coydogsf
Adventurer
Seems like that would be a pretty common one. Or Colon to Texas and we'll road trip it home. Would be great to share a container.
Let us know what you find out and hope all else is well!
Dave
San Francisco to Tierra Del Fuego leaving Nov 2010 (Nissan Xterra)
- Thread starter coydogsf
- Start date
Seems like that would be a pretty common one. Or Colon to Texas and we'll road trip it home. Would be great to share a container.
Let us know what you find out and hope all else is well!
Dave
coydogsf
Adventurer
Sad to leave SprinterLife and Pleasure Device but ready to be back out on our own, we made our way towards Granada, Nicaragua on one of the worst "main" roads we've found. Perhaps just oversaturated on colonial towns and unable to avoid the unfavorable comparison with Antigua, we backtracked after a couple days to Laguna de Apoyo and the Volcan Masaya. After breathing sulfur fumes and understanding why they tell you to park facing the exit, a soak in the thermal waters at Apoyo was awesome. Get the whole story at Granada, Volcan Masaya and Laguna de Apoyo.
From there, we crossed into Costa Roca (border info at Nicaragua-Costa Rica Border) and headed down towards the Nicoya Peninsula. Coming soon...
Dave
From there, we crossed into Costa Roca (border info at Nicaragua-Costa Rica Border) and headed down towards the Nicoya Peninsula. Coming soon...
Dave
coydogsf
Adventurer
New features on our site...
In case anyone's interested, I just added some new features to our site based on the experience we're having. The sections are:
They're are all "works in progress" but just a place to compile some of the info on the lessons we've learned. Check 'em out and let me know what you think.
Dave
In case anyone's interested, I just added some new features to our site based on the experience we're having. The sections are:
They're are all "works in progress" but just a place to compile some of the info on the lessons we've learned. Check 'em out and let me know what you think.
Dave
coydogsf
Adventurer
Playa Brasilito was a good first stop in Costa Rica after the border crossing. There's only one swanky place to stay on nearby Playa Conchal, said to be one of the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica, but camping a KM north and driving down the beach worked just fine! From there, we took a little tour of the Nicoya Peninsula including Tamarindo before turning north towards Monteverde. Check out the beach to cloud forest in a day at Playa Brasilito to Monteverde.
Plus a visit to the frog habitat...
As soon as we got over the sticker shock - it seemed to cost $20 just to sneeze around there - we settled in and had a great time in the cloud forest reserve, zipling and seeing the sloths. Read all about it in Monteverde and/or just watch the video below!
Dave
Plus a visit to the frog habitat...
As soon as we got over the sticker shock - it seemed to cost $20 just to sneeze around there - we settled in and had a great time in the cloud forest reserve, zipling and seeing the sloths. Read all about it in Monteverde and/or just watch the video below!
Dave
coydogsf
Adventurer
Hey Edmundo! Great to hear from you. Hope all is well and that you're getting up into the mountains (on a bike, jeep or motorcycle).
Please don't tell everyone what we were like 4 months ago when we saw you last! It'll ruin our rep as smooth operators...
Dave
coydogsf
Adventurer
From Monteverde, we continued north over the mountains to Lago Arenal. We didn't realize until later that the clear view we had of the volcano for the next two days was something of a rarity. We'd also noticed the huge windmills on the way in but it took a few days to realize that what we really wanted to do in the area. For me, it was learning to kiteboard. For Ann, it was sitting in the hammock and watching the dramatic weather roll by. Read the full story at Lago Arenal.
We absolutely loved Lago Arenal. Perfect temperature and constantly changing weather - but never enough to inconvenience you. A definite highlight of the trip for us!
Dave
We absolutely loved Lago Arenal. Perfect temperature and constantly changing weather - but never enough to inconvenience you. A definite highlight of the trip for us!
Dave
coydogsf
Adventurer
From Arenal, we zigzagged through curvy, potholed backroads without a real destination in mind. Honestly, we weren't impressed with the small interior towns which seemed to have lost their character from development, so we headed back into the mountains and Volcan Poas (click for the full story on the blog). Unfortunately, the fog never quite cleared but getting there was enough of an adventure on a steep 4x4 road that ended at a "rustic" hotel near the entrance to the volcano park.
