HALFWAY THROUGH HONDURAS

Since my last report from Nicaragua, Leana and I had a big climb up to the border of Honduras. These 2 countries are part of a 4-country open border agreement, but it is no surprise that you still have to pay a number of dollars for exit and entry into each of these countries. We descended down from the border to the town of Danli, where we were pleased to discover that costs are not much different to those in our previous country (Nicaragua). Honduras is a mountainous country, so we again climbed and eventually descended into the bowl, the capital, Tegucigalpa (try saying that after a few beers!). In the capital I also cleaned up my image by shaving my face for the first time in 9 months (the landlady of the dump where we were staying didn't recognise me the following morning, and wanted to throw me out!). From there we picked an unusual route through the mountains Northwards towards the Carribean coast. The road took us past some rather interesting places. Firstly we made a deviation to the touristy colonial mountain village of Valle De Angeles. Further on we got to big dusty local towns such as Juticalpa. Later, after the end of the paved road, we went through isolated mountain villages like Santa Maria De Madeira, where the children ran away from us as we approached. The road started out as an asphalt paved road, then it turned into a reasoable gravel road, but unfortunately at times we were climbing and descending treacherous eroded tracks (other vehicles who had to do this gauntlet were no faster than what we were at the rough spots). Eventually, as we got closer to the Carribean coast at Bonito Oriental, the pavement returned. We also had some unfortunate clay to contend with, the worst since Borneo (the clay jams the bike to a halt, so you push and clear the blockage by hand every few metres). We stayed over at Saba town (a place where there is an armed guard at every isle in the supermarket). At the coastal town of La Ceiba be took a break, and then took the ferry (fancy big cat "Galaxy Wave") to the biggest of the Bay Islands, Roatan. This island was a haven for pirates over hundreds of years - for some time there were more than 5000 pirates on this island. Now we are staying in a nice room at West End village. I have enjoyed snorkeling in Half Moon Bay about 200m from the room, as well as in neighbouring West Bay (both fantasic, like a huge aquarium, with coral reefs, crystal clear water, and many colourful fish - and even some quite big fish). From here we will obviously return to the mainland, and then carry on towards the ruins of Copan. Distances cycled since my last report have been:- Danli (Honduras) 57 km; Zamorano 66 km; Tegucigalpa 37 km; Valle De Angeles 31 km; Guaimaca 73 km; Juticalpa 86 km; La Paz De San Francisco 44 km; San Esteban 64 km; Benito Oriental 72 km; Saba 85 km; La Ceiba 83 km; and (Roatan Island) West End 27 km (plus 1 and a half hour ferry). The total distance cycled so far in Honduras is 701 km, and the total distance cycled on this trip is 96 187 km. Thanks again to Leana and my sister Olga for financial support.

NICARAGUAN SMOKE

Since entering Nicaragua Leana and I have seen some smoke – mostly volcano smoke, as there are many of these cones along the Pacific Rim. We cycled mostly along the Western side of the country, without bothering to go down to any of the Pacific beaches (we’d seen plenty of those in Costa Rica). Initally we took a ferry across Lago Nicaragua to the twin-vulcano island of Ometepi. On the island we stayed in interesting Moyogalpa village (twice), as well as at a wonderful bungalow on the lake beach where we bathed in the luke-warm water. As I’ve mentioned in my previous report, I had some of my equipment stolen in Costa Rica. Well, here’s a twist in the tale!! On the ferry back from the island to the mainland Leana and I were accused of robbery! Apparently there was an eye-witness who saw us stealing somebody’s money and passport, etc. (my guess is that the so-called eye-witness was the guilty party). Anayway, the cops confiscated our passports and held us in the sweltering port for some time before inexplicably letting us go. In Nicaragua we have primarily visited Historical Colonial cities such as Granada and Leon. We also stayed for a few days in the disjointed capital Managua, mainly looking for spares for Leana’s bike. I say that Managua is disjointed due to the devastating earthquake of 1972, which destroyed the city centre (now the place is a city of suburbs, with the eery deserted centre still marked by the cathedral with clock stopped at the time of disaster). We cycled roughly North along the Pacific, but after the city of Leon we moved (or rather climbed) inland via various active and extinct vulcano’s. Notably we stayed in Esteli, where Cuban immigrants have established a smoking cigar trade (I had to participate in this activity – and I have found the produce to be of excellent quality). Right now we are at the hill-town of Ocotal, about 25 km from the Hunduras border. So, tomorrow we head into another of these smallish Central American countries. In Nicaragua we have probably taken more rest days than cycling days. Anyway, distances since my last report on cycling days have been:- Liberia 79 km; La Cruz (Costa Rica) 62 km; San Jorge (Nicaragua) 64 km; Moyogalpa (Ometepe Isl.) 13 km; San Jose DS 16 km; Moyogalpa (X2) 41 km; Granada 78 km; Masaya 21 km; Managua 42 km; Leon 95 km; San Isidro 114 km; Esteli 36 km; Ocotal 81 km. Total in Nicaragua is about 600 km. Total distance since the start of this journey is 95 462 km.

