All I've got to say is this: Your Central America journal has been uniquely adventurous and a joy to read. I wish you didn't have to stop in Panama.

Beats the h... out of us-Bill?

Caracara

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Crested_Caracara/id

At least on a bicycle you are on the protected side of things.

Thanks for all your comments and knowledge of the plants here, Bill!

Thanks Steve! I brought a Sawyer squeeze filter with me, and even used in Mexico once, then just used water without filtering, just to test my gut. It was all fine, but those were bigger cities in Mexico. I suspect it is all hit and miss, but I'm not sure the Sawyer filters will kill the bacteria though. I did bring some chlorine too that my wife had, but that's just too much work and tastes nasty if there is bottled water nearby.

Thanks for the comment Ben! Yes, I have heard all about that. Frankly I just get a bit overwhelmed by all the options out there and don't really spend the time to properly research technology like I should - it cuts into my bike riding time! But thank you for that tip. It sounds like I should use that.

Hi Ken, great journal have been enjoying following along! Have toured the Yucatan and rode a bit in Guatemala but hoping to do a thru route like yours in the next few years and your journal is great info.

I read your comment about routing issues with Komoot and Maps - have you ever tried creating routes or at least using as a reference Strava and their global heat map? Great American company from Boulder that is a phenomenon world wide, literally tens of millions of users. Because SO many cyclists use Strava, even a lot of tourers, their heatmap which is metadata from all users and their routes, will pretty reliably give you the best cycling route, even in the furthest corners of the world. Just use the darker colored blue lines! If you toggle on the paved roads only button if that is what you choose to ride you can solve a lot of the problems you encounter with some of the other apps.

I have been using Strava for routing for many years, in the US and all over the world. I toured with a couple in N Thailand and Laos a few years ago who swore by Komoot and after a week of walking through farm fields and cow pies started routing with Strava complemented by Google Earth like I do at home and we never looked back.

Even if you just use it as a reference and create your routes on Ride w GPS or Maps, it is super helpful.

Cheers and keep up the great work!

Ken, really enjoying following along. On the YouTube videos, I notice this latest one is again marked private. That definitely will slow people down! Another suggestion is to put the link in as a video link. In the editor, that’s that icon that looks like a movie camera. That will make it show up as an image right in the post, and people can then play it without ever leaving your post.

We have struggled also with the question of drinking water. It turns out that in Mexico/Central America even those born there buy purified water. It's so weird. They of course will be buying those large 5 gal jugs and reusing them. But a cyclist needs to buy small bottles, creating so much plastic waste! This time we are going to try the Sawyer squeeze filter. It may take a lot of time each evening, preparing 4+ litres of water, but we do hear good reports about these filters.

Based on flower and leaf morphology, it appears to be in the heath family (Ericaceae). It does favor blueberries, but the rule with wild edibles is: "When in doubt, don't!"

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-and-pharmaceutical-science/ericaceae

Can't tell for sure without a closeup of flowers and leaves, but it might be the national tree of El Salvador, a “Maquilishuat” tree.

https://www.elsalvadortips.com/national-tree-of-el-salvador

----->Bill

Taro on left
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taro

Banana on the right

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana

Banana tree

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana

Welcome to our friendly site! I just discovered this journal, cant wait to catch up with your adventures.