El Salvador y Honduras

We were stoked to see that El Salvador is a very bicycle friendly country. From border to border we enjoyed wide shoulders on the carretera (highway).  The bike traffic increased heavily with many local Salvadorians pedaling around. Interestingly, it also seemed that most people were riding on the opposite side of the road. We were pumped to make it back out to coast in that first day. It was our first time seeing the Pacific since Salina Cruz in Oaxaca, at least three weeks previous. We were welcomed back with a huge swell, slamming giant waves on to the shore with beautiful booming echoes. We spent the first night in El Salvador at a gorgeous restaurant called “El Mirador” perched on top of a cliff high above the waves. We met a group of guys from Boston, Dustin, Chris, Luis, and Willian who treated us to two and a half rounds of beers to celebrate our fifth country.

New friends in El Salvador, (sorry, bad pic quality!)

Our friends from Boston invited us to hang out in El Tunco the following night, and with reports of a good surf break there, we were settled on the next destination. The road along the coast was quite hilly, with curvy ups and downs reminiscent of Big Sur in California and Michoacán in Mexico. Luckily these hills were generally of a very gradual grade. As we rounded a bend of what appeared to be the beginning of a very steep climb we were greeted by a tunnel cutting through the mountains. Four more tunnels on this section of road was a relief for the legs but biking through a dark hole with trucks zooming by was slightly nerve-wracking as well.

Sometimes Andy gets sleepy when we ride.

When we arrived at El Tunco we went straight for the water. We had a fun swimming session playing in the big waves and getting tossed around while fighting the current to avoid getting pushed toward the “El Tunco Turtle” rock formation. Despite the overly large swell, we asked around to see about the possibility of surf board rentals. Sadly, an American tourist had died in the waves the previous day, so the shops were no longer renting boards. Even though we were really looking forward to riding waves again, we accepted the circumstances and realized it was not our day.

We spent two more nights in Salvador staying in the larger cities of Usulutan and San Miguel. The riding was hot but the roads had shoulders and there wasn’t too much traffic when not near population centers. In Usulutan we took our pick of American fast-food restaurants to use the internet and in San Miguel we were able to join a hectic pick-up soccer game with 15 players on each side. I don’t think we wowed these seasoned fútbol players with our skills but they at least got a good laugh out of us. And for some reason Andrew was even given the name Simba by all the locals.

Leaving San Miguel we crossed into Honduras in the late afternoon and promptly asked a restaurant if we could spend the night. Although the location didn’t quite compare to our first night it Salvador, we had an excellent night of playing cards and eating fried chicken and plantains. That day we rode to the largest city on the Pacific side of Honduras, Choluteca.

Cruising through Honduras

We were able to stop in the port city of San Lorenzo and hop in the water for a midday cool down. Our childhood friend from Juneau, Chris Twomley, has been living in Honduras for the past few years. We were really hoping to connect with him but he is living on the opposite coast and with our short stay in the country and his busy school schedule a reunion unfortunately did not happen.

On the road we pedaled, the west side of the country was arid and it appeared to be very poor lands and very poor people. As we moved east the larger towns felt like anywhere else we had been (visiting a Wendy’s for wifi in Choluteca) and the climate seemed to become wetter while the people seemed to have more. Maybe our most memorable experience in Honduras was RAIN! For the first time in three and a half months we biked in the rain! Although it only lasted 10 minutes, it rained hard and these four Juneau boys had the biggest smiles on our faces as we cooled-off and got thoroughly soaked.

Just a bunch of beards in a tree

Throughout all of Mexico and Central America we had been impressed by the quality of the roads in general, especially considering all the horror stories we had heard. All of Honduras had had good roads and pavement until we reached the last 30 KM of highway in Honduras. This is what we had expected of the roads; huge potholes, missing pavement, traffic, gravel – the road was in disrepair. Only suffering some broken spokes and a flat tire we felt we had come off easy. We reached the border for a beautiful sunset and like that in a week we bumped our completed country count up to six.

Welcome to Nicaragua!

That night we ate our first meal in Nicaragua, a 40 Cordoba (<$1.50) plate of chicken, rice, and beans. We had heard that Nicaragua was the cheapest of countries in Central America and we were excited to see evidence of this. To our dismay this was our cheapest meal in the country; heading south and towards tourist destinations the price steadily increased.

