hospitable and I don't expect to be accosted at gun point when I cross the border from Arkansas to Missouri, but like the man said "paddle faster I hear banjo's". Different roads different challenges. I plan on taking a little more time and relaxing the pace this leg.

Nicaragua revisited

While in Jaco I had a chance to go to Nicaragua on an excursion by rental car. The Expats that reside in Costa Rica on visitor visas have to leave every 90 days to have their Visas renewed. The most common trip is a jaunt to Panama for a four day weekend or up to Nicaragua for a getaway. Using the local bus system is an option for travel and a travel business has built up around the Visa renewal getaways. Another option is rental cars. We made arrangements with a national rental car company to provide a car for the trip from Jaco to the Nicaragua border. There we would cross the border on foot and pick up a rental car from the same company on the other side. My memories of border crossings left me a little skeptical about this arrangement going smoothly. My fears were for naught, the crossing was seamless and fast. The traveling party was made up of four adults and a three year old. I could not believe the change in attitudes of the officials when you have a blond blue eyed three year old in your arms. No hassles, escort to express line, respectful responses. So much for profiling.
Near Granada there is a 200,000 year old volcano that imploded and created a crater lake. On the shores of this lake (Laguna De Apoyo) the Nicos have built a few resort hotels, one of these San Simian, was our destination. Our arrival was a little late and the staff held over for a fifteen minutes to make sure we had a chance to get dinner. At about seven O'clock in the evening we found out that the bar closed at five.The angst over the prospect of not getting a beer was relieved when the manager made arrangements with the night watchman to open the cooler for us. Jorge was an attentive and an appreciated provider of iced buckets of cold beers.
The lake was warm fresh water the food was good the beer was cold the ambiance was delightful. Small cabinas on the slopes over looking the lake, sleeping under mosquito netting, was a very fun time. It cost 20 bucks to take a 1 1/2 hour horse drawn carriage ride in Granada, with historically significant sights pointed out by the driver.
I know it didn't fit the Motorcycle theme but this trip was a memorable pleasant part of the whole package.
The transit back across the border was even easier than the northbound leg.
Now its back to Jaco and address the issue of shipping the Moto  

