Costa Rica, finally

Pix finally. From the begining then. We got to the BMW shop early and our guy was late. Wasn't going to get excited tho. Finally got bike and headed out to get thru San Jose. Really wasn't as bad as I expected.



Only one missed turn so that aint bad. Next was down the Pan American Highway over the "Hill of Death". Really a nice ride and once you start riding like the locals it's quite fun. Ran into some clouds near the top which made it a little hairy.




At the top we stopped at a Soda for our "real" first Costa Rican meal. Really didn't know what we were ordering but every now and then even a blind squirel finds a nut. It was great.



As we had our lunch the clouds set in. Problem was these were full of moisture, not rain just a heavy dew. Made it impossible to see. Visor was covered, then glasses were covered and then just to make it even funner it would get so thick the road vanished in front of you at times.



Almost forgot this one. Before the clouds set in.






Finally made it to the Pacific and Tammy was still smiling. Hell of a good sport.




Had a mix up on the location of our first hotel but found it before dark so no harm no foul. Great place and great food. This morning we were up early so took a short walk and came back for breakfast and loaded up. Headed up the coast and had our first stop at Jaco. Not a bad place to stop for a pick me up.



Had plenty of resteraunts, cafes, and bars to choose from but Tammy spied the best place in town. Great smoothies and definate local flare. Just up the road from Jaco is the bridge where the crocs hang out. Shit load of em and this was the big daddy.



Next was up to Punteranus to catch the ferry over to Paquera. We got there about an hour before departure and got our tickets with no problem. It was actually quite peaceful until just before the ferry arrived.



Taxi Hell.

Once across the roads got better, or worse depending on your perspective. Midas could make a killing down here with shocks The roads are rougher than hell with huge pot holes but that doesn't slow em down one bit. Nothing like going 60 khm bumper to bumper dodging pot holes. It was awesome!!!!!!! No matter what your line was in a corner chances are there's a pot hole just waiting for you. Finally hit dirt as we neared St Teresa where we are now.





Our shack for tonight.




Be here two nights and we're heading over to Montezuma tomorrow. Hope to get more pix in the next few days. Damn hard to stop for pix going 100 kph with a guy 10 feet off your ass and no pull offs and if there is one god only knows what shape it is in.

Getting used to the Beemer. I ride a Wee Strom at home and really like it. The F800 GS is a nice bike and I really only have 2 issues with it, left side of engine gets warm enough to heat up your knee at times and the switches were designed for someone with weird shaped hands. Nothing is really where it feels right. Maybe by the end of the trip I'll get used to it. The route has mostly been blacktop, good and bad, and a little dirt at the end of today. The next couple days should be a lot more dirt I hope.

I've got the same croc pic from 2009. Being long lived and all, I'll bet it's the actual same croc, that big beastie in the middle that lords it over the rest of them? :)

Went to dinner last night at a Soda and ordered "two" burritos expecting what you get in the states. Each one covered a large plate itself. Only made it through half of the second one. The sodas take great pride in what they serve in quantity and quality. Also heard our first howler momkey last night and I'm listening to one right now. Freaky sound.

If you can, posting the prices of some of the meals and rooms and such would be helpful to those of us thinking about visiting this country.

You're travelin' and eating up the kms.....quite a few per day.
Lots of howlers (congos) around St Teresa, quite the alarm clock.
Going up the coast after Montezuma?

What I got a kick out of was listening to the Howler monkeys howling at the trucks when they would drive by…

hey!
glad you like the country, let me know what are you planning to do or go we can ride together , i can show u a couple of nice roads.

i'm in CR ! would be fun to meet!

Glad to see its turning out to be a great trip!! Y'all have fun and enjoy every minute of it!!!

The words for today are "hot and dusty". Left our room in good hands this morning.



This guy was hanging out in the eave spout outside our room.
First stop was the banco to change some money. Got there a little early so we checked out the beach.




After the banco and breakfast we headed to Montezuma. I cant really say we were off roading since this is what passes for a road down here.





