May 5th 2024 – Panama City, Panama

 

Let me tell you a story about where dreams and dedication can get you.
20 years ago Antonio inherited a small finca (a piece of land) high up in the mountains of central Costa Rica from his aunt with the instructions to sell it and use the money to get an education.
He  was 19 years old and from the big city, but when he laid eyes on his inheritance he decided that he wanted to try his hand at farming.
The finca was uncultivated back then. He chose avocado as his main crop and started planting trees.
It takes years before avocado trees start producing. He needed something to feed him in the meantime.
Breeding chickens and selling the meat from the back of his truck on market day in the surrounding towns turned out to be the answer. He called the company Ecopollo and discovered that he had a flair for turning the feathered creatures into money.
When the avocado trees finally started producing, the chickens had made them redundant.
Early on Antonio married Noelia, a local girl. She helped him build the business and a family.
As a result of extraordinary entrepreneurship, hard work and a sense of responsibility for the people who depend on him, Antonio now has a company that produces 180.000 chickens every month, employs 130 people and keeps expanding.

—– O —–

 

We dropped the parts for Katrine’s bike off at the shop on a Monday morning. It was exciting when Chuta opened the boxes and checked if everything was there. It was, and he set to work.

The bike was ready 2 days later. Alejandro joined us when we went to pick it up.
Katrine was delighted to get it back. Besides new piston, cylinder, cam chain and head, Chuta had performed a complete service on the bike and fitted new tires. He had done a great job. It was like picking up a brand new bike. The shop charged us US$ 210 in labor for all the work they had done.
If you ever find yourself in need of a motorcycle shop in Costa Rica, I can vouch for “Taller Enrique Blanco e Hijos” in San Marcos, Tarrazu! They don’t have a home page or show on Gmaps but you can reach them at: +506-8860-9124.

Alehandro picked up the bike with us. When we left the shop he took us for a shakedown ride through the mountains. Katrine thought the bike ran better than ever.

It felt great to have both our bikes back. They moved into the kitchen building for the remainder of our stay.

With both bikes up and running we would have been ready to continue our journey if it wasn’t because we had a package of prescription medicine for Katrine stuck in customs. It had arrived in the country 2 weeks earlier but the process of getting it released turned out to be rather cumbersome. 

Now that only the medicine was holding us up, I started to become a bit impatient for the first time since we arrived in town. The cure for that was to spend the time well.

One day we hiked to the mountain top overlooking San Marcus.

Another day our hosts Jose and Emilia took us to Catarata Reyes, a spectacular waterfall and pool deep in the mountains. It was the kind of place only the locals know about.

Thanks to the persistence of Alejandro everything fell into place a couple of days later and Katrine finally received the package.

The little extra delay allowed us the opportunity to follow up on an invitation for a  double birthday party.
Alejandro’s wife Monica turned 30 and her niece Valentina, Antonio and Noelia’s oldest daughter, turned 14.
It was an all day event. Many of the people who had made our time in San Marcos something very special participated.  

On our last day in town we went for a ride with Antonio and Alejandro. They wanted to show us the finca where Ecopollo had been born. Antonio now owns land, production facilities and buildings in several locations, but this small piece of land high up in the mountains has a special place in his heart and is still the core of the company. His grandparents house, where he used to visit as a kid, was the only building on the property when he got it. Back then he lived there. Now it has been completely renovated and serves as a holiday cottage.

After a month in San Marcos it was time to take our leave. There had been several emotional goodbyes during our last days in town. We had made real friends and our time in the mountains of Costa Rica will always have a special place in our hearts. I will be forever grateful to Alejandro who made it all happen.

Both Katrine and I were exalted when we finally hit the road in search of new adventures beyond the horizon. With a last farewell to Los Santos we got on the Pan-American Highway and continued our journey south.

For an hour or so we continued to gain altitude until we reached 3.350 meters/11.000 feet. During the ascent we passed a viewpoint where you on clear days (which are extremely rare) can see both the Pacific and the Caribbean ocean. With pleasant temperatures and hardly any traffic we enjoyed the twisty ride.

