UPDATE 15 - CENTRAL AMERICA & MEXICO - 20 AUG 06

CENTRAL AMERICA & MEXICO

(Double click on the photos to enlarge them)

06 Aug 06 (Sun). Panama
Leaving Cartagena: As we left Cartagena yesterday there had been a visible increase in the level of Police and Army patrols on the streets of the city. As we drove to the airport, roads were closed channelling vehicles into an increased number of vehicle checkpoints for routine checks. The Colombian President has been re-elected and will be inaugurated this weekend which has raised the security levels around the country. Over the last couple of days there has been an increase in the reporting of improvised explosive devises being detonated causing the loss of life mainly to the police, as well as number of major finds of unexploded devises.

Security at Cartagena airport is high and probably routinely; all bags are search if they are going in the aircraft hold. The Army security screener asked if our baggage was for the hold or carry-on? We said carry-on and were directed to the check-in desk. Other passengers went through the process of having there bags completely emptied and searched. But all this and the subsequent searches that we went through were conducted with eye contact, politeness, conversation and humour, unlike Miami and the USA experience.

Panama City:
This morning we located the Panama City shipping office so that we can be there first thing on Monday morning and start the process for recovering our bikes. This afternoon we thought we’d walk to the old city and get some photos; unfortunately the heavens opened, taking shelter under a tree we waited for the storm to pass before continuing; but a few minutes later the heavens opened again. This time we were able to shelter on the walk way under a wide veranda where the rain created a curtain of rushing water screening the road. We did try to persist with the walk to the old town but sometime you’ve just go to call an end to folly; rain stopped play!

07 Aug 06 (Mon).
Due to a national holiday in Colombia our shipping papers had not been sent and would arrive on Tue by email. We were informed that we would also have to pay US$265 to have the container opened at Cristobal to get the bikes; this was a bit of a surprise as we had been told that all cost were covered in the shipping fee! We cannot do anything today and will have to return tomorrow, which starts to eat into our riding time!

We visited Bavarian Motors, BMW Panama City to see if we could get Mick’s bike checked as his engine management light has been on again. We are hopeful that the fault is due to a faulty rear light, but we need to check it before we head north out of Panama City.

08 Aug 06 (Tue). Colon – Panama City: Ruta: 60 Miles
The shipping agents had all the documents to authorise the release of the bikes by 1030, which meant that we could get a taxi to the port of Chrisobal on the Atlantic coast at Colon and start the retrieval process. Today was an outstanding example of bureaucracy doing its best to squeeze as much cash as possible from the punter! The first stop was the shipping company at the port who gave us an agent to take us around the various other agencies to try and secure the release of the bikes this afternoon. It was a case of being bumped from pillar to post around the customs offices to get letters of release written by one customs officer (backhander required) to be given to the customs officer at the next desk to try and complete a computer form and then try to get the head of customs to sign it before they all finished for the day. This took over two hours; it was a fine example of bureaucratically ineptitude and incompetence; and all the time the office junior, who must have been either the bosses son or the village idiot spent his time being a sex pest to the female staff and abusing the male staff – very strange!

Returning to the docks we thought that we had all the correct authorisations, but no, obviously an opportunity to squeeze a bit more cash! The bikes were cleared but the panniers were not, and time was running out to get the dock staff to deliver the container. More negotiating and a bit more cash seemed to do the trick. Pay the port fees of US$135, which was 50% less than we had been told it would be, what a nice surprise; container delivered, opened and the bikes were as we’d left them, in good order. Then as we tried to leave the port there was a problem with the paperwork; another US$10 seemed to clear that little problem and we were out and free for a wet and mucky ride back to Panama City.

During the five hours that it had taken to extract the bikes the heavens had opened to a torrential and sustained tropical storm, the sort that produced raindrops the size of eggs and soaks you to the skin in a second. We thought it was going to be a very wet 60 mile return journey to Panama City; but the gods were on our side, it stopped just before we departed, but it was still very damp. The final costs were; obviously to tip the agent who had “helped” us secure the bikes and the taxi that we though that we had taken off hire was still there! In all it cost the best part of US$400; will have to investigate the flying option next time!

