Spending a rest day in Granada, at the northern shore of Lago Nicaragua. Although there are bike rentals all around I decided to walk the distances.
Find more pictures in my photo gallery.
Granada
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Category Archives: Rainforest Recce
Detour to San Jorge
In Rivas I decided to take an extra 15km round trip to San Jorge down to Lago de Nicaragua wit
h a fantastic view of the 2 volcanoes Concepcion and Madera which are located on Nicaragua’s largest island. Lake Nicaragua is one of the largest lakes in Central America. The lake has more than 300 islands. The locals call it ‘freshwater sea’, as there are tuna and sharks in that lake, which usually can only survive in salt water. The beach and lake was all mine, as none of my fellow riders took the extra burden of some additional kilometers.
History meets modern!
Stage 06 – San Juan del Sur to Granada
97.3km – 567m up – 505m down – 3936kcal
Today’s stage takes us away from the Pacific Ocean into the heart of Nicaragua. Along a good gravel road we ride through fertile farmland to Rivas, which is 25km east of San Juan del Sur. From there we ride northward bound on the Pan American Highway to Granada.
It was a pleasant ride in the bright sun light, although the wind was blowing into our faces almost all day. The trucks and busses on the Pan Americana are very respectful, usually they give a light horn when they approach from the back and leave enough space between the cyclists when they pass. A final climb around Volcano Mombacho and a nice downhill finally brought us into Granada, a nice and busy town in the old Spanish colonial style.
Lisa is enjoying her ‘Mango delight’ at the lunch stop, whilst most of the other riders are already chilling down at the ‘el Club’ in Granada.
Stage 05 – La Cruz to San Juan del Sur (Nicaragua)
67.5km – 397m up – 688m down – 2476kcal
We left our hotel in La Cruz, above the scenic bay at the Pacific Ocean to get to our 2nd country: Nicaragua.
Monkeys, raccoons and guinea pigs joint us at our breakfast restaurant …
A nice downhill brought us closer to the border. Crossing into Nicaragua was easy: Pay 1$ to leave Costa Rica + pay another 12$ to get the Nicaraguan visa … in we are …
The route led us along the Pan Americana on the western banks of Lake Nicaragua with its two volcanoes ‘Conception’ and ‘Madera’ located on an island in the lake.
At La Virgen we turned left towards San Juan del Sur at the Pacific Ocean. Temperatures were already up into the 30°C when we arrived at our hotel right at the beach.
We let the day finish with a well deserved calpirinha for a sun downer.
Tomorrow we are going to turn back to Lake Nicaragua for our rest day in Granada.
Stage 04 – Bijagua to La Cruz
111,2km – 962m up – 1181m down – 4278kcal
The night in the bunk beds was quiet and uninterrupted. It was raining all night, but stopped in the morning, as usual in the volcano region – giving us a dry ride through the last parts of the rain forest. After a short climb out of Bijagua we dived into a nice valley until lunch stop.
Lunch this time was in a wind sheltered picnic side. However Cristiano managed to organize an electric fan, so that we got our usual lunch break blow 
(just kidding).
After lunch the rough start started with a steep climb on a 20km gravel stretch. In Santa Cecilia we had our best Coke stop so far; not for coke, but for a perfect Costa Rican coffee and fresh fruit juice. The last 30km to La 
Cruz were a blast. Constant tail wind and temperatures at about 29°C made me finish these final kilometers with an average of 30km/h. My left Achilles tendon gives me a bit of a pain, but Sarah (on the left), our doc, takes good care of me 
La Cruz is already located above a b
ay on the Pacific Ocean, only 19km away from the border to Nicaragua. As we arrived very early in the afternoon we had lot of time to go into town and do some shopping.
The sunset view into the Pacific Ocean from the hotel finished the day followed by a ‘rice & beans’ dinner at a neighborhood restaurant.
Stage 03 – Rancho Margot to Bijagua
84,3km – 1557m up – 1680m down – 4424kcal
Today was a challenging and technical ride. The arrival board read:
‘Well done! Congrats for surviving a brutal stage’
This stage was said to be the hardest of the tour. Not from distance, but from the challenges that lay ahead. At first we had to cross a river that has swollen up by the heavy rain in the past days. The following 18km thereafter where a constant fight with mud, poodles, boulders and more creeks to cross.