The next day we were propelled by a fierce tailwind past the active volcano San Cristobal and into the town of Leon. We were to pay the cost of that assistance for the next three days in the form of an equally powerful headwind ripping off Nicaragua’s two largest lakes – Lake Managua and Lake Nicaragua. In those three days we rounded the shores of Lake Managua, skirted the capital, climbed, and then descended to the flats of southern Nicaragua and the surf community of Playa Gigante.

San Cristobal Volcano and Smooth Flat Roads

Max’s sister Rose and her friend Eleanor met up with us and we spent the next few days relaxing in the sun, catching waves, and checking out the surrounding area.  We then split ways for a bit, taking a vacation from our vacation lives.  Chris took off for Costa Rica to meet his family and girl friend Elyse and Max went for the Caribbean with Rose and Eleanor. Kanaan and Andrew weren’t ready to leave Playa Gigante yet so they decided to stay for a bit longer. Luckily our gracious host John was happy to accommodate, since his house was being renovated and the downstairs wasn’t fit for rentals anyways.  We can’t say enough good things about this place, incredible area with great surf and an awesome mix of locals and world travelers.  If you are ever looking for an awesome surf trip destination, this is the place!  Be sure to check out our buddy John’s place in Gigante Bay if you decide to head that way! We were incredibly thankful for the crash pad and happy to exchange a bit of labor for the lodging.

Good times in Gigante

Elyse and Chris' side vacation

Kanaan and Andrew finally got a chance to connect with a project that we had been hearing about for months, the lure that actually attracted us to Playa Gigante in the first place. Project Waves Of Optimism, or WOO, is a nongovernmental organization that has been involved with the local community for years. Their main goal is to help the community of Gigante organize a base of communication for themselves so that they can be empowered in future development decisions. Additionally, the NGO mobilizes tourists attracted by surfing towards volunteer projects to improve the ugly footprint that surfers often leave behind in coastal Central American towns. It seemed like a perfect opportunity for our film project so, after a mess of emails back and forth, we finally connected with the managers, Bo and Lisa.

Kanaan Dropping in for a Ride

Our first day working with them was spent in a morning reading circle with the local kids of Gigante. Volunteers came to interact with the kids by reading to them or listening to them read. It was just a great opportunity for the kids to have access to books they do not usually have. In between collecting footage of the local area and recording interviews with involved individuals, we attended a health care committee meeting, helped teach English at the local school, and contributed to the new paint job on the school building. We also spent a significant part of each day taking advantage of the awesome waves thanks to a great board rental deal from our landlord, John. Our time at Gigante was packed with action and fun. We definitely stayed busy, and were happy to take advantage of such an incredible place.

Amarillo Beach Sunset

Finally we decided that it was time to move on and so we bid Gigante ado and headed to Ometepe Island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. After hustling to make the last ferry of the day, we were pleased to see that our Swedish friends that we had met at Gigante were on the same boat. Vida, Johanna, Agnes, and two new friends had plans to visit the north end of the island so we decided to join them. Our first few days on the island were spent mostly relaxing, swimming in the lake and chatting with other tourists. We had previously been in contact with a permaculture farm/hostel called El Zopilote, and so we went to check their property out and ended up staying for a few days. We enjoyed our time on the property and met all kinds of interesting folks. We took a bike ride around the island with our Swedish friends and hiked Volcan Maderas with our new friend Lee. We also met the famous German family that we had been hearing about for months. Ronja Speth (~18 months old), and his parents Gregor and Lea are doing the same bike trip as us, from Alaska to Argentina. We were super impressed by their motivation and resilience. Check them out at www.family-pedaleros.blogspot.com.

Andrew, Kanaan and the Swedes

German Family biking South

Fully relaxed after a week of island time, we were ready to roll again. The day after leaving Ometepe, Kanaan and Andrew made a move for a new country and crossed the border into Costa Rica. We scored a break from the officials and didn’t have to pay a tourist visa fee, since we were traveling on bicycles. Just after crossing the border, we met a cyclist heading north and shared some stories. Turned out that he was on his 6^th continent, coming up from Buenas Aires and working for a television series in South Africa. He is raising awareness for bicycle transportation by demonstrating how much carbon dioxide has not been emitted to the atmosphere as a result of his transportation choice. After some unexpected hills to start the country, we spent the night in La Cruz for our first night in Costa Rica.

