After having spent a lovely vacation during Thanksgiving week in Costa Rica with my wife Jill I came back two weeks later by bicycle. Entering from the North from Nicaragua I rode to the town of Liberia for the first night and then stayed close to the Pacific Coast to avoid the high mountains in the center of the country. (The capital San Jose is already higher than 1000m ASL; the real killer, however, is the pass that follows, Cerro de la Muerte: It reaches an altitude of over 3400m ASL, making it the highest point of the Panamerican Highway. I couldn’t have done this in a reasonable amount of time with my heavy load…)
I stayed one night in El Roble (near Puntarenas); here I stopped in the evening at a pizzeria which had wireless Internet. The owner of the pizza place was so amazed about my bike and project that he called his buddy, who showed up with camera for a photo shoot. They planned to write a newspaper article about my story. The huge pizza was courtesy of the house; not only that, the brother of the family invited me to stay at his home for the night. So there I went meeting with the Baretto family, his wife and three boys.
In the morning I rode right along the Pacific, the first time actually since I arrived by ferry in Mazatlan, Mexico several thousand km earlier. Unlike in the previous days, it was already very hot at 7:30am in the morning; the proximity of the Ocean doesn’t allow for the air to cool off at night. My next destination was Quepos, where Jill and I had also made a rest stop on our drive back to the San Jose airport. It was fun to ride along the roads where we had already driven with the rental car just a few weeks ago.
In Quepos I checked into a small room and took a local bus to the tourist destination Manuel Antonio. Unfortunately it was already dark and it started raining heavily when I got there, so I didn’t see much of the beautiful beach there. Back in Quepos I woke up the next morning to thunderstorms and rain. It was my Birthday. So I decided to take it easy and have a breakfast buffet at the best local hotel, overlooking the Ocean from the 3rd floor restaurant. Eventually it stopped raining and cleared, so I continued by bike around 11am. The brandnew road goes straight through the palm plantations in this area. One can see the occasional truck load of palm nuts headed for the refinery.
My dad has a former school friend who moved to Costa Rica a few years ago and built a high-end resort. So I had this vague idea that I might stop by for a visit. As it happened, his place Cristal Ballena is located about 70 km from Quepos, an ideal distance for this half day. It was pure coincidence that it worked out to be my birthday, but it was a very fitting ambience for my special day. The resort is located on a 500 ft hill top between the Ocean and the rain-forest covered mountains in the back.
The hill made for a strenuous effort pushing up, but the views from up there are truly stunning. Check out their website to get a feel for this wonderful place, pool, restaurant and all. The Steiner family greeted me warmly and hosted me for the evening. We enjoyed a delicious dinner and some good conversation, including a philosophical parallel between the big projects of Panamerican Peaks and building a Costa Rica resort!
The Good-Bye on the next morning came all too soon – I would have liked to stay there for an extra rest day. But I needed to keep going to reach Panama City on time a week later. After spending another night in Neily I crossed the border to Panama on December 18. I felt at home in Costa Rica and will always remember the way how locals greet each other: Pura Vida!
Coming down the Panamerican Highway from the North I had seen borders with a significant poverty gap or income gradient. For example, the US – Mexico border in Tijuana, or the Mexico – Guatemala border near Tapachula. After reading a biker text book I expected a similar gradient when riding from Honduras into Nicaragua after Choluteca. Nicaragua is described as the 3rd poorest country (after Haiti and Bolivia) in all of the Americas, with poor roads and shanty towns / huts along the way.
However, after crossing the border I cycled along on a fairly new, perfectly engineered road with smooth pavement and wide shoulder. I hear the US had financed this road just about five years ago. (In fact, the highway in Costa Rica was both narrower and in parts of poorer quality.)
There were many new bridges built with various country flags indicating the donor nations (I remember Korea and Japan). There were no more or less simple huts than in El Salvador or Honduras. Quite the opposite, I noticed several new buildings with colorful paintings and lush gardens. There were no more or less cell phone towers and billboard signs, no more or less garbage along the road; I just couldn’t tell a difference.
Then I reached Leon with its colonial buildings and churches, a vibrant tourist town with lots of flair. Reminded me a bit of Morelia in Mexico, perhaps on a smaller scale and thus somewhat more peaceful. Nicas, as the people are called, seem friendly and industrious; I was still looking for the extreme poverty described as being palpable everywhere…
Unfortunately I had to cross Managua by bicycle, which was terrible. Traffic is very heavy and the roads are a nightmare (cobblestone, narrow roads with lots of potholes), it’s hot and stinky, walking around the hotel at night was not recommended – in short, a place to avoid if possible.
