Puerto Viejo

Fortuna - Puerto Viejo : 210 miles

The ride out of Fortuna was pleasant and again among greens, but once we merged into the main road to Puerto Limon there were too many trucks. Promptly after merging I was stopped again for the toll, I mean for speeding. If you set the speed limit at 80kph (50mph), you can stop anyone you like right? I can't even shift to 5th gear at that kind of speed. Anyway, this time I paid only $5, but it cost me a bit more time.

Puerto Limon is plain ugly, so I quickly continued on towards Puerto Viejo. When I stopped to take a few photos with the painted palm trees on the road side, I was sure that I'd be there by 3 pm. How come I'm always wrong?


The Painted Palms by Ron

The moment I saw the palms, I knew it had to be someone from the States. Vietnam veteran Ron and his wife have moved here about 8 years ago and now run this very cute restaurant and store. We chatted away until I noticed the sun was getting low, so my disappointment with Purto Viejo was significantly delayed.

Heading to the Caribbean, I admittedly had very high expectations, hoping to find a St. Martin, or Barbados like beach. Well, they're not here, and the shabby town with terrible live reggae doesn't do it for me either. To me, the place looks like they'd pay me to stay. Instead, I had to pay $20 for a hole.


Couldn't find much inspiration in Puerto Viejo

The next day I rode further along the coast to explore nearby beaches, and everything looked a lot better. Punta Uva is a very nice beach for swimming, and has attractive accommodation options if you seek tranquility. For surfing, you'd need to go a bit further, to Manzanillo. In any case however, they weren't enough to make me stay another night. Perhaps St. Martin has a branch in Bocas del Toro.


Punta Uva


Surfing at Manzanillo


Punta Mona

Am I really going to Panama? I hope they don't tell me to "come back tomorrow" at the border.


Next : Almirante