Around the World in 800 Days

[flyingdutchman177]

Lake Nicaragua is huge. It takes up a good portion of the country. Right now I am on a beach watching the waves break in the Pacific Ocean. The lake is only about 10 miles away. It creates this wind that blows off shore here......great for surfing but it blows so hard, it is a sand storm on the beach.
It has been like that every day so far.
So again.......the beaches here are fine for surfing.......not so good for sunbathing.
Plus the water is 10 degrees colder than El Salvador.

[mediaguy]

Ed, wouldn't it cost more to stay in CR than the extra for the flight and get there sooner? Just sayin'.

[flyingdutchman177]

Originally Posted by mediaguy

Ed, wouldn't it cost more to stay in CR than the extra for the flight and get there sooner? Just sayin'.

Logically......yes
But I am looking forward to slowing the place down and enjoying Costa Rica and Panama more
Plus I can take my time thru Colombia too
a lot of other riders I bump in to are rushing thru each country and are missing out on the experience.
For me, it is less a motorcycle ride and more of an opportunity to explore the world.
Patagonia will be waiting for me and when I do make it there, I wont want to be rushing thru it.

[flyingdutchman177]

I made it in to Costa Rica yesterday.
The border crossing was time consuming but without any adversity.
It was getting dark so I pulled in to Santa Rosa National Park and camped there
Lots of aigns and good roads are making it easy to find my way around CR

Next stop, the beach
Looks like my tent will be getting more use here are there are lots more opportunities to camp here

[sonnyboy]

Thanks for all the goods stuff, enjoy

[vintagespeed]

i remember reading in other reports that there is a large ferry that was supposed to start making regular crossings. this was in a report i read last year.

what became of that? did they have to postpone the first sailing?

edit:

did some looking, and it seems that the ferry is delayed until who knows when. disregard.

[flyingdutchman177]

Originally Posted by vintagespeed

i remember reading in other reports that there is a large ferry that was supposed to start making regular crossings. this was in a report i read last year.

what became of that? did they have to postpone the first sailing?

edit:

did some looking, and it seems that the ferry is delayed until who knows when. disregard.

I think it just turned out to be a ciber houx

[flyingdutchman177]

Here's a typical beach in Nicaragua just north of San Juan del Sur. It is a surf camp. People come from all around the world to surf these waves........girls and guys both. They have a good fish taco restaurant one the beach that serves cold beers. Plus you can park your motorcycle up close to the water.

[flyingdutchman177]

I have to tell you that the beaches in Sourthern Nicaragua were not my favorite. First off, the wind that is generated from the high pressure over gigantic Lake Nicaragua blows so hard on the beach, it creates a dust storm that gets in your eyes and everywhere else. But it makes for nice sunsets.

[flyingdutchman177]

Here is the beach camp at Playa Hermosa. Lots of people come for the day to surf there, but they don't stay the night. It is expensive to stay there. I paid a whopping $21 a night (includes breakfast) for a dorm room. But since I was pretty much the only one there, I had the place to myself.

[flyingdutchman177]

Here are the rooms right on the beach

[flyingdutchman177]

I rented a surf board from a 10 year old kid and negotiated a price of $6 for an hour. The kid was a good negotiator, He got me to pay that extra dollar as I wanted to pay only $5.
The surf was really small. There was , of course, a huge off shore wind blowing. But it was still fun getting out and "standing on top of the world" in Nicaragua. Also, the water temp was about 75.......10 degrees colder than El Salvador. Go figure

[flyingdutchman177]

It took almost 3 hours to get across the board in to Costa Rica. Nicaragua got a few extra dollars from me to leave. Costa Rica I had to pay $30 for insurance.......and that's about it.
But I had to walk back and forth to different windows, making copies and getting stamps. I didn't use a helping which I think actually helped, I don't think I will use one again unless I get stuck.
It was getting late by the time I crossed the border and I made my way in to Santa Rosa Nat'l Park. It was closed so I didn't have to pay the $10 entry fee and $2 camping fee. I just made sure I was out of the early.
The winds were incredible that night. I even heard a tree fall that night. Kind of scary in a tent!

[flyingdutchman177]

My firs full day in Costa Rica, I explored and swam at 6 beaches.
Here is Playa del Coco

[flyingdutchman177]

I went to Playe Panama
Playe Hermosa
Playa Grande
and this one just south of Coco, which I forget the name of