Day 314 Saturday 20 May Miramar to Coco Costa Rica 334km

Yes, another day and another Border Crossing. Thankfully it was into Costa Rica, our last country on this Leg. I always dreaded this Leg as I knew it was going to be the worst of all our Legs riding around the world, many little counties and lots of re-tape, but we are now a mornings ride from San Jose and the end is in sight. Well I almost did not sleep in a hotel tonight, got a bit in trouble with the law in Nicaragua.

I was in the process of overtaking a scooter when I saw this cop under a tree, so I did not overtake the scooter, but I did cross over the solid line, which I found out with the help of Google Translate, that the solid line was there as there was a “bridge” but on fact it was just a pipe under the road, but still there was solid line. The negotiations were going fine until Pie and Rocky came to help and take photos, with the officers permission. He wanted a spot fine of $40 and I did not have the exact change, so I offered a $50 note and then Google Translate let us down as I understood that he changed his mind as he could not change the Dollars and then he would have to arrest me. So I cried a little:

Then I asked Rocky for change and handed over my money, got no receipt and left.

Doc was also stopped and we found a fruit-spot top wait, we were handed a knife and had free-reign on any fruit, the lady just lay in her hammock and watched which fruit we ate. Pie slaughtered a Melon for us and then several mangos and bananas.

We had decided to cross over into Costa Rica and the group got split onto two, the 5 South Africans rode in front and we were now calling the shots with regards to the route and when we stop and where we sleep. Peens was back on form and back to racing ahead then waiting for us at the turns making sure we all stayed on the right route. Then we came to the border and we were pleasantly surprised after taking an hour to leave Nicaragua we suddenly found ourselves back in civilisation, what a difference, It took us just as long to enter Costa Rica as it took us to leave Nicaragua. Before you could say “Pollo” we were sitting at a little restaurant eating chicken and drinking a beer. Maybe our Porn-Star distracted them from going on lunch as both windows stayed open during lunch to have a proper look at this :

We have a theory that the males manning the desks look at the long hair and the exposed boob and then think it is a woman that they are helping, until they see his Passport which clearly states MALE.

But there was a little incident at the border:

Instead of Pie helping Peens he just took photos, a very bad thing to do as it triggers Murphy to latch onto you.

But Peens was not the only faller, we also had Jorge fall at our hotel last night on the slippery tiles, they are like glass, and he fell in reception breaking the glass of the display cabinet, so this morning was big negotiations as the hotel wanted him to pay and we said they were negligent by laying such slippery glass-like tiles. Eventually after a long back and forth and much time wasted the cost of the glass was split in half.

Peens and Jorge were not the only guys with trouble on the road today:

We randomly chose a town on the map, near a beach, on the way to San Jose and we chose Coco, what a good choice, this is a beach holiday town, with the feel of Florida Keys, Key West. Beautiful beach, lots of restaurants and live music, plenty of American Tourist, a great little town. I immediately noticed the difference as soon as we crossed the border, the trucks were waiting in line to pass the border, a 15km line, Nicaragua is so difficult, and obviously the trucks are supplying the USA. There are now hardly any scooters, plenty of new cars are on the road and for the 1st time since leaving the USA I saw a Vetanery Practice. I also saw a Real Estate agent and one can see that the peopler are much much wealthier here. There are even properties Take Aways and real shops, built with bricks, not sticks and a few palm leaves.

We have a great little hotel 200m from the beach:

We are not sure what our Mexican friends are going to do tomorrow, they are thinking of riding all the way to Panama City and leaving their bikes there, which is the better option, but we just dont have the time to do that, so we will take our chances on Monday either at a Bonded Government Warehouse or a normal Storage and then pay the Penalty as we would have over-stayed our 90 days by the tine we return.

Just to let you all know, I did not really cry, Pie just took that photo as I was wiping the sweat out of my eyes, but of course he is telling everyone I was crying, so hey, let me pee on his battery and tell the whole world.

Hang in there folks, this ride is almost over and then you can start reading Huis Genet & Cosmopolitan again.

Fleisch