Cycling in Costa Rica

I crossed into Costa Rica with an ear infection on the first day of Semana Santa. Fortunately for me, in Latin America farmacies will generally sell you anything without doctor consultation first, so getting aural antibiotics was no issue - $2.
Having heard about how expensive CR is and it being the holy week (Latin America's most popular travel time next to Christmas), I was focused on avoiding touristy areas to avoid high accommodation prices. Food prices were about 3-4x what they were to the north, generally $8-15 for lunch/dinner. Yikes 😲

I first landed in La Cruz, nothing much to speak of except for a great view 

 I started the day unsure of where I was going: either to Liberia, a small city about 70k away or  a Warmshowers stay in a no name town at the top of the Nicoya Península, another 65k further. The scenery continued to be striking, still a bit above sea level.

I ended up deciding to try to make it to the Warmshowers host, leaving Liberia in the afternoon after a nap in the park.
Riding into the sunset,

I arrived well after dark (which is very unusual for me). I was glad I missed the turn to the fellow's house, for I ended up in a small town with a restaurant to eat. As it turned out he had nothing to eat at his place...

Doubling back to find the turn I had missed, it was an unlit dirt road leading towards a residential kind of area. His house was a few kilómetros from the road, entirely unlit. So in the black of night, when I came to this small river that crossed the road, I was a bit surprised/shocked

.

Fortunately a car soon pulled up behind me and with its headlights I could see a log to walk across.

The Nicoya Península 

Turns out this guy lived on a property with others in his family. And because it was Semana Santa, much of their extended family was there also. Most were also camping out like me. 

It was an interesting opportunity for me to spend a couple nights with a family for Semana Santa - drinking, dancing, and hanging out.

I had heard that the roads in CR are generally terrible, so I tried to suss out in advance where would be se safer/smoother bet. Fortunately for me, I learned, many of the roads had been paved for the first time only WEEKS before I arrived. So I was able to cross the entire Nicoya peninsula on newly paved roads. 

Turns out I arrived the end of the Nicoya Península on good Friday, the one day the ferry back to the mainland doesn't run. So I camped out at a restaurant nearby for the night.

 On the ferry, like most everywhere, there was a bar and loud Latin music 

I arranged a Warmshowers stay in Puntarenas. This person really had nothing to offer but the fence in front of his house. For I had only the cement front patio to sleep on, with street activity bothering me all night and my still deflating mattress ruining my sleep. 

Jacó
One of my favorite spots of my trip: a hostel , with a beautiful pool and a bar /restaurant right on beautiful beach, in a reasonably developed town, and right near a supermarket to cook my own food. Having come to recognize/appreciate quality/value when I see it, I stayed 3 nights - about as long as I stay anywhere. 

Cycling in much of Costa Rica was sensational. Mostly easier flat roads (on the west coast anyway) that are generally well paved, even with a shoulder sometimes. I give the road infrastructure here a B+ (mind you I give Boston an D- ).

Miles and miles of palm plantations

 And a palm oil factory.

 Whale tale beach National Park, Uvita 

 This iguana climbing in the tree next to my tent was about 4 feet long, biggest I've ever seen.

I've never seen a country with so many national parks. It's good to see there are still governments in the world who still respect our natural environment...

To my dismay, I learned by April 9th that the rainy season /winter starts earlier in the south of Costa Rica. Before the late April /May start I was anticipating/hoping for.
At least it's hot and rainy. Cold and rainy is a miserable combination on a bicycle.

The Osa península

Got a little beat up cycling 70k out to Puerto Jimenez on the Osa península. The first 40k was steep up and down, through the jungle, of course hot and humid. But what made it a bit more cumbersome: my chain started to slip. The last time I replaced it was in San Diego.

A family of Coatis walked into the middle of the street ahead of me. It seemed the babies stopped in the middle of the road and forced everyone to abort the mission and turn back. I hope I didn't interfere :/