Of course the pictures don't do it justice.
Met this guy on the way but this hill is steeper than it looks so I wasn't going to stop to chat.



Had some great views once we got up top.



And I love the trees down here.



While we were stopped for these pictures a younger couple came by on a 4 wheeler. They stopped for a minute and told us at first they thought we were the police. We'll run into them later. Once we were down towards the coast we ran into some actual road work.



Even before the repairs the road looked pretty good compared to what we had just road. There was a pretty nice house in that area, maybe someone with a little pull. Eventually found the coast and headed towards Montezuma.



Montezuma really didn't impress us much so we went to see the waterfalls. This is when we ran into the 4 wheeler couple again. They said they had a guide coming so we just headed back towards the falls.



On our way back we ran into a guy I think was named San and he asked if we wanted a guide. Wouldn't say how much just that he worked for tips. Didn't speak much english tho. What the hell we said ok and off we went.



Check out the guy diving on the right side of the pix. Our guide dove later but I didn't get a very good shot. If you look in the waterfall at the whitest part you can see an image that resembles a person. I didn't see it at first but Tammy pointed it out. Good luck seeing it. San kept wanting to take pictures of us so we finally let him. This is me and the misses.



When we were leaving to go to the upper falls we ran into our 4 wheeler friends. Their guide was a no show and when we said where we were headed they joined us. Now getting to the upper falls is no easy task. This is pretty much what all the trail looked like.




By the way the third one in line from the top is the other guys wife. No good pictures of her and it's a good thing. I would have lost you guys with short attention spans. Once up top our guide showed off some more of his diving skills. I think he wanted to impress us so he could charge more.



This is our gang minus the 4 wheeler couple (never got their name).




Now let me show you a picture of his helper Lola. And then I'll tell you why.



Once we got back down to the bike we started to settle up. I gave him about 8 to 10 bucks and the other couple were going to do the same. When I handed him our share I could see he expected more. He finally said a guide gets 10mil colons, or just over 20 bucks. I went ahead and paid him and the other couple asked it that covered all of us. He didn't say anything so they gave hime some more. Not as much as us but then he was real happy. Back when he told me 10mil he said 6 for him and 4 for Lola. I really didn't mind the price and it was nice to have someone show us around but I wont hire another guide until I get the price first.
Next was lunch in Montezuma, our first that was less than great. Trying to leave town was another story. When we came in for lunch they had the bridge closed due to road work on the other side. No problem for a bike. When we left they had the whole road torn up so even a bike couldn't get through. We had to go out another way and go into Santa Teresa the way we did the day before.

Tomorrow we have a long ride and I'm going to take as many back roads as I can. Going to make for a long day but when we get to St Elena it should be cooler.

The hotels and bike came as a package but I believe from what I've seen and what I've read on other ride reports you can get a nice hotel for around 35 and up a night. For food it's best to eat at sodas. A great lunch and plenty of it will cost around 10 to 15 bucks. In an average resturaunt meals are a little pricier, maybe around 20 to 25 bucks. Nice hotel resturaunts you're looking at 40 to 50 bucks. And the sodas have some of the best food. Gas is more here than home and I don't drink beer so I cant help you there.

Really you can travel here for pretty cheap if you dont expect anything fancy. I'd say we're probibly somewhere in the middle on our budget.

We're leaving fairly early tomorrow and heading to St Elena via the bridge. Hope to hit some back roads early before it gets too hot. From St Elena our next stop is just over to the Arenal Volcano area. That should be a short day of riding. Then the third day we have to have the bike back by 2:00 and catch a shuttle to Playa Conchal for 5 days of R&R. Momma says when we get there we're staying put. Hmmm a scooter for a couple days couldn't hurt, could it.

I was told that Mel Gibson has a house up there, he sounds like a howler monkey.
Pura vida mae!

riderdonald,

Really enjoying the ride report and pictures; it seems you and your wife are having a nice time in Costa Rica. Looking forward to the next installment!

junglemototours - I believe Mel Gibson's house overlooks Playa Barrigona, about 12km north of Samara beach. I rode up the beach at low tide with some locals back in March and they pointed out his compound.



