La Embarcadora. (San Lorenzo to Naranjito)

Today I finally met my Facebook friend Rolf Blanke (and his wife Juana and friend Henry). He asked me if I knew any good routes to the coast, and I agreed to lead them. Since they were coming from Tres Ríos, I thought one of the Santos routes would be best. Because he was taking his wife, I thought the San Francisco to Parrita one might be too steep. (It probably would have been a better choice!🙃) A few friends had told me that the road from San Lorenzo to Naranjito was much easier than the one I usually take to Parrita, so I chose to go that way.

After a delicious breakfast at Casa del Cafe, off we went!

It was foggy and drizzling from San Lorenzo through most of the route, with some clear skies here and there. Because of this, we missed most of the views. Bummer.

But when the clouds parted, the views were, well, you know: gorgeous!!

There were tons of puddles, lots of mud, and many landslides along the way, but most of the road was relatively hard-packed dirt/gravel.

At Naranjillo/Esquipulas juncture, because the sign said Naranjillo, we mistakenly went left down some hairpin curves. 🤣 But fortunately we made it back up OK.

One part of the route was more technical, and the road narrowed down to less than one rocky lane with little waterfalls along it. We crossed about four creeks. Fun!!

It was an exciting adventure. A bit challenging for Henry, who doesn’t have much experience on a motorcycle, but no one was hurt.

Rolf did a fantastic job considering all the weight he had to manage.

And Robert was the king of the road on his KLR, riding back to help Henry several times.

Me, I was ashamed at having led my friends down a new route that was more challenging than I had expected. (Plus, I was upset that Sahara’s suspension was not fixed after two attempts and lots of expenditures.)

But, I nevertheless had an enjoyable time and hope to return to this route when summer is well established.

As they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained. We all gained some wisdom today and definitely more off-road experience. 😀💖

RIDING IN COSTA RICA: LIVE THE POWER.

Wednesday, November 24, 2020

Thanks to Rolf for several of these photos.