The mountains in the North with Pico Mogoton were similar to Honduras and El Salvador, with comparable road infrastructure and bus service. Lago de Managua and later Lago de Nicaragua provide a beautiful backdrop with volcanoes rising on islands in the middle. Nicaragua is rich in natural beauty and diversity.
The next gem was Granada, which sits on the shore of Lago de Nicaragua and has colonial architecture similar to Leon. Sitting at a restaurant at the central plaza I felt again like at the tocala of some nice little town in Mexico.
My last night I spent in Rivas near the Costa Rica border. Here the Nicas were again very friendly, from the restaurant owners who insisted on me bringing in my bike to the firemen who invited me to stay overnight to the retired Ivan (a Nica who had been businessman in the US) selling bread from the store in his house inviting me into his home for a chat over some coffee, reminiscing about old times.
A final sign of new development came on the last morning when riding South of Rivas along the lake shore. It was very windy, similar to Tehuantepec in Mexico; and just like there I came upon a wind farm with tall wind turbines. As I stopped for photos and just to take in the sight and sound of the giant, rotating rotor blades an armed guard approached from a nearby guard station. I suspected that he would send me away, but to the contrary he was happy to talk and inform me about this project built 2 years ago: 19 wind towers, producing 40 MW of power, with 11 more towers planned. The first such wind farm in Nicaragua, with several more in planning.
All the above (except Managua) left a positive impression on me. I think the chapters in the text book about Nicaragua will have to be rewritten somewhat, and hopefully with political stability and further investments the Nicas will soon get to enjoy more prosperity and climb up in the ranking and out of poverty.
On the summit of Pico Mogoton, highest point of Nicaragua
Yesterday I reached the summit of Pico Mogoton, the highest point of Nicaragua. Interestingly, this was the 3rd peak where I stood with at least one foot in Honduras, as both El Salvador and Nicaragua high-points are on the Honduras border. That makes Honduras the only country with not just one Panamerican Peak, but actually three!
Roberto Castellanos leading the way up Mogoton
After doing some Internet research I found a good report done by Pavel Dorosevich, who climbed Mogoton in 2007, and another page summarizing the guide offers – thanks to Pavel for the writeup. Two days earlier I had sent an email to the contact address of one of the two local guides, Roberto Castellanos. Unfortunately he didn’t seem to check his email and so didn’t know about my plans. I went to his parents house – description from the website – and arrived there at 9:30pm after the 4 hr bus ride from Managua. They called Roberto and he showed up, drove me to a nearby hotel and picked me up the next morning at 5:00am. Think about that: He hadn’t been on the mountain since May, and then without notice at 10pm decides to do the tour the next morning 5am. (So much for me planning ahead! But anyway, I’m glad he was available.)
The 4-wheel drive road leading up to Finca Las Brisas where the Mogoton trail starts
Just the 4-wheel drive to the Finca where the trail starts is an adventure. Once we were on the trail, it quickly became apparent that this is no Gringo trail for the average tourist. It was scrambling up a river bed, around big boulders, through dense under brush, along slippery, rotten tree trunks and mud flats. At least the temperature was quite comfortable, as the trail began around 1300m and led straight up via pine forest into the cloud forest.
The first 200m we hiked up this river bed
Then at around 1500m the trail leaves the riverbed and leads very steeply up to a ridge. You have to use little tree trunks and branches to support yourself or pull yourself along as the trail was quite muddy and slippery and the terrain very steep. On the plus side, very little up & down (not like on Cerro Las Minas in Honduras) and gaining altitude quickly. There are several markers signaling the border between Nicaragua and Honduras. We were soon on the top after just 3 hr, unfortunately with no visibility.