PURA VIDA – COSTA RICA

Costa Rica is a small but very beautiful country. There is a lot of natural jungle, but in areas there are also large oil-palm plantations, which remind me of the South of Thailand (the Costa Rican flag even looks a lot like that of Thailand). After crossing the border from Panama, I was surprised by Costa Rica in more than one sense. Firstly, the place seemed to be even more “tropical” than Panama, with lots of protected jungle areas of indigenous forest, coconut palms on the coastline, and incredible beaches. The country is a popular surfing tourist destination, and there are also many other foreign tourists and ex-pats. English is commonly spoken (American accent) – and Tamarindo, the “Enless Summer” movie surf spot of years passed, has turned into a bit of a touristy monster referred to by locals as “Tama-GRINGO”. In Costa Rica Leana and I have been cycling along the Pacific coast, and we took the ferry from Puntarenas to the Nicoya Peninsula so that we could stay along the coast and visit all the beautiful beaches in the area. Yes, it is incredibly beautiful, with Congo monkeys high in the trees above our camp sites waking us at dawn. But, if you want to cycle in this area then be warned; The roads on the peninsula are often unpaved and in poor condition, road signs are either non-existent or just blatantly incorrect, and hills are so steep that we have had to help each other push the bikes uphill. It is also interesting as we have had to “wade” the bikes through deep-ish rivers, and in this rainy season we arrived here in Tamarindo coated in mud (and the bikes sounding like rock-crushing machines). We are taking a break here today, and tomorrow we will head inland towards the city of Liberia and then North in the direction of the border. By all accounts the cost of living in Nicaragua will be somewhat cheaper, as we have found Costa Rica to be very expensive. Oh yes, I have something which I need to get off my chest; Things were stolen off my bike the other night – some of those things have been with me all the way on this trip for more than 5 years (helmet, sleeping bag, and such like items). Luckily the bikes were locked (right outside the room door under a bright light). However, we have been warned in various places not to take valuables to public places such as the beach, as locals have been stealing from the tourists. Getting back to cycling, some of the daily cycling distances don´t look like much, but it has sometimes been a battle to make headway on poor roads and VERY steep hills! Since my last report from David in Panama distances have been:- Paso Canoas (Costa Rican border) 54 km; Palmar Norte 95 km; Playa Uvita 46 km; Dominical 23 km; Quepos 47 km; Jaco 70 km; Puntarenas 76 km; Tambor 29 km; Montezuma 21 km; Playa Coyote 40 km; Pueto Carillo 46 km; Ostional (“Robberville”) 51 km; and Tamarindo 67. So far we´ve cycled 631 km in Costa Rica, and the total distance I´ve cycled so far on this trip in 5 years and almost 3 months is 94 720 km.

DOWN TO THE DARIEN

It´s been some time since my last update from Panama City, but don´t be fooled because Leana and I haven´t moved very far since then. On our initial visit to the city, we got a few things done while staying in the “slummy” affordable Santa Ana district. But the Darien jungle province of Panama was still haunting us because of the stretch we had to bypass by boat, and the inaccessable Jungle with the indigenous Embera people was another part of the magnet. So, we left Panama City heading in the wrong direction. After a few days we were in the legendary Darien province, doing a lot of waiting while police at numerous check points struggled with our passports and ensured that we were not drug smugglers (smuggling cocaine TO Columbia?!!). As planned we cycled to the “end of the road” at the town of Yavisa, beyond which lies only jungle. The road was mostly paved, not too busy, and there were some interesting small towns along the way. We also met Singh, an Indian running a pizza place, who previously lived in South Africa for 5 years. After the road ended we had to find alternative means of travel once again, so we took a river boat to La Palma – the isolated capital of the Darien province. It is amazing that there is hardly any tidal variation on the Atlantic/Carribean side of this narrow country, but on the Pacific side the difference is huge. At low tide the stilted buildings of La Palma tower over the shoreline, and way up the Sambu River our ship leaned sideways on the mud when the tide was out. From La Palma we took an open speedboat for about 2 hours along the Gulf of San Miguel and then way upriver to the Embero village of Sambu. After a couple of days there we secured a bunk on the rust bucket boat “Dona Dora” all the way back to Panama City. In the city Leana bought a new tent, and I rejuvenated my old tent with the leftover poles and other parts from her discarded tent. She also had her old camera repaired, so now I gratefully have the use of that camera. However, my bank troubles are not yet sorted out as they can´t help me via e-mail (thanks again to my sister for the continuous finances, and thanks to Leana as well). It was time to do some cycling again, and we left Panama City for the second time in the right direction, crossing the Puente Inter-Americana over the Pacific entrance to the Panama canal. Moving West since then the road has been nice, although sometimes hilly (with one or 2 stretches of the road needing some attention). We met a number of other touring cyclists going the other way (including 2 English guys, and then a German couple – all of them about to finish their trip in Panama city). Now we´re in David, the second largest city in the country. The border of Costa Rica is not far from here, so hopefully the crossing is smooth. Daily distances cycled since my previous report were:- Chepo 73 km; Qbda. Cali 64 km; Torti 38 km; Meteti 76 km; Yavisa 56 km; Meteti 54 km; La Palma 21 km (plus boat); Sambu by boat; return to Panama City by boat (plus 7 km); Capira 56 km; Anton 79 km; Aguadulce 73 km; Santiago 58 km; Los Ruices 63 km; San Felix 61 km; and David 84 km. The total distance which I´ve now cycled on this trip in more than 5 years is 94 035 km.