A monkey's love for watermelon overcomes its fear of beard

Our next campsite was one of the most refreshing in a long time. It had been a while since we had actually camped, as we normally find more secure places to sleep. Max had recommended a cliff drop into a river canyon that he had visited with Rose, so Kanaan and Andrew decided to check it out. It turned out to be a perfect spot for a night in the wild. An almost full moon filled the sky and after weeks of either indoor or restricted living, we were happy to cook on the fire again. The next morning was spent jumping off the cliffs and swimming in the canyon. It was tempting to stay for another night, but eventually we reminded ourselves that we wanted to get back into bicycle mode.

Bus stops make excellent snack stops

We trucked along for the next couple days, crossing the hills of Costa Rica and finding our way to the ocean again. Among the highlights were five flat tires in less than one kilometer; meeting a new cycling friend, John, who joined us en route to Jaco; watching Fast and Furious 5 in Spanish at the Cruz Roja station;, experiencing our first torrential downpour of the rainy season; and getting stuck in limbo for 5 hours trying to find a place to stay in Quepos. Finally we made it to Dominical, where Max was waiting for us after sending Rose off back to Juneau. We had an awesome afternoon surf session and had a great night camping with our new friend Seth, a Hopi hitchhiker from Arizona on his own adventure to Argentina. Somehow we finished preparing dinner and set up the tarps just before the super soaker rain hit, and were fortunate enough to hear about Seth’s experiences walking the Mosquito Coast in Honduras and cultivating sacred corn in the land of Hopi.

The next day we said goodbye to Seth and turned our bikes up the hill to head inland for the mountains. We had set up a WWOOFing opportunity at Finca La Puebla in Rivas near San Isidro el General, and were excited to get up there. We knew we were going to gain some elevation, but we weren’t quite prepared for the steepness of the road to San Isidro. It took many grueling hours of steep climbing into a rain cloud, but we finally made it to the summit. Just before we got to the top of the road a prankster motorcyclist told us we were only halfway, and that we shouldn’t plan on getting to Rivas that day. Exhausted and unsure, we were surprised to see the town below us ten minutes later, if we ever find that guy again we’ll have some words to share with him. Eventually we made it to Finca La Puebla, tired and soaked and just before dark, but the beauty of the place helped us forget all of our hardships to get there.

Frank, the owner; Walter, the garden manager; Leslie, the volunteer; and Christain and Ronnie, the employees, showed us an awesome time in our week on the farm. The days were spent with a few hours of work in the morning sun, followed by hours of relaxing in paradise. The garden and fruit forest on the property are immaculate, and we were granted full access to the harvests. With some basic ingredients supplied in the kitchen, our meals were deluxe creations of fresh organic fruit and vegetable dishes. Sweet potato-yucca cakes, banana-moraberry-fennel smoothies, and the garden medley stew were among our favorite creations. We had a practically infinite supply of bananas from the fruit forest, which we took advantage of hourly. (A conservative of estimate of the amount of bananas consumed by the three of us during or five day stay would be over 100.) We also discovered our new favorite fruit, the heavenly birriba, which looks like a goblin and tastes like a god. Surrounded by food growing in all directions, we had some happy bellies.

Posing with Leslie at the Finca

Our free time was spent mostly relaxing in the beautiful surroundings, a few exploration missions to the river and through the forest, a bit of bike maintenance, reading from Frank’s epic library and writing from time to time. We also enjoyed the pleasant company of the residents, and shared some awesome conversations and laughs with them. In the final days of our stay we collected some incredible footage for the film project, both with interviews and lifestyle shots. Our friends at the farm could tell that we didn’t want to leave after our week there, but we knew that Chris was waiting for us in Dominical, so with our bags full of bananas and cacao; we pedaled back up and over the mountain for the coast.

Chris greeted us in the exact same place, exactly one week later, as how we had reconvened with Max. But Chris was also dragging a new friend along, Darcy Ruddy from Jasper, BC. Darcy had been traveling around for a few weeks in Costa Rica with a few small bags and a fold up bicycle. After meeting Chris he decided that he ought to join our voyage for a few days, so after a night in Dominical, we got back on the road south with a group of five. It felt great to be back in a big group again after such a long period of separate missions. We all had plenty of stories to share and were happy to hear about all the latest news from the last month. Just before leaving Costa Rica, Darcy gave his goodbyes, folded up his bike and hopped on a bus for the Caribbean.

