Nicaragua: Riding into the unknown

[salcar]

The first time in the history of Nicaragua that a motorcyclist circumnavigates Nicaragua

RIDE REPORT STARTS ON PAGE 5 POST #69

ADV INVITATION
THE ROUTE
THE VIDEO
THE BIKE
TOOLS
SAFETY KIT



he road to Puerto Cabeza





One of several river crossings. this one is in Alamikamba



My blood after the accident


Bad dirt track close to Makantaka - going down was easy...


The Quintanilla family in Kansas City, Nicaragua


16 hour boat ride up the river San Juan


Lake Nicaragua as seen from San Carlos
__________________

[salcar]

The departure date has been postpone for two weeks until I recover from this.

[GB]

yikes!! hope you heal fast and get back on the road.

[bananaman]

What happened!

[joenuclear]

That's gonna leave a mark! Heal soon we will wait on you.

[sandiegoland]

Ride "around" as in all over? or circumnavigate? How would that be possible along the east coast?

Can't wait to see your map. Should be a fantastic report!!

[salcar]

Originally Posted by sandiegoland

Ride "around" as in all over? or circumnavigate?

as in Circumnavigate

Originally Posted by sandiegoland

How would that be possible along the east coast? Can't wait to see your map.

This is one of the bigger challanges. I got two maps. One shows that there are some trails that you might be able to ride and my other map that is more detail doesn't show them.

The maps are from different sources. One is ITBM (1:775,000 scale) and the other ones are from Ineter the Nicaragua Institute of Terrestrial Studies (1:250,000 scale). The ITBM map is the one that shows a possible route with trails.

Google maps have very little about the East/Atlantic Coast in Nicaragua.

The section where there is a big unknown is the from Makantaka to El Rama on the East coast..

Originally Posted by sandiegoland

Should be a fantastic report!!

Thank you!

I'll try to update the RR along the way. It will be interesting to find out where I can find internet connections.

[salcar]

The bike I'll be using is a two stroke 2008 Yamaha 175 cc. With a full tank you can ride 150 Km so I'll need to take extra gasoline.

[E-man]

Have a good and productive trip Salcar

[dragoon]

What kind of time & distance do you think it will be?

[salcar]

Originally Posted by dragoon

What kind of time & distance do you think it will be?

I'm estimating 12-15 days and approximately 1,300 km.

Then it will depend on:

Road conditions - Once you enter the Atlantic they are all bad dirt roads

Protests: Currently going on in Puerto Cabeza. Couple of weeks ago they closed all the roads in and out of the city.

Rain: The rainy season starts in May and we already got a couple heavy rains at night. Rain can play a major role on this trips due to river crossing and muddy roads.

Riders: depending on who ends up going and their time availability I would like to extend the days to do some extra loops in certain regions.

[salcar]

Originally Posted by bananaman

What happened!

I got a call from my buddy from high school asking me if I wanted to play flag football with the Harley Davidson Team. So I joined the team to get some extra exercise in before the trip.

The playing field had very little space between it and the fence. I was playing as a receiver and in a long pass while running and focused on catching the ball I ran into the rusted fence.

One of the wires just cut in and up on one of my knee's. At that point i went to the most modern hospital, Vivian Pellas, in Nicaragua that very few people can afford. (The only reason I went there was because I never been there.)

No one was waiting in the emergency room, the hospital is brand new with air conditioning the service was excellent. They cleaned really well the cut, put spray anesthetic, injection anesthetic, 3 stitches and a tetanus shot for $74. Yes, prices are in dollars.

[Chanderjeet]

Get well soon Salcar and show up some pics of nicaragua. I hope the media coverage would be really good for your business

[out rider]

"No one was waiting in the emergency room, the hospital is brand new with air conditioning the service was excellent. They cleaned really well the cut, put spray anesthetic, injection anesthetic, 3 stitches and a tetanus shot for $74. Yes, prices are in dollars."

Bring them to the states, at those prices they'll have a line around the block.

[salcar]

Originally Posted by Gadget Boy

yikes!! hope you heal fast and get back on the road.

Thank You GB!!!

Originally Posted by joenuclear

That's gonna leave a mark! Heal soon we will wait on you.

Thank you!

The cut is not too deep... it kind of went in and up making a nice slice this morning is hurting. i think i bent my leg while as sleep!

Originally Posted by E-man

Have a good and productive trip Salcar

Thank you! I'm already in contact with a couple NGO that are providing healthcare services in rural communities so I hope to visit them once i'm finally on the road. Also, have a preliminary TV interview on Monday. So it will be more than just riding

Originally Posted by out rider

"No one was waiting in the emergency room, the hospital is brand new with air conditioning the service was excellent. They cleaned really well the cut, put spray anesthetic, injection anesthetic, 3 stitches and a tetanus shot for $74. Yes, prices are in dollars."

Bring them to the states, at those prices they'll have a line around the block.

What I'm trying to do right now is to bring the patients to Nicaragua This year two riders from Canada came down while it was freezing up north, went for a ride, got their dental work done and went to the beach to recover. They spent less than half the price they would have spent in Canada.. and at the end of the trip they spent less with airfare, bike rental, hotels and Nica dentist than just going to the dentist in Canada. Of course not all diseases can be treated here but we have many medical doctors that got their degrees in the US and Europe.