Terra Incognita 10/11

So, finally on the road to fulfill a dream of travelling to South America via motorbikes. Oct 17 started with frost on the pumpkins and turned out to be a pretty decent day, with highs of 10 degrees Celcius. Our plan is to make as fast an exit out of the cold as possible, using I-15 as the main road from Calgary, thru Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, then on to California and leaving the U.S. at Tijuana. While this route has little to offer as far as sight-seeing goes, it avoids alot of inclement weather that can be experienced going over and thru the mountains.

Presently writing from Provo, Utah. This makes 3 nights in arow staying at the Best Western Hotel chain. We cashed in a bunch of Airmiles and made use of the hotel offers. Good lighting all around for bike safety concerns, superb breakfast provided in Great Falls, Montana and proximity to major routes has made this a wise choice for us. Mornings are still cool, but warms up nicely by 10:30 a.m.

Left Provo under overcast skies and cool weather. I-15 like most superslab highways is basically transport trucks and ginormous billboards hawking fastfood products and budget accomodations. By the time we hit Cedar City the terrain was changing to red rocked canyons and multi-layered mesas off in the distance. We stopped in St. George for gas and a leg stretch, and had a brief conversation with a fellow out of Arizona, who was curious to know if I was packing a piece. He indicated that he never went anywhere without his firearm.

We made it to the border town of San Ysidro at noon, and started looking for affordable Mexican motorbike insurance. Quite a wide spectrum to choose from. We took the last exit before the border and found a kiosk right at the lights on the right hand side. Over 600 hundred dollars for each bike , no fire ,theft or collision, just liability for a six month period. We tried several other kiosks to find that they do not sell full coverage policies. Finally, we found a Sanborn's franchise, north on San Ysidro Blvd, near the Chase bank.

Carol had ordered an armoured shirt from the States but it had been hung up in Customs for over 2 weeks prior to our leaving for the trip, so Caropl re-ordered it and had it sent to our friend Rita, who lives in Pasadena. Carol had purchased the Bohn armor pants from ActionStation.com out of Chico, Calif. and has been extremely happy with the product and their service. Travelling from Vegas to Pasadena was O.K. till we hit a pass out of Apple Valley and then the fog. It was tolerable at first and then became so thick that vehicles 30 ft. in front simply disappeared.

Presently writing from Loreto, Baja Calif. South, an 11,000 person community on the east side of the peninsula. We are staying here for a couple of days to unwind, catch up on e-mailing, giving our rumps a rest and aclimating to the sudden rise in temps. We've had to deal with crap weather for the last week, so 30+ temps are a nice change. Accommodations all the way down the peninsula have been affordable and secure.

Leaving Lareto to La Paz took us from desert lands to several oases inhabited by both local Mexicans as well as transplanted Americans and Canadians, primarily from the west coast and western provinces. Many come down with their motorhomes or trailers as well some have permanent homes of all stripes, from simple palapas to multi-level estate homes. This particular section of road is ideal for those of us that enjoy smooth pavement and long sweeping curves that allow you to look at the scenery without having to totally focus on the road.

So we ended up missing Jim in Rincon de Guayabitos. We waited around for an hour but to no avail. It was quite the adventure in itself getting to his house on the hill, severe inclines on cobblestone paths. We left for Bucerias, down the coast and ended up passing Jim going the other way and waved, as is done by most bikers. We stayed at the Cactus Hotel in Bucerias, just off the Mexico 200 highway, a little expensive but secure parking, and a place we had stayed before. Next stop was Barre de Navidad.

We stopped a couple hrs. out of Acapulco for the night in Tecpan at a real nice motel, Hotel Villa Sol. 300 pesos, clean, good beds, spacious room and secure off street parking. The next day we made our way into Acapulco, got turned around a bit and spent an extra half hour worming our way thru one way streets. We were almost thnru town when we got pulled over by the traffic police. I was cited for speeding, while Carol was crossing a solid line. Both were bogus charges and so began the subtle dance of negotiation.

Leaving Pinotepa Nacional we had a short 130 km. ride down to the beach town of Puerto Escondido. We stayed at Bungalow Ola, run by a nice Dutch woman who has lived there for some 22 yrs and is home to 18 cats and untold amount of dogs. This beach town has a small town feel, but has all the amenities one needs. There are no highrises to speak of on the beach which lends to it's charm, and many personal homes that ring the beach have excellent views of the ocean. Puerto Escondido has several world class surfing contests throughout the year.

