The last time you “SAW” us, we were still on an island, and we thought we’d leave the next day or so. Well, we didn’t. Why? Because we saw some friends of ours walking down the street while we were eating dinner the night before we thought we were going to leave. No plans are the best plans.



Their names are Mara and Chilanka (She-Lane-Ka), they are from Holland, and we had promised them a motorcycle ride in Granada, Nicaragua. Well, we left earlier than planned and didn’t see them before we left. They held us to our promise, and so we stayed the night and actually did something the next day, and rode around the island with some passengers. Neither had ever ridden a motorcycle.



Don’t worry babe, (Kristi) the one with the boyfriend got on my bike.


The first stop on the ride. Back to Agua de Ojos.



Tom and the girls spent a few minutes checking out the menu while I swam. Then, they sun bathed in the Nicaraguan Sol. Meet Chilanka on the left, Mara on the right.



We were all having a good time, and soon the party grew by 5 more Dutchies that the girls had met before and before we knew it, we’d been there 2 hours.



Then, we took off. Our goal? Ride around Madera Volcano. Apparently this is not an easy adventure, and though it is only about 30 miles of road, it’s a 3 hour adventure. I’ll be damned if we weren’t out riding for nearly that long at least. Not only did we see the most intense off road that we’ve seen yet, we also had passengers that had never been on bikes before. They held their own though, and didn’t freak out when the going got tough. We didn’t think twice in telling them to get off when we hit the gnarly stuff, and they obliged kindly.

Best shot of the day? An epic shot of Tom doing what we do best.



My bike? It got dirty, and Chilanka, got her “facebook” shot.



Soon after that, we came out near the end of the road, 2.5 hours later, and found ourselves at a little shop where we bought some snacks. While we munched our food, these little guys did the same.



It got physical, but they each held their own.



It wasn’t long after that Tom and I landed back on our feet in our hotel room, exhausted, and ready to do nothing again. The girls had different ideas, and headed off to find the Dutch guys to party that night. We left them to their business, and haven’t seen them since. They’ll be ok.

The next morning we hopped on a boat and headed back to mainland Nicaragua. On the boat we met a Czech guy that lives in Chile and was riding a Honda CG125 from Chile to the US. He’d already covered 18k miles, and was about to 5-6 more. He’d only ever changed the oil, replaced the rear tire once, and was still on the original front tire. Managing to get 80mpg more or less, he never skipped a beat. His name was Andres, he was cool guy.


When we hit the mainland, we stopped for some food, bought some gas, and hit the road headed for the Costa Rica/Nicaragua border. We found it in short order and with the help of a local border crossing Sherpa, we paid about $20 each, made it out of Nicarauga and into Costa Rica, all exit/entry/insurance fees paid. Success. Greatfully, I kept seeing a local Costa Rican woman behind me at every step of the procedure when I had to get a stamp or pay a fee, confirming I wasn’t getting screwed.


Now, in Costa rica, we’re back with the boys! We found Charlie and along with him, his friend Andy. Charlie and Andy have been in the country for about a month, waiting for Andy’s bike to arrive via sea freight. Well, it was 30 days late, but it arrived yesterday!


Andy and I spent a 9 hours chasing it down, along with local freight agents, but we found his bike! It was always in the same place, but I’ll be liar if 9-10 pages weren’t stamped at nine-ten different locations, which Andy had to be at personally, and his Passport/License came out about every time. It was a hassle, and it was a pain in the ass. But in the end, Andy had his bike, and the two of us rode two up back to the hotel that we’ve been staying at.



The pictures have been lacking lately, but now we are 4. A complete package of: 2 Americans, 2 Australians, 2 Dr650’s, 2 Tenere 660’s, and more than a few more miles to cover.


More stories to come, but suffice it to say, we’re having a grand old time, and kicking ass and taking names!

--Alex

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NJ, NR, NBTTN