BRIDGING THE GAP

The “GAP” which this title refers to is the Darien Gap, the section of jungle between Columbia and Panama where there is no road. So, from Turbo in Columbia where the road ended Leana and I took a speed boat to Capurgana, close to the Panama border (that´s where I happily ended my last report). Since then things have become a bit warped, but not without a certain amount of excitement! We took a small boat for the short while up the coast to Puerto Obaldia (the first town in Panama). The place is a miserable little military outpost, and the immigration office is well suited to the place. Our introduction to Panama was not good – we arrived on an open boat in the pouring rain, and we were sent back to Columbia on the next available boat because we apparently required a special visa only obtainable in our home country (an extensive internet search had revealed that we required no visa for Panama). On arrival back in Capurgana the Columbians could not accept us back in their country because we had been away for 2 days – so effectively we were nowhere. The last money we were able to draw was in Turbo, as there was no ATM in either Capurgana (Columbia) or Puerto Obaldia (Panama). The back-and-forth boat trips are expensive, so we were fast running out of cash. However, after some e-mails we had a letter from the Panama consulate in South Africa, stating that we didn´t need a visa. Columbia was then able to give us a newer exit stamp, and off we went with almost our last money to Panama. This time the letter did the job, but it still took more than a day before they could manage to stamp our passports (were they waiting to be bribed?). Anyway, after camping on the verandah of the ex community centre with some other stranded travelers, we managed to arrange onward passage. There was a smallish wooden cargo boat anchored in the bay, and we found the captain drinking in the local cantina. This was apparently a good time to negotiate as he agreed on a reasonable price, and we could pay at the end of the trip (ATM about 1 hr from where he docked at the start of the road). The captain was making a killing, as there were 6 of us paying passengers (including Italian Simon, travelling by 50cc motorbike S-N, and he has already broken the record). This short boat trip took 6 days through the spectacular San Blas Islands, stopping at every sizable thatch-and-reed village to pick up empty gas cylinders and cooldrink crates. Meals were not part of the deal, so we were surprised to be offered food, starting from lunch on the first day which consisted of chicken feet on rice. There was not much difference between the 3 daily meals, and the stock meal was salted pork fat with boiled green banana. We had bought some tins of "Pork and Beans in Tomato Sauce" before the trip. Opening the tins in the hope of some sort of meal, we discovered that the contents were simply good old baked beans. Some of the crew trawled for fish, and a number of good barracuda were hauled in (the culinary highlight of the trip was the fried fish). At times the ocean was protected by the islands, and sailing was smooth. The open ocean, however, tended to be incredibly wild, and fellow passengers were puking (fortunately nobody was flung overboard, although there were a few close calls). The toilet protrudes over the back of the boat, and consists of a hole in the floor too small for a human to fall through. Don´t be concerned, we all made it to the end. Simon gave me a lift to the ATM on his record-breaking 50cc, and we settled our account with the boat captain. Now we are in Panama City, after cycling here via charming Porto Belo yacht haven, and slummy free trade zone Colon city. In only a couple of days I have had some bad luck financially (ATM in Colon did not give me cash but it was deducted anyway, and now someone has hacked into my account). Panama city is quite an interesting place, and we´ve been here a few days. Leana has bought a fancy new camera, and she has also taken her bike to a fancy bike shop to be taken care of (oh, that reminds me I should take a look at my poor bike, Old Saartjie –all that sea spray is not healthy). Now I have to give the embarrassing cycling distances. Well, after Columbia we didn´t cycle for 2 weeks, but at least now we have done 3 or 4 days on the bike. Oh yes, I´ve briefly seen the canal before being chased away by the security, and thanks to Leana for going back there on the tourist bus and getting some pics (there´s an entry fee). Daily distances cycled since we landed on a road in Panama have been:- Portobelo 44 km; Colon 48 km; Panama City 84 km; and The Canal 25 km. The total distance cycled so far on this journey is 93 172 km.