Wandering Wickershams
But first a word from our sponsors
And, second, a new sponsor, for whom as yet no snappy logo but a bright testimonial:
We have used the Rough Guides for Central America and Mexico since we started our adventure. We really didn't know how much we depended on its information until we lost our Mexico edition in Guadalajara. We contacted Rough Guides and they quickly sent us another copy and new material for the next leg of our journey. The background information on each country, their culture and attractions (must sees) are invaluable. Without the valuable descriptions, we would not know what is down the road, where there are accomodations or things to see and do. We rely on the city maps to get into and out of cities as well as find food and lodging at our price level. Rough Guides also has maps. Many cyclists we have met are using them. They are far better than those available locally. --Judee and Art
to Panama
April 10 - April 17, 2006
last updated: April 24, 2006
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[When last we encountered our intrepid heroes, they had arrived in Costa Rica. But alas, hard drive failure and assorted and/or related cyber-ills on Gary's part, not to mention a longer, newsier but disappeared narrative for this period from Judy leaves us with the following, neverthless wonderful dispatch.]
4-10 Into Jaco, Costa Rica. We met 4 young fellows riding from Alaska to Argentina to raise money for cancer. Check out www.spinningsouthward.com for a great web site and good writing!!
4-12 We took a bus from Quepos to Dominical to move past a terrible road – 40 km of big rocks , mud and dirt. The bus had to even ford one of the rivers. Good thing we didn’t have to. We stayed an evening at Quepos in a $70 room because the large tourist hordes celebrating Semana Santa in Manuel Antonio National Park near here. In Dominical we had a clean, simple room for $30, enjoyed lovely moonlit walk on the beach and fabulous Italian food with wine in the evening.
4-13 Riding the hot, steamy jungle coast we spied our first Toucan. Art heard a new sound, so we stopped and saw him perched above us. WOW! Big, bright yellow beak and breast. Only later did we learn that they steal eggs and babies from nests! We rode to meet a bus, trying to get to Jimenez on the Osa Peninsula near the Corcodova National Park. When the bus arrived, sadly it was stuffed to over-flowing and there was no room for the bike, either. So we rode on to Golfito in the gentle, constant tropical rain. The next day we tried to board a ferry to Jimenez, but missed the last one for the day. And it did not run the next day due to Semana Santa [Easter/Holy Week, for you gringos--Gary], so we settled into a little hotel and enjoyed the pool and fishing town for a day or so.
4-17 Today we boarded the ferry, after a breakfast and a send off to the young men we had met earlier and again saw this morning. Arriving in Jimenez, we found a cheap sleep and then proceeded to a wonderful jungle mountain top eco tent camp called Bolita. Here we took several amazing hikes again seeing a toucan up close and personal. We slept among the howler monkeys. We saw a spider monkey alarmed at our presence swung through 100’s of meters of tree tops past us so quickly and screeching all the way.
Ron, the owner of Bolita grew a large number of plants, including flowering helconias, orchids, bromeliads, also many grasses and the best of all: fruits and vegetables. As he took us around the property we stuffed ourselves with delicious tastes of bananas, water apples, avacados, cashew fruits, and more. We had a truly enjoyable time! The hiking was on the most treacherous, steep hillsides with areas of landslides, fallen trees, slippery rocks and mud. The views of the deep narrow jungle valleys out to the Golfito Dulce Bay were awing. We stood under 200 ft tall trees and looked down upon the tops of similar sized giants. Everything was covered in tropical plants – hundreds of shades of green splotched with the reds, yellows and oranges of flowers and colored vegetation.
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