Diagonaling south, Orosi and San Gerardo de Dota were pleasant surprises. Despite passing mountain bikers on the way in, Orosi was celebrating its "tope" or horse parade and the streets were lined with tailgating familiies dressed in their best western wear as the locals marched their finest horses down main street, some pausing to show of intricate riding manuevers that made the horses look like they were tap dancing. Honestly, we were too confused to find ourselves driving down the middle of the parade to take pictures but the rest of the valley and the coffee plantation we visited was beautiful.
In a side valley near the highest point on the Pan Am in Central America, we had a nice night of camping by a stream in San Gerardo de Dota, including some fresh-"caught" trout that made for some delicious fish tacos.
Diagonaling south, Orosi and San Gerardo de Dota were pleasant surprises. Despite passing mountain bikers on the way in, Orosi was celebrating its "tope" or horse parade and the streets were lined with tailgating familiies dressed in their best western wear as the locals marched their finest horses down main street, some pausing to show of intricate riding manuevers that made the horses look like they were tap dancing. Honestly, we were too confused to find ourselves driving down the middle of the parade to take pictures but the rest of the valley and the coffee plantation we visited was beautiful.
In a side valley near the highest point on the Pan Am in Central America, we had a nice night of camping by a stream in San Gerardo de Dota, including some fresh-"caught" trout that made for some delicious fish tacos.
coydogsf
Adventurer
Before leaving Costa Rica, we took a bumpy excusrsion onto the Osa Peninsula to Drakes Bay. The road is impassable during the wet season and most people fly in to a small airstrip but we were overlanders and wanted to get the tires dirty. The potholes on the short paved sections were the most dangerous but the shallow but sometimes wide water crossings were still exciting, not to mention our first flat. Read all about it on the blog at The Osa Peninsula, Drake Bay and Pavones.
Drakes Bay was beautiful, but honestly, we were actually getting tired of jungle hikes and were never much for boat rides. We enjoyed hanging out and looking at the view and meeting some people at the hostel but were aware of the fact that our thoughts were starting to turn towards home and putting down some roots.
On the other side of the Golfo Dulce, we caught up with SprinterLife in the surf mecca of Pavones, for one last night. We knew we'd likely be shipped out of Panama before they got there.
We'd decided as far north as Antigua, Guatemala that we wouldn't be shipping our truck to South America to continue our trip. We'd set Tierra del Fuego as a direction to be heading but agreed that we were having the adventure we wanted and that South America was too large and exciting to take on without feeling completely motivated. We were excited to return home from a great adventure with stories to tell our friends and families and energy to think about other trips in the future.
Drakes Bay was beautiful, but honestly, we were actually getting tired of jungle hikes and were never much for boat rides. We enjoyed hanging out and looking at the view and meeting some people at the hostel but were aware of the fact that our thoughts were starting to turn towards home and putting down some roots.
On the other side of the Golfo Dulce, we caught up with SprinterLife in the surf mecca of Pavones, for one last night. We knew we'd likely be shipped out of Panama before they got there.
We'd decided as far north as Antigua, Guatemala that we wouldn't be shipping our truck to South America to continue our trip. We'd set Tierra del Fuego as a direction to be heading but agreed that we were having the adventure we wanted and that South America was too large and exciting to take on without feeling completely motivated. We were excited to return home from a great adventure with stories to tell our friends and families and energy to think about other trips in the future.
coydogsf
Adventurer
Shenanigans in Panama... Within hours of entering Panama, we had our first two blatant shakedown attempts. The first one at the border was more flagrant than frightening, but the second was the full court press. Read about them at Costa Rica–Panama Border and Police Shakedown to Boquete.
But the little mountain town of Santa Fe was a nice place to restore our impression of Panama. We stayed at a great little hostel and toured an organic farm, but in our current state, both made us even more excited about returning home, seeing family and friends and maybe building a similar environment for ourselves at home.
But the little mountain town of Santa Fe was a nice place to restore our impression of Panama. We stayed at a great little hostel and toured an organic farm, but in our current state, both made us even more excited about returning home, seeing family and friends and maybe building a similar environment for ourselves at home.
coydogsf
Adventurer
El Valle's another left turn off the PanAm up into the mountains, this time into a 3 mile wide volcanic crater. It had an upscale, touristy feel but was a good place for us to start doing some research on shipping. The waterfall was "eh" (can you tell we've been on the road for a while) and, while it's never easy to see wild animals in captivity, the zoo claims all the animals are "rescues" and provided an opportunity to see a lot up close.