09 Aug 06 (Wed). Panama City – Ciudad Neily Costa Rica: Ruta Pan American Highway (PAH): 240 Miles
You know that feeling, you have forgotten something, not done something or should be somewhere that you’re not? Standing at the mirror shaving the penny dropped, I hadn’t seen the big video camera this morning, or yesterday!!!!!!!! Then you start to do the mental back-track, when and where had I last seen it? I had not taken it to the port; it must be in the last hotel, which fortunately was just around the corner. Asking at the desk, ever hopeful, yes it was there and was delivered in moments, what a relief!

On the way out of Panama City we stopped at Bavarian Motors for them to check Mick’s warning light problem. The fault was the rear light and just needed a bit of work to repair the electrical connections. They spent an hour doing this and did not charge a penny, another very helpful and efficient BMW dealership. There was another Brit BMW 800 having some major work carried out on it, belonging to a girl riding the world solo.

The ride to the border having left the city and crossed to Panama Canal was straightforward on the PAH. As the afternoon approach we could see the build up of the afternoon rains and at 2 o’clock it hit us; we drove into a wall of water that reduced the visibility to metres and drenched us in seconds! Fortunately we found some protection in a bus shelter where we stayed for the best part of 30 minutes while the storm eased to torrential and we could see where we were riding! As we approached the Costa Rica border a solo bike was heading towards us; this time we all stopped and went for a coffee to exchange stories and advice. Lewis was riding a BMW 650 from his home in Canada through the Americas and then heading to Africa. Stories and advice exchanged, he gave us his Central America map that he no longer needed and had been given by another rider as he was approaching the area. Gratefully received as we did not have one, we will pass it on to the next rider we see going that way.

Our ride up through Central America was a rapid transit and a fairly uneventful event with each country very much the same as the previous and unless there was something of outstanding interest I will not be commenting. We did not take any photos either! The border crossings were all of a similar nature, an inept cluster of inefficient individuals purporting to be part of an official Government organisation. Unlike the border crossings of South America, where there were no charges, these were more like a cottage industry than an organised government agency, keeping as many people earning a bit of cash as possible and having travellers moving from official to photocopier to official to bank to official. For the first time we also experience that every crossing, both exit and entry had to be paid for. There was also a degree of blatant official corruption at each crossing too. It took more time to complete the formalities than it did to ride through Central America and it cost more in border crossing fees than it did in fuel!

10 Aug 06 (Thu). Ciudad Neily Costa Rica – Managua Nicaragua: Ruta PAH & Coast Road: 435 Miles.
We had been recommended by a customs officer yesterday to take the direct route north along the coast instead of staying with the PAH and riding through the mountains to San Jose. He did say that a section of this route would be on tracks but our bikes would be fine. The bit he didn’t say was that it was a muddy stone track about 50 miles and after rain would be like a skating rink! Never mind, all part of the fun slipping around on road tyres; just to hones the skills a bit!

11 Aug 06 (Fri). Managua Nicaragua – Honduras – San Miguel El Salvador. Ruta PAH: 270 Miles
While we were clearing the Nicaragua/Honduras border we met Sam, an Irishman riding KTM 650 from Ireland, through Europe to Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Australia, the USA and from Central America to South America. He had been travelling for 10 months and had a positive view of the all the countries that he’d travelled through; Iran and Pakistan were particularly high on his praise list which is encouraging to hear; wonder if we should go that way?

During the last couple of months we have been in contact with Pablo who lives in Guatemala and was keen to meet and ride with us for a coupe of days if the opportunity arose. We had arranged to meet him in San Miguel this afternoon and if we arrived early enough we’d ride on to his house on the Pacific coast of Guatemala. We were running late after another slow border crossing and were making good progress through the traffic when we approach a police check point on the outskirts of San Miguel, we thought we were clear to drive through when at the last minute the police made a very positive order for us stop and pull over. More checks we thought; then a red Mitsubishi Evo pulled in front us and the driver got out pointing at us and speaking excitedly to the police - had we cut him up, was he a plain clothed cop? No, he was a friend of Pablo who had come out to find us and lead us to the hotel, but on his way out of the city he’d asked the police to stop us and either give us directions or lead us to the hotel; that was a relief!