Nicoya

"How highs the water Mama"
We have been sitting around enjoying the sights and attractions of Jaco for a few days and decided it was time for the next adventure. Last year we did a trip to the Nicoya peninsula by rental car and thought it would be a great application for a dual sport bike, so we were north bound.
The trip can be made on roads via bridge at Puente Amistad or by ferry from Puntarenas. There are two ferry's out of Puntarenas, one transits to Naranjo and one crosses to Paquera. There is one that goes to Montezuma but is passenger only and wont carry vehicles.An 8 O'clock start got us to Puntarenas in time to make any choices we wanted. We opted for the 10 O'clock to Naranjo,it would put us on a counter clockwise loop around the peninsula ending up at Paquera as our departure point.
The ferry ride over was to early for the services to be open, we usually found snacks water and beer sold on the ferry this time we wanted for water.When we got off it was a short distance to many choices for food and drinks. The road to the city of Nicoya has a stretch of gravel that can get dusty if it has a lot of traffic we stopped for a burger just before the gravel and watered up.
We had been up north to Tamarindo in the rental car and decided that this trip was going to be more outback oriented so headed west at Nicoya for Samara, good paved roads with incredible vistas and restaurant stops along the way.
At Samara we got lodging at a hotel and did a walk about after a dip in the pool. We arrived about 4 O'clock and had plenty of time to catch the sunset. We have been here long enough that the declination of the sun has changed so much that we cant get a sunset over the water unless we go up north. A very cool geography lesson.
When we checked out the desk clerk tried a bait and switch with the bill. All transactions are aimed at a scam! He offered a cash discount of 35 dollars if we paid in cash, which he would have pocketed, or the more expensive if we paid by credit card. After a heated conversation he decided that he could extend the cheaper price on the credit card, which was what we negotiated the evening before with the staff at the desk.
I cant imagine what a hassle it must be for business owners to collect there fees with employees that pocket anything they can steal.A few conversations with employers indicate that a common practice is to fire everyone on a regular basis, then renegotiate the rehire, or weed out the ones that can be expected to steal the least.
This day was to be a trip over gravel roads with notorious wet river crossings. The maps that are available get out dated quickly because the rainy season changes the roads and the crossings, Local knowledge is valuable and asking before committing to the wet is a good idea. Its also smart to walk a river before you wet your wheels. The tracks you see going into a river and coming out might be before the change in the river bottom topography.
We had an incident at our first crossing that covered all that advice. While we were reversing our course to backtrack and investigate any alternatives a 4 wheel drive with locals in it came up and talked to us. While we were discussing some options an old man came up and said we could cross his land for a couple of dollars(1000 colonies) the bike could go for free. We let him know that if this didn't pan out we knew where he lived and would be back. He got his bribe opened the gate and we were on our way, a kilometer down the trail we came to the river crossing. We let the 4 wheeler get wet first, it was a triple wet threat with two islands, the last splash being about a hundred feet across. On the last crossing we had water above the foot pegs and the bottom got soft,two up on skinny tires and knee deep in water was a challenge for the bike and me. On the exit side the goat trail went steep and the 4 wheeler was having trouble with traction, spinning wheels bucking and spitting rocks. I thought I had given him enough lead time but found myself in the position of loosing momentum with no way of passing him in this narrow chute. If I had to stop we would have to retrace our way to the river and start again, that was when the torque of the KLR really payed off, it pulled from a grunt like a mule leaning into a plow. I was inches from his bumper as he clawed up that chute and passed him as the pinch point widened. In my youth I had occasion to be involved in a couple of ISDT qualifiers, this was that kind of terrain.We later found out that this was last years route and all the smart ones don't go through the old mans property.
At the next crossing we opted to go upstream and search for a shallow forde, which worked well for us. We had about 10 crossings that day most were uneventful. One that looked easy pitched us into a ditch that would have put my dick in the dirt if T had not launched her weight to the high side. It would have been a 2 MPH dump and she was looking to get on top of the bike if it went to dirt,her move gave me back the advantage on the center of gravity and we could back out of the ditch and  proceed.
This was a great motorcycle experience, enduro type terrain, single track, 4 wheeler roads, river crossings, steep and deep, not passable in the rainy season. We did it two up, at the end of the day T said it was the only ride she had ever been on that she was relieved when it was over. It was performing without a safety net. Like I said before I would rather be lucky than good.
At Mal Pais (translate bad land) we found lodging and kicked back. Sunset was beautiful and beers were cold. Mal Pais is one of the great surfer destinations in the world. I don't surf but this town and break really makes you want to learn.
The rest of the trip was to the ferry at Paquera and back to Puntarenas. This time the ferry ride was more party atmosphere. the snack stand was open and we had a good time and conversations with other travelers.
Home again home again jiggidy jig, back to base and plan the next step.

February 16 to February 21

Two Up and Travelin Down
Started South on the 16th at about 0800 Hrs, going to Panama to see what its like, bet its tropical and hot. It took about 3 Hrs to go the 250 klicks to Paso Canoas that's the boarder crossing on Hwy CA2. The road south was unpaved until last year for allot of its length, the improvement cut many hours off the trip.
We spent about 45 minutes getting passport stamps for exiting Costa Rica, for persons and for Motorcycle. We then moved to Panama side and there was a bus full of German tourists that created a line that lasted a little over an hour. Now we had to get the Moto migrated to Panama. This was done easiest with a guide, also known as border leach. He cost twenty bucks and was one of the few I met that was worth his pay, I thought the red tape was over done. We had five stations to go through, all in different offices. If that wasn't confusing enough some of the Oficio's would ask insignificant questions to make it more difficult. An example is where will you be leaving Panama? The question is not necessary and has no official value, you have to clear customs no matter where you exit, its purpose is to confuse and make the border leach look more necessary. All in all it was relatively painless process that took about 3 hours.
We decided to get to David and find a crash pad. David is a larger size town with lots of services. We went to the town square and found a hotel that had a restaurant and covered parking, it cost about 25 bucks a night.The town square was a few blocks away and we had a nice walk and a few drinks at a sidewalk cafe over looking it. The restaurant served us a nice dinner at about 8 dollars total for the two of us.Good lodging good food and 75 cent beers, pretty nice.

