Blazing Southern Costa Rica and Panama

The Pacific side of Costa Rica has definitely been long discovered. In some places you would never know it, but jaunt a few kms off coastal highway 34 and you will find developed beach communities chocked full of retired ex-pats. On a couple of occasions we picked out (what looked to be interesting) beach stopping points on the map, only to end up in these strange Florida-esque bubble neighborhoods. However, Costa Rica also boasts the largest forest preservation effort in Central America that is a nice contrast to the over-farmed countrysides of its neighboring countries. There are massive stretches of beautiful jungle, wildlife and amazing, wild coastline throughout the Pacific corridor.

After spending a couple rest days in Uvita, adjacent to beautiful Marino Ballena National Park, we set out for Panama and it seemed the rainy season started. Every day around 4:00, a pretty hefty shower cooled things down for an hour or so and we made the most of it by finding a shelter of some sort and getting a little afternoon reading time.

During most of the Panama route, we spent the days dodging traffic on the Interamericano highway and the nights camping on the beach. We did take one side loop South through Soná which was a beautiful ride through hilly jungle and farmland that seemed to be the true Panama.