On summit of Pico Mogoton with guide Roberto Castellanos
We took some pictures of the summit marker, but it was a bit ominous, dark, light rain, and breezy cold (only 15C). There were signs of (controlled) mine explosions near the summit, with little craters and blackened tree trunks with some roots ripped out of the ground. Also the yellow warning tape about landmines in many places. It’s hard to say how dangerous it was; probably no problem as long as you stayed on the trail, but definitely not a place to wander off the trail… Certainly not as lovely as it was on Tajumulco where I spend time laying barefoot in the grass…
Looking out through the cloud forest on the way down
Going down was relatively straightforward; one had to step carefully due to the steep and slippery terrain, often using trees to hold and support yourself. We saw exotic plants and mushrooms; we heard some birds but I didn’t see them. Also we didn’t see any monkeys, which are sometimes visible up here.
Unknown mushroom exhibited by my guide
Also the boulder hopping in the river bed requires really careful stepping so as to not slip and hurt yourself. After around 6 hrs we were back at the Finca with plenty of time to drive back out to Ocotal and for me to catch the last bus (3:30pm) back to Managua.
A big THANK YOU to Roberto, who served as a perfect mountain and nature guide, despite my extremely short notice. If you enlist his services (I paid $80) you won’t be disappointed.
The bus ride back to Managua was tolerable, with a pretty good bus again. Even though it said Express, it was an older model which went quite slow on some uphill stretches, and we ended up taking a full 4 hr again. I was drifting in and out due to the exercise, the heat in the bus and lack of sleep over the last few days. Getting back to the hotel near the bus terminal Mercado Mayoreo in the hot, dusty and loud city of Managua I thought back to the cool and tranquil environment up on Mogoton – what a difference to experience in a single day!
In this one day event on December 14 Doctors Without Borders shares insight from the frontlines about dealing with medical emergencies by broadcasting a special documentary in select theaters across the US.
Since coming back from the two mountains I have been riding again. As you can see from the SPOT track, I’ve covered El Salvador, crossed through the narrow stretch of Honduras and entered Nicaragua. That’s 3 different countries on 3 consecutive days! One could have crossed the Golfo Fonseca also by boat, thus bypassing Honduras. The road leads around the golf in a big horseshoe. Since I had already entered Honduras (for Cerro Las Minas) before without problems I was not concerned about safety when passing Honduras by bicycle. (Also the recent elections from a week ago have resulted in a newly established government which is finally being recognized by the international community, so there was less reason to expect political unrest.)
We are in the tropics here in Central America, and the dry season is upon us, so I haven’t had a drop of rain since resuming the ride after the Costa Rica vacation. I also have stayed mostly in the low lands with the bicycle and away from the mountains. That allows me to proceed somewhat faster, but it is also very hot. I have had temperatures around 35C every day, peaking at 38C a few times. This makes one get up very early and ride the first 2-3 hr of the day in relatively cool conditions.
It again amazes me how much attention my bike is receiving everywhere I show up. I usually smile and wave at people along the road, and almost all of them wave back and/or shout enthusiastically, or blow their horns. It can actually get tiring to receive that much attention all the time. Sometimes in the evenings when I’m tired and exhausted from the heat and a long day on the bike, I just want to be left alone and not have to cheer and answer the same questions over and over. After I park my bicycle for the night and change into normal cloths, I can move around without the attention. There is bliss in anonymity…
From reading bike books I was expecting the area to be poorer and less developed. But apparently a lot of development has happened here in the last decade or so. There are new roads and bridges (for example around Choluteca), many an old, pothole-riddled road has been paved freshly (for example the road from the Nicaragua border in Guasaule to Chinandega), there are cell phone towers and little Internet providers practically everywhere. (This also makes the State Department’s recommendation not to use cell phones in public somewhat outdated, as literally everyone here has a cell phone.) There are also many colorfully painted houses and some schools and international development projects along the way.
One aspect that still shows how far these countries have to go is that they often lack running water. So you take your showers with little buckets filled from big barrels of rainwater. I wonder what these folk do at the end of the dry season…
People are universally friendly and curious (especially due to my unusual recumbent bike). Border crossings proved to be far quicker than I thought – rarely did I wait more than 10 min! And traffic isn’t as bad as I thought – that was far worse for example in Guatemala. Here, however, you always have to expect cows, dogs, pigs or vultures on the road.
Occassionally I am accompanied by other riders, usually for a short stretch only, as the locals go from one village to the next. Sometimes there are 3 people sitting on one bike, and a few times I see a bike that’s loaded even heavier than mine!
This afternoon I hope to reach Leon, next to Granada one of the nicest cities in Nicaragua. Hopefully I will have some daylight left for sight-seeing there…
