The first day in Costa Rica started with fresh coffee, crusty bread, homemade yogurt, muesli, cheese, fried eggs, and a big fruit platter. Mmm…! Luckily, we’d signed up for breakfast at Agi and Guido’s—it was heavenly and plentiful!😊 But not all the guests had as big an appetite as we did, which is why Agi had a loaf of bread left over and gave it to us!

With full bellies, we rode a few more kilometers on the Pan-American Highway before turning onto a small country road heading east. We were surprised that this beautiful route had so little traffic. It all made sense when the good paved road turned into a dirt track after Santa Cecilia. So the ride continued a bit bumpier but still quite pleasant. Soon the climb toward Lago de Arenal began. With green meadows and grazing cows, the lovely landscape reminded us of Switzerland. The relentless climbs prompted a couple of curses from us. Who builds 20% grade roads, in the middle of the village of Monteverde, for example?! But the effort was well worth it, as we were welcomed by our warm-hearted Warmshowers host Ellen and were able to settle in comfortably at her house surrounded by greenery.

Costa Rica is known and loved by visitors for its natural beauty. There are many national parks and reserves throughout the country, including in the mountains of Monteverde. Anyone who shoots birds with lenses as big as their thighs won’t complain about the $29 per person entrance fee for the three-kilometer walking trail. For us, however, this was way too expensive. We found a hiking trail through the cloud forest that we were able to walk for free, far away from the crowds and without a guide. Although we didn’t see any exciting animals and the plant diversity looked mostly green to us non-experts, we really enjoyed scrambling through the jungle. We spent three nights in the pleasantly cool mountain air before saying goodbye to Ellen and heading down into the heat of the Nicoya Peninsula.

We had included the detour to Sámara in our itinerary because a friend of ours is married to a Tico from there, and we were able to leave our souvenirs from Mexico with her father-in-law. When we arrived in Sámara and checked our messages, an incredibly amazing surprise awaited us: Rünggi and Rodrigo had arranged two nights’ accommodation for us and asked what time we’d like to go out to eat at a friend’s restaurant. Wow, you two have given us such a huge treat! Thank you so much😘!!!
Although our last break had only been two days ago, we had absolutely no problem taking another rest day in Sámara and letting our souls unwind. The beautiful beach really invites you to do just that. What a happy coincidence that among the many tourists here were two familiar faces: Pati and Leti from Graubünden, whom we had met in Nicaragua. We spent a cozy evening with the two of them before continuing our journey.

We would have gladly delayed our departure from Sámara a bit longer, because it was just too hot for cycling and the route looked terribly hilly. But we wanted to get this section behind us, so off we went! Thanks to a bit of a breeze, shade-providing trees, and our beloved helmet brims, the heat in the morning and late afternoon was bearable. The climbs on the dusty track, however, were so brutaly steep that even David gave up and had to push. After a long siesta with a refreshing iced coffee, the reward for the strenuous morning came toward evening. The unofficial road led directly over the hard-packed sand along the beach. What a great experience! Our overnight spot right by the sea was also lovely… until, in the dark, the entire ground began to move with hermit crabs.

The next morning, after a few dusty but flat kilometers, we reached the tourist town of Santa Teresa. What was still a sleepy fishing village just a few years ago is now a popular destination for yoga, surf, and other wellness tourists with high credit card limits. We didn’t like the commercialized atmosphere catering to wealthy North Americans and Europeans at all. We spoke with some of them; they were all very nice, and their reasons for emigrating here were understandable. Nevertheless, we found the masses of people who use money from their home countries to buy expensive properties here and lead a carefree life quite appalling.

On the second day, too, the ride across the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula, with its steep climbs, nearly drove me to despair. It didn’t matter whether I was just sweating or crying as well. So I did both. Eventually, we reached Cóbano and, with it, the paved road. Phew, that had been an unexpectedly challenging stretch! From there to the ferry to the mainland and then along the coastal road to Dominical, the ride was much easier. Aside from endless palm oil plantations, however, there wasn’t much to see. In Dominical, we spent what would be our last night on the Pacific Coast for the time being, this time with nocturnal Halloween crabs.

