May 31, 2017
Week 113: to Palmar Norte: Over hills and through jungle
When we entered Costa Rica yesterday we gained an hour. That means it gets dark earlier in the evening, and light earlier in the morning. A blessing and a curse, because it feels like it is still only 4am when our alarm goes off. It takes us a little longer than usual to get ready, but at about 5:30 we roll-out. We love these roll-in roll-out rooms.
The road between Neily and Palmar Norte stays narrow with no shoulder, but traffic is courteous in Costa Rica. We get several thumbs-up from other cyclist and schoolkids that shout greetings. Very different from Panama. In our last Panama entry we might have sounded negative about that country, but that does not mean it should not be part of a bike trip. On longer trips it is not about stringing together an endless list of nice destinations. We try to travel through a country and see its pretty side, but also take-in the ugly part to get the full impression of the country. In the end most of the time the pretty outweighs the ugly. Sometimes one or two amazing things make a country, sometimes one ugly occurrence taints the whole experience. We think what tainted Panama for us was the unfriendliness of its people. But can we blame them for not liking gringos? Noriega died on the last day of our visit, the history of this dictator might explain the attitude. Either way, we are glad we went to Panama, but we probably won't be back.
The ride today is nice. There are a couple of steeper hills, but we ride a good pace and enjoy the scenery. There are large trees, and some dense sections of jungle we pass though. There are also large palm-oil tree plantations. If we had more time we might have considered the route Andy Peat of "Going South" journal, first going to Golfito, boat across to Puerto Jimenez on the peninsula then back to highway 2.
We arrive in Palmar Norte at about 10:30. The first hotel we check is the Brunka Lodge, but it is a bit expensive even though they have a pool. We ride back and check two places on the main road, but both are fully booked for tonight. So we head back to the Brunka Lodge. A nice cabana with AC, bathroom and TV.
After lunch in town we watch TV, take a swim and watch another big storm move in in the afternoon.
Today's ride: 77 km (48 miles)
Total: 32,424 km (20,135 miles)
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