Meeting Pablo, he said it was too late to ride to Guatemala; which was a huge relief to us as we’d crossed two borders today and our tolerance and patience for another crossing was not high. The plan was to stay in this hotel tonight and leave first thing in the morning for a 6 hour ride to his house. After a very pleasant evening sharing stories it was time for an early finish although David, the Evo driver wanted to take us out partying he knew some very exotic places; maybe next time?

12 Aug 06 (Sat). San Miguel – Iztapa Guatemala: Ruta CA1 PAH, CA2: 260 Miles.
It was going to be an easy day for us as Pablo was going to lead which meant that we did not have to navigate and could just follow the leader. El Salvador is a very densely populated country and traffic was bumper to bumper as we left the city and the obvious consequence of heavy traffic, poor driving and little observation of the rules was evident as we passed a police cordon where a cyclist had been knocked of his bike and killed, but left in the road waiting for other agencies to arrive to deal with the incident.

Crossing the border from El Salvador to Guatemala holds the record for the shortest crossing time so far; 50 minute, but that was with Pablo using his influence to get the Customs Officer to get the forms signed quickly. The last part of today’s ride included a couple of ferry crossings of the coastal mangrove swamps, which was another of those interesting experiences as you’re never quite sure that you’ll make it to the other side! The ferries were similar to the one we used to cross to Copacabana in Bolivia, but very much smaller and considerably less stable; as we made slight turn, the ferry flexed and one of the bikes shifted and came close to being tipped overboard!

We arrived at Pablo’s weekend retreat to be met by his wife Lucky and children (big children) Pablo, Marcela and Danny. This was a very nice weekend retreat indeed; set on an island amongst the mangroves and waterways of the lagoons around Iztapa. Lucky was offering snacks that were more than welcome but not until we’d showered and changed, she thought we smelt like goats, can’t possibly understand why; I’m sure we’d put clean shirts on at least three or four days ago and as the temperature was only in the high 30s….

Showered, fed and smelling more acceptable we were off with Pablo and Marcela in one of his boats for a tour around the neighbourhood, and quite a neighbourhood it is too. The Pacific Ocean was pounding the sand bar beach that provided protection for the community; this sand bar had once been the site of luxury houses and hotels but surf had gradually eroded the beach and the final act was hurricane Mitch that wiped out all of the sea front properties and the continual erosion is expected to take its toll on the next line of habitations in the years to come. Never miss the opportunity for a sunset shot as we made our way home pasted the pelican nest and the more elusive and unphotographable blue and green parrots!

This evening we were treated to a delicious supper cooked by Lucky of shrimps and Anacates mushrooms that can only be found in the forests of the Guatemalan highlands, with the conclusion to the evening being a tropical down pour that’s volume even surprised Pablo and thunder and lighting that was cracking overhead which turned into a bright electrical storm providing constant light without the thunder; very spectacular.

13 Aug 06 (Sun). Iztapa – Tikal: Ruta, CA9, CA13: 407 Miles.
With a glorious sunrise and light early morning mist to start the day, Pablo would lead today and ride with us as far as the El Rellend on the Rio Dulce where we had lunch and parted company, he would have a 7 hour return journey to Iztapa and we would attempt to cross the border into Belize. On the ride to lunch there was one of those hairy moments again; on a long sweeping right hander, bike laid over for the corner, without warning there as a large oil spill right on my line of travel. Both front and back ends slipped away left with alarming speed. I knew that this was going to be more than a challenge to get straight and there was potential for total disaster. I had to get it under control before I could do anything about controlling the speed and direction, just hoping that the road remained clear of traffic! Shut off the throttle and stay off the brakes; opposite lock to counter the left slide brought the front under control but sent the back end out to the right, opposite lock the other way sent the back out left again. I’d learnt from my motocross days that you have about three goes at straightening a bike when its fishtailing, then it will most likely dump you on the forth bounce! I was trying to identify my exit route too as I knew I was not staying on the road. The back end came back into line and stayed there, now I could steer and brake. There was a good run out on the apex of the corner, just to the side of a bar where a few fellas’ were enjoying a morning beer or two. Anchors fully deployed and steering for the point that what gave me the longest run without hitting something or someone I left the road and was on gravel; now, ABS brakes might be useful on a firm surface but cross country they’re about much use as an ash tray on a motorbike, they do not recognise the urgency with which you are hauling on the brakes and it stops you locking up the brakes which increases the braking distance enormously! Rather alarming!