Darcy and his funny folding bike

We progressively worked our way toward Panama, excited to get into our final country of Central America. The contrast of the countries was very interesting after spending weeks in Costa Rica. To some it seemed like we had taken a vacation, and now we were back in generic Central America again. The prices were instantly cheap again and the trash on the side of the road returned. Road signs to indicate how far to the next town essentially disappeared. And the eco-exotic-adventure advertisements and flocks of tourists disintegrated. But the afternoon rain storms kept coming and the jungle was still deep and green and lush so we knew we hadn’t gone too far.

After Kanaan caught up with the group from a brief solo mission in the Costa Rica mountains, we left our bikes at the bomberos station in Sona and hitched rides down to Santa Catalina in search of some surf. An international professional surf tour was holding a competition there, and despite small swell, we got to watch some impressive performances by the world’s best. The next day we got our own piece of the action, catching great waves and growing some impressive sun burns. For some unknown reason we ended up hopping in the back of a truck and going back to Sona, rather than staying for another day of surfing. Sometimes it takes a while to understand how things happen when you are just going with the flow.

We continued the next day EAST, no longer on A Trip South while we are in Panama. A few days of event free biking brought us to the 6 lane highways heading into the city.  A policeman escorted us across the Bridge of the Americas, a huge spanning bridge at the entrance to the Panama canal, and across into the beginnings of the city.  After braving some intense afternoon traffic, we made it onto the bike path where we instantly ran into our friend Seth and two others we had met in El Salvador.  Small world!  The last few days have been spent trying to hitch a ride through the canal and checking out Panama city.  Hopefully we will find a way across and then on to Colombia…..

Thanks Policia Nacional for the escort into Panama!

Puente de Las Americas

The metropolis of Panama

After changing our remaining pesos for quetzals (Guatemalan currency), we began our first official day of biking in Central America. The change of landscape from Mexico to Guatemala was immediately apparent. We were greeted with intensely steep hills that seemed never ending. After only moving about 25 kilometers to San Rafael, we decided to call it a day. We were slightly confused when multiple people told us it would take 3+ hours to reach the next town San Marcos since it was only 25 kilometers away, but we decided to listen to their advice. Looking back on the situation, we should have realized we were being told the truth, since our strenuous day of biking landed us in San Rafael Pie de la Cuesta (foot of the hill). Since there are very few areas near the road without people, we chose to ask the local bomberos (firefighters) if we could stay for the night. We were given a large room to safely store our things and enjoyed visiting with the characters at the station.

Kanaan and Max do some steep Guatemalan climbing

In the morning we confirmed what everyone had told us the previous day- the hill leading to San Marcos is very long and very steep. It ended up easily being the longest and steepest continuous hill of the trip with no flats or down-hills. It took us 3 hours of non-stop climbing to go 15 kilometers. Finally, we reached an altitude of 7500 feet and were rewarded with a big descent into San Marcos. However, the real prize from the two grueling days of climbing was the refreshingly cool climate. Finally after two months on the hot, humid coast of Mexico we were able to don pants and long-sleeve shirts – and these four Alaskan boys couldn’t have been happier. Our first mission was to find the bomberos station where we would store our things and get some rest.

Andrew talking to some local kids after a full day of climbing.

Welcome to San Marcos

Leaving the station the following morning, we stopped for a quick picture and within minutes had several cameras pointed at us.  Three separate news crews filmed, photographed, and interviewed us for about 30 minutes. After giving them our story, we were on our way again. We had almost left the city, when two motorcyclists waved us down – can you guess who? Two more reporters! Another 15 minutes and we had our 4th and 5th interview of the day done. Free of the city, we started climbing out of the San Marcos valley up and up. And then another motorcycle pulled up and waved us down – interview number 6! It was an unreal way to start a day and we couldn’t stop laughing at how wild the experience was. We haven’t seen any of the interviews published, but if you hear about some bearded bikers in Guatemala, that’s us!

Kanaan working the cameras

That day, post-interviews, we rode to Guatemala’s second largest city: Quetzaltenango, or its commonly known indigenous name: Xela. With the triumph of the previous day’s climb, what would probably be our 2^nd hardest day of biking didn’t seem that bad. The summit of the day put us above the clouds, near 8,000 feet, making it our highest day of riding yet.  We spent our time there checking out the town and attempting to update the website with the free-wifi of Mcdonalds.

