Hello out there,

we hope you did enjoy the photos and the blog! because we did enjoy a lot this tour here in beautiful Costa rica and Nicaragua!

it was riding 13, tomorrow we're heading towards San Jose the capital where we'll return the bikes! So this will be the last update of the blog! Any comments are welcome!

I might upload one more photo of today with Mister Henry, the tico and friend who made the tour and it was a pleasure to work together with him! unfortunately the photo of us 2 is on his camera! My view was like this:

So safe journey and a happy trip back home to everybody!!

hope to see you on tour one day!

regards, Alan Magnoni

CANOPYYYYY ! ! ! ! ! !

Greetings from Granada, Nicaragua

Beste Grüße aus Tamarindo, Nähe Las Baulas Marine Nationalpark.

Der Las Baulas Marine Nationalpark schützt 440 Hektar Mangrovenwald in der Gegend um Tamarindo. Playa Grande ist einer der wichtigsten Plätze für die Eiablage der Lederschildkröte (Dermochelys coriacea).

Diese Schildkrötenart ist eine der größten der Welt und legt Strecken bis Surinam und Malaysia zurück – einige wurden sogar schon an den Küsten Skandinaviens gesichtet! Die Lederschildkröten kommen Anfang Oktober zur Eiablage an die Playa Grande. Die Saison hält bis März an, mit der größten Aktivität von November bis Dezember.

Marino Las Baulas National Park

Incredible white-sand beaches separate the park's protected seas from its vibrant forests that are home to 174 species of birds as well as countless other animal species. Mangroves and estuaries are plentiful, packed with a biodiversity known to few places outside of Costa Rica.

On Grande Beach (Playa Grande), female leatherback turtles come ashore to lay their eggs from October to May-an incredible spectacle to behold if you are lucky enough to see it. Guides are available for hire for those interested in this rare, but unforgettable opportunity.

Leatherback turtles are not only the world's largest turtle, but its largest reptile, which can weigh up to 2,000 pounds (900kg)! For all of their weight, these reptilian behemoths ironically have a pin-prick brain that weighs in at a measly 28 grams. Leatherbacks wander the open seas in search of their favorite food, jelly fish, which they will dive to a depth of 4,000 feet (1,220 m) to pursue. Unlike other species of turtle that have external carapaces, the leatherback has a tough leathery skin and internal Skeleton.

Hello Bikers out there, here some more photos about our beutiful Tour in Costa Rica and Nicaragua!

Enjoy!

And a little story to read, because we did visit the basilica de Ntra. Sra. De los Angeles in Cartago:

The Monster of the Basilica – Million Dollar Jewelry Heist

Costa Ricans are well-known for their peaceful and friendly nature – that is, as long as you don’t screw with their patron saint, the Virgin of Los Angeles. That friendly disposition turned into country-wide rage one night in 1950 when gunmen broke into the Basilica of Los Angeles church in Cartago, killed the night watchman and stole millions of dollars worth of jewels adorning La Negrita, the cherished statue which represents the Virgin Mary.

While the crime in itself was shocking, what would happen in it’s aftermath is absolutely astonishing. In the days following the robbery, the country was virtually under siege according to a contemporary Panamanian newspaper. The police were running amok, kicking down doors while citizens formed lynch mobs demanding blood. It was at this moment that the story of perhaps the unluckiest person in the history of Costa Rica began – or better yet, continued. José León Sánchez was screwed right from birth. His mother was a prostitute in a dirt poor town who sold her children because she had no money to support them. But José was born very sick, and no one was interested in buying a baby who was “as yellow as an egg yolk.” The desperate mother tried trading him to a man for a bag of salt (that’s right, salt), but when they couldn’t reach an agreement, she simply gave him the child and went on her way. After being taken to the hospital, José was sent to a rough orphanage from which he later escaped at the age of 10. Soon after the Basilica robbery, José’s father-in-law, who must have been a huge dick, went to the police and told them that José had tried to give him a horde of jewels which he had recently stolen. The problem was, it was all made up. But the police, who were desperate for a suspect, latched onto the accusation faster than you can say WMD’s in Iraq. Poor José was taken in and tortured until he signed a false confession, which was drawn up for him by the authorities on break from sticking lit matches in his ear and pulling his teeth out. He became known as the Monster of the Basilica – the most hated man in Costa Rica. So despised was he, that all of the lawyers in the country signed a pledge to accept any punishment before they would represent him. Naturally, he was given a life sentence and thrown into a dungeon inside the notorious slave-labor prison on the Island of San Lucas (like a third world Alcatraz, but really hot), where he was only allowed to see sunlight for one hour a day. After several escape attempts and taking a bullet near the heart, he was transferred to a maximum security prison in the capital (which is now a children’s museum).

Here, he learns to read and write and begins work on what would later become the iconic masterpiece La Isla de Los Hombres Solos (The Island of Lonely Men), based on his time at San Lucas. He then goes on to win several literary prizes with poems and short stories. Whats more, in jail, he creates the first prison newspaper, founds a library, a blood bank and writes the first educational text for inmates himself. After serving 30 years for a crime that he didn’t commit, he was released and declared innocent by the government. The Catholic church, for the first time in the country’s history, actually gave him an official apology. He later moved to Mexico where he wrote his seminal work Tenochtitlan, amongst many others, which have sold millions of copies all over the world and been made into successful films. Today he is recognized as the most well-known Costa Rican writer in history and lives in his house in Heredia.

Day 3 - Restday at Manuel Antonio National Park!

Day 2 from Turrialba to Manuel Antonio,

what a beautiful ride!!!

First riding day here in the beautiful Country of Costa Rica! What a day!!! Pure Life!

The Highlight of the day for us was the Irazu Volcano. An active volcano  situated in the Cordillera Central Close to the City of Cartago.  The name could come from either the combination of "ara" (point) and "tzu" (thunder)or a corruption of Iztarú, which was the name of an indigenous village on the flanks of the volcano. In Costa Rica it is known by the name of "El Coloso" (The Colossus) due to the catastrophes that it has provoked in the past. . At 11,260 feet (3,432 m), the Irazú Volcano is the highest active volcano in Costa Rica. The national park contains both primary and secondary montane forests and is home to armadillos, owls, rabbits, foxes, woodpeckers, and hummingbirds. From the top it is possible to see both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans on a clear day.However, such clear days are rare, and the volcano's summit is usually cloud-covered. But we were lucky!!! enjoy the photos ...