The bike came to a halt inches from the wall which I was aiming at, thankfully and as it did it was off balance and I just stepped off it and laid in on its side, to be surrounded by the excited locals; not sure if it was because they were concerned for me, or for themselves thinking that they were going to get Beemer in their beer?

Mick S had been following me at this stage and his thoughts, from his diary, as this was unfolding were; “We were riding as usual on the edge, when Mick D hit an oil spill on a long right hand down hill bend. I saw the back end step out and immediately wound back on my throttle. All I could see was Mick’s bike fish tailing into the distance and out of sight. There was no way he would be able to hang on to it; there were three possibilities that flashed through my mind and staying upright was not on the list. I would see him coming back in the opposite direction on the front of a truck; he would be piled into a tree, ditch or something on the other side of the road or best case he would have high-sided, been dumped but stayed on the tarmac but no doubt done his shoulder damage again or worse. To my amazement as I crested the brow of the hill and rounded the bend he was laying the bike down and stepping off literally inches from a concrete wall and surrounded by a stunned crowd of blokes that had been sitting quietly having a beer. I pulled up and rushed across burbling something like “how the **** did you hang on to that!!” He composed himself and dusted himself down, lifted the bike upright with the assistance of the also amazed crowd and jumped on then we were off as if nothing had happened. We rode a few hundred yards down the road and Pablo was coming back to see what had happened, a brief explanation and we were back on our way”.

We had lunch at El Rellend on the Rio Dulce at the mouth of the Lago de Izabal a massive lake that is a major boating location, where the fish and turtles congregate under the wooden walkways of the restaurant ready to snap up any morsel that should be dropped to them causing the water to look as though its boiling with so much activity. It had been a great 48 hours in the company of Pablo and his family and he had one further piece of advice; the road from here to Flores was deadly in the wet as the surface is as slippery as soap; this advice he did repeat a few times just to make sure that we got the message! We parted ways and in no time the afternoon rains came in torrents and we slowed to a crawl in order that we did not test the limits of traction; done that in the morning.

14 Aug 06 (Mon). Tikal – Belize City: Ruta CA13: 175 Miles.
We had intended to cross into Belize yesterday but with a slow ride to Flores and being in the vicinity of Tikal, a World Heritage Site of the Maya Indians, we though that we should visit the site. I’m sure that we would have been given some grief from home is we’d ridden past it and not visited? This, as with Machu Picchu is an amazing feat of engineering, precision building on this scale is magnificent irrespective what it’s purpose was and as an tourist attraction it is well restored, with continuous archaeological explorations, finding and restoring new sites. Unlike Machu Picchu, we did not have a guide, just wandered around taking a few photos, enjoying the jungle and its sights and sounds, so we have no facts or figures to write about, you’ll have to look it up for yourselves! There was a troop of monkeys in the trees tops but too elusive for the camera, as well as the birds and bugs, but the turkeys were willing to pose. This has been the only jungle that we have seen so far on this trip as mass clearing is being conducted to make way for agriculture and development.

Crossing into Belize was doddle. Pay a few Dollars to the Guatemalans for the exit stamp (all genuine and above board) and enter Belize through there very friendly and efficient procedure. Ah, must be that good old Brit colonial influence? Just vehicle insurance to pay for once we had our passports stamped and we were in Belize City within two hours. What was noticeable from the last time I was in Belize, some 23 years ago was that the jungle had disappeared! From what I can remember the jungle came up to the road in many places but now it was all agricultural land! But Belize City hadn’t changed, still smelly and dirty.

11 Aug 06 (Fri). Belize City – Escarcega Mexico: Ruta 186: 486 Miles.
It may seem a bit of a detour to go from Guatemala City to Belize to then be heading back to the west coast of the USA? There were two reasons for this, one we wanted to visit as many countries as possible and two we had pre-positioned 4 sets of tyres via the RAF at the British Army Training Camp under the safe keeping of the Quartermaster. The joy of going to a British military camp is that you can get a cup of tea! While our tyres were being found we had our first cup of proper tea since leaving the Falkland Islands, and very nice it was too. It was only a short visit before we were heading north to cross into Mexico at Chetumal, pay US$15 to the Belizean authorities to exit and US$20 to Mexicans to entry Mexico, which was all very straight forward.