Hanging with Ronald

Leaving Xela, by chance, we stopped our bikes right next to a huge market that ran perpendicular to the road we were riding on.  We struggled to walk through the massive crowd of people wearing traditional clothing. Taller than the majority of people there, we had an almost bird’s eye view of all that was happening. There were all kinds of fruits, vegetables, unknown animal parts, CDs, shoes, fish, traditional clothing, and so much more.  Our ears, which have now been roughly tuned to pick-up Spanish conversations, could make little sense of the bartering chatter we were engulfed in.  We quickly realized that little Spanish was actually being spoken; the people were all speaking their indigenous language of q’eqchi’.

Kanaan Bartering for Fruit

Bright colors of the Market

Stopping in the right spot on the right day was a coincidence. We felt lucky to have been able to enjoy the market before a day of riding.  Of course, there were more hills ahead. However, the hills weren’t insanely steep and we were able to ride them at a comfortable pace. We also enjoyed one of the most incredible downhill sections of the trip; a long, smooth, double-lane highway that dropped us through the ceiling of the sky and seemed to go on forever. It was a good day of riding to arrive at Solola, about 8 kilometers from Lake Atitlan. Of course, we timed our arrival perfectly for school to get out. This might be the most any of us have ever been laughed at. Luckily we’ve learned to accept the laughs, stares, and other behavior that had previously confused us. So we continued biking into town and had another good night at the bomberos station.

Andrew after a Climb en-route to Lake Atitlan

Andrew riding the ridges to the south

Our first view of the Lago de Atitlan

Leaving the next day we could see the lake in the backdrop. We were thousands of feet above it but there wasn’t much horizontal distance between us and the water. This meant riding down what could be considered more of a wall than a hill. When we hit the town we sat off to the side of the road to group up and let our rims cool off (from the nonstop squeezing of our brakes). Obviously, being away from the water for almost two weeks, the lake was our first mission. A refreshing reward for our first few days in Guatemala.

Looking out at Panajachel

Looking back up to Solala

Max and Andrew testing the cool waters

Lago de Atitlan is a mile-high lake surrounded by 3 massive volcanoes and many small towns, all with different qualities to draw you in. Each town is easily accessible by cheap and quick water taxi rides. We paid 20 quetzales each ($2.50 usd) for our 30 minute ride from Panajachel to Santiago de Atitlan. Our good friend Colin Flynn had told us all about his brother-in-law’s childhood home right on the lake. Jake has now lived in California for several years but we were told we’d be welcomed at La Posada de Santiago by his father when we arrived. We were more than welcome!

Water taxi to Santiago de Atitlan

View of Santiago de Atitlan

Within 5 minutes we were enjoying the relaxed vibes and a round of cervezas on the house. As David, Jake’s father, was about to show us where we would be sleeping, a gentleman from a couple tables away stopped us to say he had ordered another round or beers for us and wanted a picture with everyone. We were still milking our first drink but were happy to make some new friends. As we walked with David up to his house, where we would be sleeping, we were given a tour of the property. The structures and large paths were all made with broken down rocks from the land. After we took full advantage of the pool, hot tub, and sauna, (all located about ten feet from the lake with a great view across to see one of the majestic volcanoes surrounding the area) we went back to the dining area for the steak dinner David informed us we would be having. Definitely one of the better steaks we’ve had and after finishing the entrée came a desert called ‘cardiac arrest’. A fudge covered macadamia nut brownie with homemade vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and cherries on top with a banana split in half leaning up two of the walls. Needless to say, our time at La Posada was incredible! A big ‘thank you’ goes out to David, Jake, and Colin.

Walking around the Posada Property

David and friends outside of the hotel

San Marcos was the next destination on our tour of lake-side towns. It took us two water taxis separated by a short walk through San Pedro to get there. On the second taxi we met a couple that said they saw us riding our bikes in the redwood forests of California. Even without bikes it seems that four bearded Alaskans are pretty recognizable. When we landed at San Marcos our objective was to find Kanaan’s friend, Alana, from Quest University. It’s a small enough town, so it didn’t take long to locate her. She was accompanied by her friend Dani, who we had met 6-7 months ago during the kayak trip when we visited Strathcona Park Lodge on Vancouver Island.  Small world!