February 17
Today was going to be spent touring the country side looking for a Pacific beach. There are no real easy access beaches in this section, we ended up going back to Paso Canoas and west to the pacific where we found some nice beaches but no services so we opted for the mountains. This is a picture of a bird that got angry with my mirror, notice Terry's helmet hanging under the handlebars to catch the bird shit, she is always protecting the bike. It was a little late when we made the decision to head for high ground and we got into Volcan close to dark. The first hotel was full and the second had a room but it was expensive. Volcan is very touristy and its prices reflected that. The ambiance was really nice and the place gets rave reviews, it wasn't quite my cup of tea. Beautiful tropical woods and manicured gardens with a stream running through the grounds, very pretty but a little pricey.

February 18
Volcan to Paso Canoas by the back road was some of the best vistas  have ever seen. This leg was going to complete a figure eight and put us right back where we crossed the border. I've ridden a lot of roads all over the world and this section of 70 miles was as challenging as any I have ever done, steep canyon walls with switch backs that scrubbed the chicken strips off the tires. To be a challenge doesn't mean smooth pavement with no pot holes, it does mean steep descents with repeated max braking and having a 130 pound back pack (passenger) on. I really enjoyed this section, it was a test of the machine and me. The machine was superlative, the human factor survived.
With the fun stuff under our belt we were still ready for some beach time and knew that we had to get farther south than we had been so on to the slab and put some rubber down.
Seventy some miles south was las Lajas near the little town of San Felix this was our stop for the night. The beach hotel was full but 10 miles inland the little town had two more hotels and three bars, three restaurants A restaurant hotel owned by a German family got our vote and we settled in at the Paradise Inn.

February 19

We had been communicating with a gentleman about lodging on the computer by E-mail, he was farther south and we set off to investigate his invite.He said he was in Penonome and we should contact him when we were near. Fifty miles past Penonome he was still 30 miles out and we gave up with a bad taste for Panamanian directions. When we got to the point we could see the high rise sprawl of Panama City we reversed our course and headed back. Our lodging that night was in Penonome.

February 20
The 20th was an early start, we had discussed the idea that retracing was going to be a grind and could entail a lot of tail in the saddle time. We were ready at day light but a rain shower delayed our start 30 minutes while we rounded up some coffee and sticky buns.
When we started out I kept looking over my left shoulder at the sun and thinking we can't be heading south, this part of the isthmus is east west and where we were the road was dipping south for quite a while, North bound, right.
Almost back to David and we really did turn North , across to the Caribbean side. Chiriqui was the destination and the gateway to Bocas Del Toro. Chiriqui is in the pic and is a sleepy little place with pangas
The stop at Almirante was to investigate the ferry system to Bocas Del Toro, a very popular island resort area. Our arrival hour dictated we could get over by passenger ferry that night but would have to leave the bike or go in the morning with the motorcycle, we chose to catch the island another day.
Changuinola was the town with lodging that was closest to the frontier at Guabito so we got a room there and prepared for the border.
The days ride across the divide rivaled any passes I have done. At the top the natives would stop their cars and get out to experience the high winds. Great vistas of mountains, valleys, man made lakes,and dams. It was a supper day for moto.