The climb from sea level to 1’100 meters above sea level toward San Isidro was, as usual, dotted with steep sections and made us sweat so profusely that David could wring the sweat out of his clothes during our mid-morning snack. After a long lunch break in San Isidro, we called it a early day: David had an allergic reaction; the bend of his left arm was red and swollen, and his entire upper body was itching. The search for affordable lodging took a while, but we found a place and first gave our clothes a thorough wash at the Airbnb.

Maybe that helped; in any case, David’s itching was gone the next day. Plus, we didn’t have to sweat so miserably while crossing the Talamanca mountain range. Both the gradient and the temperatures were very pleasant, and the ride through the mountain forest was a real joy. After we’d pedaled up the first 1’700 meters of elevation, we wanted to spend the night in a small village near a soccer field. The woman we asked for permission took us to her uncle’s house, where we were allowed to pitch our tent in the garden. The next morning, we quickly covered the remaining elevation gain to Costa Rica’s highest road pass. Surprisingly, the pass, at a whopping 3’300 meters above sea level, has neither a name nor a sign!

The fact that my bike was making strange cracking noises on the long descent wasn’t exactly reassuring. After listening closely, we pinpointed the cause to my rear wheel. David carefully tightened the slightly loose spokes, but this didn’t help. Fortunately, we were on our way to the city of Cartago, where there were supposed to be a few bike mechanics. We didn’t expect anyone to be able to help us on a late Saturday afternoon, but we wanted to give it a try anyway. As we entered the city, we passed an unassuming repair shop. The mechanic on duty immediately took the time to help us and quickly found the problem: worn-out ball bearings in my rear wheel hub. An hour later, he had replaced the bearings and charged the equivalent of 12 francs for the emergency service, materials included.

Further along our route was a place called La Suiza. Of course, we didn’t want to miss it. Located right next to the village of Canadá, La Suiza had absolutely nothing to offer! Even the otherwise ubiquitous giant letters spelling out the town’s name were missing. We settled for a selfie in front of the bakery sign and continued our journey toward the Caribbean. Although we had read that the Caribbean side of Costa Rica was more humid and rainy, the rain came as a surprise and at an inopportune time. For the first time in many weeks, we had to dig our rain ponchos out of our bags.

Although we had enough space on the shoulder of the highway to Puerto Limón, it was still noisy and busy. We were accordingly relieved when most of the trucks turned off toward the port and we continued toward the city center. It wasn’t just Columbus who landed in Puerto Limón on his fourth voyage of discovery, but also a large cruise ship carrying German-speaking guests. We spent our lunch break a bit away from the hustle and bustle and enjoyed the calm, relaxed atmosphere. We found the same vibe in the little village of Cahuita, where we spent the night on the tent field of a reggae bar. Not just with reggae music, but in general, life in the Caribbean moved a bit slower and more leisurely than on the Pacific. We loved it!
On our last morning in Costa Rica, we visited a national park for the first time. Luckily, we didn’t have to pay an entrance fee for the beautiful walk through the forest to a cape😉.

All the way to the border with Panama, the landscape was dominated by huge banana plantations with modest workers’ settlements. This is where our Chiquita and Del Monte bananas come from! The complicated border crossing didn’t do justice to the organized and orderly Costa Rica. The immigration office’s container was only recognizable as such upon closer inspection, and the little booth where the exit fee had to be paid was even harder to find. The process on the other side of the bridge in Panama was similar. It would have been much easier to drive past the authorities unnoticed than to ask for directions to their counters.

Another five kilometers through banana plantations brought us to the finca of our Warmshower host, Francisco. He let us pitch our tent there and we asked him all sorts of questions about Panama and its people, which was very interesting. Today we rode on flat terrain through lush greenery to Almirante, where we boarded the ferry to Colón Island. Now we’re chugging along at a leisurely pace toward the main town Bocas del Toro, where we’ll take a few days’ break.