50km out of the 84km where off road on gravel or worse. A Challenge for bike and body. However the weather was with us and we got some sunshine in the afternoon after we had left the lake and climbed into the scenic highlands. Cristiano managed again to find place for the lunch stop that blow you away. If you ever consider to build a Wind Farm, ask Cristiano, he will definitely find you the windiest place to put up the generators
The Mystic Restaurant offered excellent Costa Rican coffee and a hammock combined with relaxing Spa music that I couldn’t resist.
Tonight we sleep in a church camp. Very basic again, however the food is good and our bikes are locked in the church. Imagine a foreign cycling club comes to your country and asks to ‘park’ the bicycles in a church for the night
So far everything is o.k. with me and my bicycle. I have overcome my German cold and I am getting stronger and stronger with every day in the seat. Tomorrow is the last day in Costa Rica before we enter into Nicaragua and dive into the Pacific Ocean on our next rest day!
We are hopefully out of the wet area, getting a chance to wash and dry our stinky, sweaty and wet cloths.
Rancho Margot
The lodge is nicely located in the rain forest. Humming birds, butterflies and other birds are all around in the huge gardens. The sounds of running water and singing birds is filling the air. 
The group is checked into a bunk house with tiny little rooms sleeping two of us. Note: You have to backup into the rooms, if you want to face the door when leaving, as there is no space to U-turn inside .
The food is extra ordinary. A selection of pizzas, beans, rice, noodles, meats, salads and cakes is arranged at a huge buffet. The chef is a god. TdA should consider to hire him for their tours. Breakfast and dinner is included in the accommodation package, even at rest days. So no need to worry about were to get the calories to power up for next days ride.
The lodges and restaurants along the lake are nicely built and perfectly fit into the landscape.
Stage 02 – Agua Zarcas to Rancho Margot
76km – 873m up – 778m down
The night did not promise too good cycling conditions for the next day. At around midnight the rain started to hammer so hard onto our roof that we thought we are camping under the Niagara Falls. I bet there was nobody who did not think how riding under such conditions would be, if it did not stop. Luckily the next morning looked totally different. Roads had been dried already when we got to breakfast.
We had a nice 20km downhill followed by and another 27km of more or less flat terrain towards La Fortuna, at the foot of the volcano Arenal.
The weather was just fine and nobody got wet, expect from the own sweat. However at La Fortuna – other than the name might pretend – our fortune ended. We had to pay back the morning downhill and climb all the way up again, to semi-circumvent Arenal to get to our lodge, which is lovely situated in the forest close the banks of the lake.
The last 13km to the Rancho Margot was a ‘nice’ gravel road and I enjoyed the comfort of my full suspension MTB riding on the corrugated road.
At one point in the morning I was puzzled if I made a wrong turn and found myself in a town that was not expected to be on my way
Tomorrow is our first rest day! Yes, a rest day only after 2 days of cycling, what a comfort The place we stay is just too beautiful to leave it just after a view hours.
I may use this day simply to relax and explore the close vicinity of the lodge and may ‘catch’ some butterflies and hummingbirds with my camera.
Stage 01 – San Jose to Agua Zarcas
95km – 1825m up – 2565m down
This stage was just right to start into such a tour , for several reasons. Those who have done the Cairo to Cape Town tour know, what it means to warm up for 5 weeks before for the challenging climbs into the Ethiopian highlands start and enjoy 99% dry days. Doomsday started as a contrary:
On the first day: already 1825m climb right after breakfast, and a stunning 2565m of accumulated downhill.
This was only topped by having had more rain in a single day than in 4 month through Africa. We were totally soaked wet.
After a 17km convoy out of San Jose we were left alone to climb around Poas Volcano. It was 25km steady climb with rain pouring on us to keep the legs from overheating. Lunch was at the most windiest place on earth. Imagine being wet to the bones and having to take lunch in a Hurricane. You freeze to death within no time thus it is best to simply cut the lunch time to a minimum.I don’t know how TdA manages to always find these unreal places, when there are less exposed just around the corner.
However after lunch the climb came to an end and we were gifted with a 1600m drop on 35km through an amazing rain forest at the slopes of the volcano (which we couldn’t see in the rain). Numberless waterfalls, which were carrying flood water seamed or road.
A hot shower and a laundry service to clean and dry ourselves and the wet cloth was waiting for us in the Hotel ‘Sueno de Luna’.
It was said that already 50% of the riders lost their EFI on this very first day …
Stage 1 started
Daily routine has started: 5:40 wakeup. 6:00 breakfast. 7:00 off we go! Now we are leaving for a 17km convoy out of town before we are left alone to find the place to stay for the night …