It was all downhill from there. Both traffic and temperatures increased as we descended the mountains.
At Terraba river we diverted from the Pan-American and headed back into the mountains towards Sereno, where a small border crossing would allow us access to Panama.

We reached the border at a 1000 meters completely drenched after a short but very intense shower. It was nice to be cooled down a bit. We were the only non-locals at the border. The various offices we needed to visit were distributed randomly. Fin had crossed the same border a couple of weeks earlier and had been kind enough to send us a map with a description on where to go and what to do. It came in handy.

No one other than us was being processed.

Getting out of Costa Rica was easy. Getting into Panama not so much. The biggest hurdle was getting the TIP for the bikes. The man handling that was friendly and helpful but woefully incompetent. His main problem was probably bad eyesight. Even with a flashlight and strong glasses to assist him (in a well illuminated office), he had difficulties reading our papers. Operating the computer didn’t come easy to him either.
Eventually the TIPs were ready – 15 minutes after the custom office’s official closing hour.
The whole procedure had taken 3 hours.

While Katrine was handling the paperwork and testing her patience I kept an eye on the bikes. A lot of people stopped by to have a chat and I got adopted by a brawny dog that followed me wherever I went.
I’ve never been at a border with such a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere.

From the border we had a short ride to Helen and Scoop’s house. They had invited us to come and stay with them. 5 years ago they had retired and relocated from the US to Panama after years of preparation.

Scoop grew up on a ranch in Colorado and felt right at home in the highlands of northern Panama where cattle roam and cowboys rule.
They have created a good life in a charming house surrounded by a beautiful garden next to a creek. 
Katrine and I really like them and enjoyed their company.

When Katrine and I retired to our room, She decided to double check our papers from the border and discovered that both the insurance papers and TIP for my bike were filled in incorrectly. To avoid problems later on, we would have to return to the border the following day to have the errors corrected.

Scoop and Helen made sure we were properly fed in the morning and gave us a tour of the property before we left for the border.

As it was May 1st, a national holiday in Panama, it was uncertain if the offices at the border would be open when we got there. Our hosts had generously offered that we could stay another night If it turned out that we couldn’t get the papers fixed that day.

First stop was the insurance office. It was closed. Katrine talked with the people at the pharmacy across the street and explained our predicament. They called the woman who ran the Insurance office. She showed up ½ hour later and set to work on the papers. After 4 tries everything was correct and she could resume her day off.

Next stop was the customs office. They were open and with the same guy behind the counter as the previous day. He was sorry for the mistake and did his best to correct it. It took him 6 tries to get it right. 

The whole affair at the border took 2 hours this time around.

As we reached Scoop and Helen’s house for the second time in two days, we stopped by for a cup of coffee and to let them know that everything had worked out.
From there we dropped down to the Pan-American and aimed for Santiago.

We had been warned about the numerous speed traps along the Pan-American and stayed within the posted limits even though they often seemed ridiculously low. I quickly lost count of how many speed traps we passed. It was a surprisingly pleasant ride with scenic views and an overcast sky to hold the temperatures in check.

It had been a long day and Katrine was knackered when we arrived at the hostel in Santiago where I had booked a room earlier the same day. It was owned and run by a young couple. The woman had inherited the house from her grandparents and turned it into a cozy haven for travelers. Her mother helped out and ran the kitchen. Everyone was super nice and friendly. The place was a real gem.
It was a quiet day with few guests so we got upgraded from the cheapest to their best room. Dinner was served on the patio after we had settled in.

After a good night’s sleep we were ready for breakfast and to face a new day.
4 hours on the Pan-American reward us with a stunning view of Panama City’s skyline from the Bridge of the Americas as we crossed the Panama Canal. The room I had booked downtown turned out to be a complete 6 bedroom apartment with every amenity imaginable. It’s the perfect place to spend the weekend while we explore the area and prepare to jump The Darien Gap.

Monday morning we’ll ride to the airport and drop off the bikes at Cargo Rider, before we get on a plane to Bogota later the same day.

Hopefully the next update will be from another continent.