February 21

Awake at 7 o-clock and on the road we wanted to get to the border early, then found it didn't open till eight and we had a twenty minute wait. The crossing was quaint ,attached is a picture of the bridge over the river that is the border.   It was a slow ride across and T had to walk the boards were wet with rain and slick as slug snot. The pass ports and vehicle immigration went smooth, we were on our way by 9 O-clock. There is not a lot of traffic between the border and Lemon and not a lot of reason to put a ton of money into maintenance, the road showed that.
At Lemon the traffic changed Lemon is a major shipping port and almost all containers from America go through Miami to Lemon, the next 50 miles was congested truck traffic at about 30 MPH max. The moto was a lot faster as we could pass safely in a shorter distance.
The mountain pass from the Caribbean side to the Pacific side was spectacular, there was a several hundred meter long tunnel at the top, on a moto it challenges your eyes to accommodate the change in light when you enter the tunnel.
The decent into San Jose was easy and good roads, the entry into San Jose is just a drop in the middle of the city with no direction signs. Again we relied on intuition and braille to find our way to a neighborhood where we new our way to the new divided highway and a short hour and a half to our digs. Well surprise surprise the divided highway was closed and we had to divert to the old road which is twisty and steep and because all the traffic was diverted the road was loaded with buses and 18 wheelers doing 10 to 15 MPH. Not a problem just a little longer to a shower and a nap.
We had started out with two nights of clothes and luggage, we had so much fun it lasted 6 days and 5 nights, it will feel good to relax a couple of days.

Arenal and La Fortuna

Gee mom from up here you can almost see the house.
Mid morning we loaded the tank bag and headed for Puentarenas, stopped at La Nacion newspaper and put an ad in the classifieds and then headed North. In about an hour the CA1 gives you an option of turning East or West. A left takes you to the Nochia peninsula and a right takes you to Arenal and the highlands to view the volcano.
The peninsula is more enjoyable if you have a few days and we thought the cooler temperatures of the mountains would be pleasant so we took a right. Previously we had travelled upland and were greeted by rain and wet conditions. On that rip we learned that it is very rare to see the volcano because its referred to as a rain forest it is low visibility most of the time, best season is Sept Oct for clear Sky's. We expected to get wet this time.
Our initial climb we were buffeted by some strong winds, at first these were unnerving for Terry, with elevation gain the winds diminished and the ride turned pleasant with clear sky's and great visibility, what a treat.
The entire ride up to Tameril and on to Arenal was striking vistas and 70 degree temps. We could soon see the volcano and it stayed in sight for the rest of the day. The volcano is about 1600 meters and has a slow eruption continuing, with molten lava cascading down its slopes regularly.It's not like the Mona Loa river like flows, more in the manner of red glowing A A rock tumbling down the mountain side.
A stop at the Macadamia restaurant for a snack gave us a terrific vista of Lake Arenal, and a leg stretch rest stop. When we continued we crossed paths with Capuchin Monkeys, Terry took pictures pictures as we rolled by on the Moto, neither of us thought we wanted one of these little guys crawling up our legs while we rode by.
On our first trip we went around counter clockwise, this trip we went clockwise and had the vistas to our right with no traffic to obstruct them, there was no traffic problem its just nicer egress and access to our lane.
En route to La Fortuna are several hot springs that we explored and enjoyed last year, this year was about the motorcycle ride.
When we arrived at La Fortuna it was about an hour before sunset,with 180 miles on the clock, lodging was our biggest priority and we easily found a 25 dollar room, ground floor that had a courtyard and locking post for the bike right in front of the room. At this price you get no AC but the bathroom was clean and shower worked great. The vents had no screens and were open to the air, all noises travelled through the courtyard, we had no trouble with bugs and experienced very little noise disturbance.
The roast chicken dinner across the street often comes up in conversations with gringos as one of their favorites. The locals often priced items lower if the payment was in cash and in dollars. I found the tour guide business occupied by people a little to anxious to take advantage of tourists, a reputable established business could be a lot cheaper than a street vendor, be careful of exchange rates and different prices for cash, charge card, or US dollars. Like I said before "Its hard to recognise when you make the transition from tourist to prey".
The next morning we were going to travel back to Jaco, fuel was not going to be a problem and I like the lower center of gravity that a half full tank affords. We had a great time going to San Ramon and got lost repeatedly, had to ask directions several times. About 5 miles from San Ramon I switched to reserve, lots of fuel to spare.
From San Ramon we went towards San Jose for 5 K and took the exit for Palmares. A little serendipitous it opened up a back route to Atenas and connected to Orotina, which is the back yard to our digs. This was about the ride and it was super, adventurous, lovely vistas, good food and drink, cheap comfortable lodging.