We got an early start on the road to Guatemala. A stop in Tapachula for some U.S dollars at the local bank and while my back is turned Carol is getting marriage proposals from the locals. A misplaced piece of paper stating I had in fact paid for my entry into Mexico was lost(probably when we imported the bikes at La Paz in the Baja) cost me another 26 dollars. This paper was needed on the exit out of Mexico. Next was the copies of the paper work provided by the Quatemalan border authorities. They need copies of the originals that they give but have no copiers to make them.

We left Antigua early enough, or so we thought for the El Salvador border and ride beyond. As with border crossings we have dealt with in the past nothing can be taken for granted. Border crossings are always a mixture of fact and fiction, buildings unmarked and marked, legit and sketchy helpers. We found the system in place works, just negotiate a fair price for services rendered. Luckily El Salvador works on the U.S dollar currency so no need for money changing. We got thru the border in around 3 hrs. and were just looking for a place to stay down the road in Acajutla.

This morning was pretty rough on Carol, who was suffering from severe dehydration after a night of dry heaving from some bad Chinese food. Or too much Chinese food on an empty stomach, because of the delays at the border. So Carol bought some more water in the morning, enough to at least throw up. We road to Choluteca to get some biscuits, fruit juice and pull some money out of the ATM for the border crossing into Nicaragua. The crossing we decided on, Guasaute, was off the Pan-American highway so road conditions were pretty bad.

Our crossing into Costa Rica was uneventful, just time consuming. Buying insurance is a requirement unlike other countries. $20 for a three month period. The next problem that we incur is the fact that our debit cards, by virtue of their chip are not accepted in Costa Rica, anywhere regardless of bank. Luckily we took out enough U.S. money in Nicaragua to see us thru to the next border. we stayed in Liberia for the night, giving us a chance to catch up on e-mails and laundry. The guest house ,Hospedaje Casa Viejo, was nice, with a communal kitchen and big space in the backyard to relax.

Water, water everywhere. Down pours at 1:00 pm are the norm now and with no way to properly dry our clothes because of the humidity we can barely stand each other. Riding from David to Panama saw us go thru 3 major rain storms, with us pouring out half a litre of water out of our boots. We finally got a respit in the morning and did a tour of the Canal and area around it, formally owned by the U.S military. They are now working on two more lock areas to keep up with the world demand for more products.

Once again Mother Nature reared her ugly head as we left Cartegena on our way to Medellin. Luckily the rain wasn't too intense and we were able to dry off as we rode. Signage again was a problem, but we always found someone willing to tell us we were in fact on the right road. Initially the roads were a bit rough but within 30 kms. outside of Cartegena we were able to open up the bikes and make some good mileage. The landscape opened up and cattle were being raised everwhere. I am not familiar with the different breeds, but Brahmas were very prevelant.

Generally speaking we never ride at night for several reasons ie: potholes, animals, none functioning taillights on trucks, cars and semi-tractor trailers. Our plans to stop in Pereira for the night met with not being able to find a hotel with secure parking. Our usiing the Lonely Planet guide for info usually finds us in the middle of town searching for up to an hour for the recommended hostal or hotel. Many times the info is useful, but seldom takes into account the need for parking, being based on a backpackers needs.

The night before our trip to the Galapagos was slept with one eye open becuase we didn't take an alarm clock with us. We had a cab scheduled for early morning and were at the airport by 7:00a.m. for the flight to Guayaquil and then on to the islands. We had decided to splurge on a luxury ship, with a biologist guide and an itinerary that took in more islands than some of the other tours offered. We were met by our guide Dario along with the other 12 passengers and then whisked off to the catamaran Archipell 1, manned by 9.

Same great roads, less corners. That was our introduction to Ecuador. Several hrs. south of the border we ran into Quebec Sammy, a fellow motorcycle enthusiast from Montreal area. He briefed us on outsmarting the Lima, Peru police by staying in the center lane of two-lane traffic .Not making eye contact with the police if they attempt to pull you over. It seems they are very corrupt and will use any excuse to force you to pay a bribe. He however was pinched by the police and after some 2 hrs. finally got his passport back without having to pay a bribe.

After our Galapagos tour we stayed one more night in Quito, got our bikes from Sylvain at Freedom Bike Rentals, and the made our way down to Cuenca to visit Jose and Mary. They are a couple of fellow Calgarians we met on the Galapagos tour and are in Ecuador looking for a potential retirement spot.