Donde esta Costa Rica?

UUUUmmmmmmm ya....what the hell is this all about? hahaah!

Welcome to Costa Rica. The roads and obviously the signs are a bit of a change from Panama.

The scenery turned straight jungle!

The solo rode. Wheres Mike?

David, Panama-Rio Claro, Costa Rica 90 kilometers

Here we go. Solomente.

The day started around 6 am. It was raining pretty hard out. I thought I would have to shelve the bike for the day but in true Central American fashion the rain stopped, the sun came out and it turned humid as hell. Today was my first day alone. Mike is headed to do a bit of sight seeing in Buquete before he gets on a bus back to Panama City. His vacation time is almost up. I'm making my way out of Panama and to Costa Rica. After breakfast and a few goodbyes I was hitting the road.

So I had to do it. I'm kind of a cheesy guy and I had a perfect opportunity to crack myself up a bit. As I was rolling out of David I noticed a gas station on my right. I wanted to get some quick directions before fully committing to the direction I was going. I saw this gas attendant chilling by one of the pumps. I rolled up with this huge smile under my helmet. The guy was an old timer. He looked like a Mr. Rogers type with a bushy mustache, a goofy grin, and huge glasses. I rolled up and said, "donde esta Costa Rica?" He quickly bent back and threw up his right arm and made this hilarious crazy noise , something like ooooooossssssssiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiaaaaaaaaaa...and finished with a big laugh and grin! "Directo amigo...directo..." pointing in the direction I was going. I made a quick reply "Gracias Amigo....gracias!" How many times do you get to pull up to a gas station and ask where Costa Rica is...on a bike??? Anyway...That noise he made was hilarious and I'll make that my biker short moment of the day.

The rest of the road to the boarder was clear and cool. It was a great road with amazing farmland scenery. I was making great time as well. I was flying! A few friends from the hostel drove by as well. They gave a big smile and waive. It was nice to see those guys. One Aussie and one Mexican driving to the Costa Rican border...sounds like the beginning to a classic joke. The border crossing was no big deal. Quick and easy really. So here I am. Costa Rica. Pura Vida! I got to catch up a bit with my friends from the hostel at the border crossing. They were having a hell of a time getting there truck back to Mexico. A ton of paper work and lame old immigration officers can make for a hell of a day or in their case 4 days! Anyway...if you guys are reading this I hope you made it to San Jose!

Costa Rica first impression.... There is no shoulder what so ever. The road turns into 2 lanes instead of two. Its some serious jungle. For the first hour the road was headed directly for this massive jungle covered mountain...I really hope I don' t have to climb that in the next day or so. The road conditions are doable but its nice because there are a lot less cars. The scenery changes instantly. Theres jungle on both sides and you can see some amazing birds and wildlife. Unfortunately I saw an Iguana that just got hit by a car. A bunch of local kids were screaming about it. It was massive, at least a meter in length!

I had my first real scare of the trip. I was cruising along at a good pace when I heard this massive big rig come flying up on me from behind. These days I can tell if the truck is loaded or not. This one was. It was also down shifting fast, I could hear it and it was loud, which meant that the driver probably didn't see me. It was a one lane road with a really messed up shoulder. Cars were coming up ahead which meant that he had no room to get over. I got over as much as possible but I knew it was going to be close. I was able to slow down a bit. The truck came within inches but the wind blew me off the road. SUPER BUMPY! My seat turned on me and I had to slam on the brakes and ditch the bike it motion! Everything was ok and I didn't get hurt but that was close. I'll make sure to be extra careful tomorrow! No worries!

Anyway...thats it for now!

Aaron