Logistics

The best laid plans of mice and men , in one blink of an eye, transcend to rat shit.
This is an E-mail I sent to a bud who is planning a trip South, I am not sure my experiences are indicative of what another traveler would encounter
I did not keep accurate records of my expenses, I have to guess. My recollection is that from Mexico south I spent an average of 20 dollars a night for lodging, and three hundred miles a day average would have consumed six gallons of gas, the price was so variable I would budget 30 dollars a day. Food and beer are another wild ass variable, my eccentricity's required 1 meal a day. Beer was a huge variable depending on my appetite, so I would say 20 dollars a day for my sustenance. Not enough,to eccentric. I spent about 40 dollars on repair crap and 150 dollars on bribes.
I transited all countries south of U.S. in about 10 days, ridiculously short time. I think I was under 100 dollars a day. I used credit card, bank card for cash withdrawals, and started with about 200 dollars in my pocket all of these methods served me well. I carried back up credit card, the foreign phone numbers for lost cards in several locations and 2 calling cards for contacting people stateside. I had an old laptop PC that came with me and carried a Ipod that had E-mail capability. The laptop crashed and I did not use the Ipod to its full advantage, my fault I just didn't get around to it. The lap top would be left out next time, Ipod in.
I would bring a little more cash the next time, but not to much, each person has their comfort level. I did leave medical power of attorney with contacts in the states and lists of credit card numbers with trusted friends.
I talked to several people that are making and have made the trip with sleeping bags and camp gear. My level of comfort is a credit card and tooth brush.
Your question really started me thinking, thanks again for stirring up the thought process. Maybe this page should go on the blog. The logistics of an endeavor like this are so variable you can't pin them down.
I am communicating with shippers now to see if I can ship the bike stateside. The main reason is because the Guatemalans limit the time I have to re transit their country. Locating a shipper has been a hassle but mainly because I asked the wrong people at first, presently I have a couple of contacts that are trying to be helpful, I am optimistic that I will have info that will allow me to make a definitive conclusion in a timely manner.
That's about it good travels to ya

January 24 Lazy Days

"Enjoy them while you can"
The trip down was 5000miles on the moto, it was well over due for an oil change. It takes a bit of research to set up the logistics of such a task when your language challenged and are not knowledgeable in the local facility's. I soon found that the three quarts (2.5 liter) of oil could easily cost 12 dollars a quart.
I went to the store and bought some rudimentary cleaning supplies for the washing of the bike. Then I found ,after my purchase, that it cost less to have someone wash it for me at the lavacar than I paid for the supplies. The wash station was next to the lube wrack and they assured me that the oil change could be done for 40 dollars. I had brought a filter with me. The lifetime filter I planned to put on the bike had not been delivered when I left, bringing one was the second best plan.
I wanted a second opinion about the cost of the oil change and I didn't except at first look the ASME rating of the oil they offered at the lube wrack. I like to hands on my own maintenance and had not recovered fully from my experience with Jobe. The local shop that rents four wheel off road tours has an English speaking owner and is very friendly guy that offered 3 quarts of JASO rated oil and he would do the work dispose of the oil and I could assist for 20 dollars total. I was very happy with this arrangement and will go back to his place if I need other stuff.
On another occasion he supplied me with a 5 mm hex drive cap screw, fine thread, the cost was two cokes for the kids who work the shop. The screw had vibrated out, stuff vibrates out of KLR's, I came equipped with locktight for such events. My thoughts now are that I should go back and pay him premium price for a good set of gloves to keep this relationship going. He has become a respected asset.
Fruit smoothies for breakfast on the veranda until the sun hits our seats then down by the pool to catch some shade. you gotta savor these kind of days.