MEXICO
Mexico was a blur and blast along its biggest roads that were usually toll roads to avoid the Topes (speed bumps) that are placed with almost careless abandonment, in places where there seemed to be no reason to have one and often they we unmarked which meant sliding the bikes into them if seen in time or being launch out of the seat! It was the expensive, very expensive option but it was a very efficient method of covering a lot of ground quickly. We crossed the Tropic of Cancer without seeing a sign for it (if there was one) which was a pity as we missed the equator too. It was at about this latitude that the terrain started to change from the influence of the tropics and the jungle turned to the dry prairies and desert with searing dry heat and little or no humidity.

We did see a massive rain storm hovering on the edge of high ground one afternoon; it was unusual as it was just a column of rain; the edges were clearly defined with a rainbow, not in the conventional arch but as blobs at the foot of the wall of water! Trains were new to us too, big ones, we measured them at over a mile in length being hauled by up to 7 engines!

16 Aug 06. Escarcega – Veracruz: Ruta 186, 180, 145D: 516 Miles.

17 Aug 06. Veracruz – Victoria: Ruta 180, 81, 85: 484 Miles.
We took a well earned and needed lunch break at Tampico and ventured into a road side Dominoes Pizza. After the usual language difficulties Mick S thought that we had got the order placed. We took a seat and waited patiently when a girl asked in broken English to confirm our order as only a small Pizza and some chicken wings? She also, probably wanting to practice her English, asked us about the bikes, what and where we had been. Thought nothing more of it and our food duly arrived. We moved out to the bikes and while preparing to saddle up a young pizza boy ran out and thrust a yellow post it into Mick S hand and indicated it had come from someone inside. It read “Have a great travel. The world needs people like you, because you go for your dreams. Keep your adventure soul!” Presumably from the girl that had spoken to us? Mick S said that the rest of the ride was thought provoking as a result of this message; was this really a profound thing that we were doing, were we really adventurers with souls, does it really conjure up those youthful dreams that he thought he was the only schoolboy daydreamer, were we living our dream? It had a moving effect on him all day, that out of the blue someone would write that and he hoped it had inspired her to get out of flogging pizzas and do something, if that is the case then that’s great but we will never know.

18 Aug 06. Victoria – Chihuahua: Ruta 85, 40, 49, 45: 575 Miles.

19 Aug 06. Chihuahua – El Paso USA: Ruta 45: 244 Miles.
We left Mexico at Chihuahua and crossed into the USA at El Paso. We joined the queue of traffic waiting to cross and slowly inched our way forward for a couple of hours, being told by one very drunk pedestrian that we can jump the queue as we were on bikes. This advice we did not take as it did seem a bit necky! But sure enough he was right as a car driver told us the same and when a customs officer saw us he called us forward too. Clearing customs and immigrations was quite easy, even though Mick S said that I got my hackles up to early! Customs and Immigrations were friendly and more straight forward than the equivalent at US airports. They’d had a number of bikes through recently doing the same as us and though that we were part of a Trans-America race.

The first job to do in the US was to get bike insurance and after a few calls to insurance brokers; most of whom did know that Alaska was part of the USA we were put in contact with Harley Davidson Insurance (001 800 832 4449) and they were superb. Once we had established a US address that details could be sent to it was swift, efficient and cheap; US$90 for each bike, third party liability for a year covering us for the USA and Canada.

20 Aug 06. Admin Day in El Paso to catch up on the writing and laundry.

We are supporting:
Charity:
Macmillan Cancer Support – http://www.justgiving.com/mickdaly-hereford

Schools:
Christ College Brecon - http://www.christcollegebrecon.com/
St Richard’s Bredenbury - http://www.st-richards.co.uk/

Our intention for the next week. Did we achieve last week’s intentions? We crossed Central America and Mexico in 10 days, a total of 4133 miles averaging 413 miles per day.

Next is to reach the Canadian border by the end of next week, about 27 Aug 06.