It's our second morning at the hotel on the island and although breakfast isn't great the view from the breakfast balcony is excellent. (This is a rare picture of Lorraine and her hair in its natural state. Although she has brought hair straighteners with her on the holiday, she has yet to use them!)
After a short ferry crossing back to the mainland the group are waiting to get back on the bus.
As we head out to the first biking section, Memo tells us all about the sloths in the region. He has a degree in Eco tourism and his knowledge of the local flora and fauna has been a real bonus on this trip. The diversity of plants and wildlife in this region is immense and I have really enjoyed hearing about them from Memo. However, I have yet to see a Unicorn. I think I should have visited the Iguana bar on the island last night if I had wanted to see one of those!
We do see a couple of sloths on our way to the starting point of the bike ride, so all of the group get chance to take pictures. I do have one unanswered question, how on earth do sloths find sleeping in a tree for 15 hours a day comfortable?!
The first section of the bike ride is 14 miles along smooth undulating roads through tropical rain forest. This route is an absolute highlight. It is so pretty and green and lush, there are lots of butterflies, amazing sounds of birds and the smell of all the tropical flowers. It is one of my favorite bike sections of the holiday.
At the start of the ride there is another chain reaction. A chain sees Sveinn and has a reaction. This is the third chain that he has broken on the holiday. Unnur asks the guides if they can teach her husband to change gear!
After the first bike section, we jump back on the bus and climb 5,000 feet to cross the continental divide. We are crossing from the Atlantic side of the continent back to the Pacific side. This route takes us up into the cloud forest, where all the vegetation changes and the plants are now huge. The size of the ferns are incredible and there is a huge leafed plant called the poor man's umbrella. Fortunately we are not cycling this bit so we don't get wet!
Once on the other side of the divide we get to cycle in our third type of forest today, a tropical dry forest, and things are really starting to heat up. As we have just crossed the continental divide we now have an incredible 10 mile downhill section. I may be slowest on the climbs, but I am definitely not the slowest on the downhills, I love this ride!
Half way down the hill, as I cycle round one of the bends, I see Elsa skidding across the road in front of a car coming in the opposite direction. Her brakes have locked and she lost control, this looks very dramatic from behind, but she keeps the bike upright and no harm is done.
We pull over to a safe place to stop and Jane insists on a photo as this is a blog worthy moment. I'm starting to wonder, did Elsa's brake lock, or was she pushed?!
After the 10 mile downhill section, we have another 12 miles to ride. It is really starting to heat up now. Fortunately, Sabo, our driver is wearing a really bright T-shirt today, so it is very easy to spot him from a distance, and it is a relief to be able to stop by the minibus and refill our drinks bottles.
I have kept up with the group reasonably well up to this point, but the temperature has steadily climbed to what feels like boiling. This photo stopping point is the last time I will see the group for the rest of this section. These ladies all met on a previous Exodus trip in India, and Memo has named the collective group the Barbaraellas. (From left to right, Jill, Jane, Barbara, Lorraine and Elsa).
The remainder of the ride is torture. The temperatures are insane and I am struggling. When we are 4 miles short of our destination, we stop and Stuart insists that I have our one and only power gel. I want Stuart to have it as he didn't eat any lunch. We are having a minor domestic, when I hear Memo behind us say, "just do what your man says"! I turn round to explain that I never actually do what Stuart says, whilst surreptitiously slurping on the power gel.
The final part of the ride is very very tough, and I dig deep into reserves that I didn't know I had. It is a huge relief to finally make it to the bus. I sit exhausted in the shade whilst Stuart buys some cold drinks from the supermarket. I am too exhausted to even visit the loo, which I realise was a mistake when we set off in the bus and are told that it is a three hour transfer to the hotel! Bizarrely,despite the length of the transfer I don't need the loo, I must have been very dehydrated.
The bus ride takes us down the Pan American highway, which seems to be one long set of roadworks. When the road is finished it will be dual carriage way, but for now it is single carriage way and Sabo does a superb job of navigating through all the many lorries very safely. When we finally arrive at the hotel after dark the group spontaneously burst into a round of applause at appreciation for Sabo's driving today.
The hotel is an amazing Mexican themed hotel, and although we are probably all too tired to appreciate it, we do find we have enough energy to sing Happy Birthday to Cordula in English, Spanish and Icelandic!
Cordula and Myriam have come away on holiday to celebrate being friends for more than 40 years. There are both from Switzerland and speak more languages than the rest of the Brits put together, who basically speak English!
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