Pura Vida,

Correct, he had/has 40 hectares near Nosara, main compound/finca. Last I heard he was selling because he wore out his welcome? He has another private house above Mal Pais according to mi amigo Miguel the dentist who rents KTM 625's at St Teresa....

Enjoying the pictures, I can hardly wait to get back down there.

Subscribed! Going down to CR in March and need to start planning!

Early start today. Breakfast at the bakery and then off to hit some back roads. Already hot at 7:00 am.

This is the main street (only street) in town. To the north is Santa Teresa and to the south is Mal Pais. Dust control is a garden hose. It helps a little. Back track a little and catch the road to Rio Negro. Typical gravel road but not as rough as others. When I say rough I mean bounce the shit out of you no matter how fast or slow you go.. Yesterdays road to Montezuma was more technical which I prefer. Anyway along the road we ran into our first cowboy.



Finally turned onto a single lane road and the riding got better.







Finally got to our first river crossing.



Now guys this is where you need your wife along.



I offered but she went. When she was about half way accross I remembered those crocs we saw a couple days before. Sure would have missed her.



Once on the other side it was easy to see the bottom and see the best line. After this crossing they all were smaller but there must have been about ten all together. Great fun and great road.













As we pulled up to an entersection where we needed to turn for Zopote another bike came up from behind. I knew which way to go but he wanted to give his assistance. Turns out he lived in South Dakota for 6 months as an exchange student once. Nice guy and he sugested we catch the main highway at Jaricaol. He foolwed us for awhile until we stopped for pictures.



There he goes.

Once on the highway it was mostly farm country but still great scenery. At one point we stopped for construction work and they put Tammy to work. We has to carry the flag to the other end so they knew we were the last vehicle. Later at another construction site while stopped one by one guys came out of the ditch at the side of the road trying to sell snacks and drinks. Must have been about six of em.









This is the bridge that crosses the northern end of the Golf of Nicoya. After that is was a short ride to the Pan American highway and down to 145 and headed to Monteverde for the night. After a few km on 145 we passed through a town and started climbing into the cloud forest. The road starts out blacktop and extremely windy. I was having so much fun it was hard to stop for pictures and when I did it was usually sudden and poor Tammy kept head butting me. Sorry dear. So far this is the best scenery I've seen in ages. I'm tempted not to post the pictures just so you all have to come see it yourself. Anyway here they are.











After awhile the road turned to dirt and rocks and the going slowed down quite a bit. It seemed like forever to go a few kilometers but the views were great so it wasn't bad. Once in Monteverde we found our hotel, freshened up and headed for lunch. This resteraunt will look familar to anyone who has read a few RRs from CR.





After lunch we headed for the coffee plantation tour. Found out it was 30 bucks a piece and if I'm spending 60 bucks for coffee it's going to be on coffee I can drink. Headed back tyo the hotel instead and signed up for a nught hike to see nocturnal critters. Heres just a few.



Yellow sided pit viper.



Sorry cant remeber thid guys name but cool looking bird.



Great tour and our guide was great also.

Short ride tomorrow around the lake to La Fortuna and the Arenal Volcano so we're going take our time getting going tomorrow. Hope it's clear so we can see the sucker. It's cooler here than on the Pacific side and it's rained some. So far weathers been ok, hope it holds out a few more days.

See ya tomorrow.

Pura Vida

Rainy here this morning but then we are in the cloud forest. Hope it clears in a bit or at least once we get closer to the lake. Short day so no hurry getting outta town.

Just checked my email and this is from The Clymb, an outdoor site I belong to.

• Develop your surfing skills in the warm waters surrounding Santa Teresa, Costa Rica

By the way most of the surfer girls I saw there I wanted to give them a bath and wash their hair. Hate to sound like an old fuddy duddy but at least be clean.