And this wild sloth was hanging out in the trees by our hotel.
The little mountain towns of Panama were nice places to explore along the way south. We'd decided to skip the beaches - Bocas del Toro and some on the Pacific Side - because of the heat and because there didn't seem to be much to do other than surf and sit around and we'd had our fill of both.
Before we knew it, we were pulling into Panama City, glad to know exactly where we were heading: Panama Passage. We hadn't seen Shaun since meeting up in Zipolite a few months earlier, but he'd hooked us up with a shipping agent and The Passage felt like a home away from home. Over the next couple days, we did a few touristy things including the Canal and Casco Viejo while waiting for shipping details (read about it on the blog at Panama City).
And this wild sloth was hanging out in the trees by our hotel.
The little mountain towns of Panama were nice places to explore along the way south. We'd decided to skip the beaches - Bocas del Toro and some on the Pacific Side - because of the heat and because there didn't seem to be much to do other than surf and sit around and we'd had our fill of both.
Before we knew it, we were pulling into Panama City, glad to know exactly where we were heading: Panama Passage. We hadn't seen Shaun since meeting up in Zipolite a few months earlier, but he'd hooked us up with a shipping agent and The Passage felt like a home away from home. Over the next couple days, we did a few touristy things including the Canal and Casco Viejo while waiting for shipping details (read about it on the blog at Panama City).
coydogsf
Adventurer
With the help of the shipping agent Shaun at Panama Passage hooked us up with, we made the rounds of inspections and got the paper work we needed before driving the truck to Colon for loading. As you'd expect, there were some ups and downs but somehow, at the end of the day, the truck was on cruise bound for Oakland. Read all about the process on the blog at Shipping Panama to Oakland and watch the video below for a little recap of the shipping and the trip as a whole!
coydogsf
Adventurer
Returning home, we left SprinterLife and wouldn't get a chance to meet back up with Pleasure Device or Unurban Adventures. We wouldn't be around for PanAm Notes and Adventurous Spirits to catch up with us or for us to catch up with Lost World Expedition, but were excited to be back. Read some of our thoughts at Rentry.
Thanks for following along on the trip and for your comments and suggestions both here and on the blog. Since returning, we've bought a piece of land with a house about 45 minutes north of San Francisco in Petaluma and are starting to plant a garden, raise some animals and do some of the things we talked about endlessly while sitting side by side for hours on the road. The trip did what we wanted it to; It opened our minds up to the possibilities and taught us that the first step towards accomplishing anything is just deciding to do it. We're still blogging about our new adventure on "The Farm" and would love to have you read along if you're interested.
One final follow-up that actually has something to do with overlanding. The process of retrieving our truck from the port in Oakland was one of the most daunting and confusing (and expensive) processes we were faced with in 8 border crossings, 5 months, and 10,000 miles on the road. Read about it (plus a little taste of farm life) at Fleeced: Unloading the truck and shearing sheep.
Thanks!
Dave and Ann
Thanks for following along on the trip and for your comments and suggestions both here and on the blog. Since returning, we've bought a piece of land with a house about 45 minutes north of San Francisco in Petaluma and are starting to plant a garden, raise some animals and do some of the things we talked about endlessly while sitting side by side for hours on the road. The trip did what we wanted it to; It opened our minds up to the possibilities and taught us that the first step towards accomplishing anything is just deciding to do it. We're still blogging about our new adventure on "The Farm" and would love to have you read along if you're interested.
One final follow-up that actually has something to do with overlanding. The process of retrieving our truck from the port in Oakland was one of the most daunting and confusing (and expensive) processes we were faced with in 8 border crossings, 5 months, and 10,000 miles on the road. Read about it (plus a little taste of farm life) at Fleeced: Unloading the truck and shearing sheep.
Thanks!
Dave and Ann
Scott Brady
Founder
I enjoyed Boquete and Panama as a whole.
I did have the same issue at the border though, with an overt demand for a bribe.
Glad you are having fun. Your imagery is looking sweet!
I did have the same issue at the border though, with an overt demand for a bribe.
Glad you are having fun. Your imagery is looking sweet!