Kanaan with friends Alana and Claire

Food is the one thing that’s always on our minds. When we heard that a local restaurant was serving all-you-can-eat sushi, we knew our night’s plan. We arrived at the perfect time to get a seat as hungry people began flooding in. A very relaxed jam session began on stage with everyone welcome. Often, mid song, someone would head to the stage with their instrument and join in.  This amorphous band of 8-10 people played throughout the night. The music quickly got us out of our seats and in front dancing. After getting funky on the dance floor we took a quick dip into the lake and called it a night.  The next morning was started with a delicious pancake breakfast topped with a papaya, pineapple, and banana medley. From there it was decided we should pick up where we left off the previous night and go swimming in the lake. The water was the perfect temperature and combined with being surrounded by amazing volcanoes it was hard to get ourselves out of the water. But after being on the road for this long, we knew there was more to see.

A local commuting with the sunrise

We had been told by several people that the “Yoga Forest” was something we needed to explore. The name comes from the daily practice of yoga that is preformed on this quiet hillside overlooking the lake each morning. Just a short 15-20 minute mellow hike and you’re there. As we were relaxing and looking at the lake with the volcano in the background we were happy to feel rain begin to fall on us. With smiles on our faces we sat in silence listening to the thunder roll and watching the lightning strikes. We had two choices: stay and enjoy the view, or return to lake level for a comedy improv show. After soaking up the rain as long as we could before it got too dark, we chose to go find the show. Due to the rain, the power was out when we reached flat land. This delayed the improv show, but only for a short time. Soon enough we were getting our giggle on and having a grand time.

Early the next morning Andrew, Chris, and Max caught the first boat back to Panajachel to retrieve their bikes and catch a series of “chicken buses” to Antigua to see Max’s aunt Ede and experience the first day of Semana Santa. Antigua has a world renowned Semana Santa celebration that commences with a magnificent procession which parades through the entire town until dusk. On the first day of the celebration the streets are covered in sawdust “carpets” that have been dyed in several different colors and intricately arranged into many unique patterns.

Preparing for a Semana Santa procession

When it’s time, hundreds of people dressed in purple robes line up and carry colossal floats in the streets through the sawdust creations. The whole thing is very elaborate and thousands of people come from all over to participate. We were very excited when we realized our timing lined up perfectly to witness the massive procession, but we missed it. In the haste of grabbing our things from inside the last chicken bus, unloading bikes from the roof and being thrown our bags faster than we could possibly catch them, we had an accident.  A film equipment bag was left on board, and by the time we realized it, the bus was well on its way to Guatemala City.

After an ‘oh crap’ moment, we found out every bus was on a set route. As we had hustled to catch our bus we only entered and exited from the back, so we were not familiar with its exterior appearance. We knew ‘Santa Cruz’ was painted above the windshield, next to a TV that was playing nonstop, horrible music by Fransisco something-or-other. After speaking with fruit vendors and a traffic cop we found out our bus was on a loop through Guatemala City and supposedly it would take about two hours to return. 6 hours later, after looking through hundreds of buses as they drove by to see if they were one of the few with a TV and one of the fewer with the words ‘Santa Cruz’, we located our bus just before it made its regular stop. Chris and Andrew entered through the front and back of the bus and began crawling over people, looking through every inch of overhead space for a small black bag. It felt like we were in the movie ‘Rat Race’ looking for the briefcase with a million dollars in it. But it was gone. Andrew sullenly jumped out the back and Chris began fighting his way back to the front exit. Just before stepping out of the now moving bus, he noticed some black cloth in the storage above the drivers’ head. OUR BAG! Instant happiness and relief ensued!

When we heard we could bike the last stretch of road to Antigua as fast as a bus would drive there, we didn’t hesitate to exercise our legs.Missing the procession was a huge bummer, but we did get to see a few carpets as we biked through the bumpy, cobblestone streets. Everything bad in the world was immediately forgotten when Max’s aunt, Ede, told us she got us a room for the night and we would each have our own bed! To increase the mood even more, we were informed that she had a friend named Len back home, in New York City, that has been following our journey and wanted us to have a dinner on him. Thank you both so much!

Without a doubt, Antigua is a town worthy of bicycle exploration.  Ede was in Guatemala to photograph for an upcoming exhibit, so her and Max took a drive through the surrounding area to see unique things and get some shots. Andrew and Chris spent the day exploring the town’s ornate architecture and local activities. Somehow, the stars lined up one more time and we found out that the owner of the hotel, Daniel, had given us a fillet of grouper for dinner. Excited to have the use of a full kitchen and control of a fish dish, we began preparations. The resulting lime infused grouper with grilled pineapple was a masterpiece (at least to hungry bikers that think everything is delicious).

Beautiful architecture on an iglesia in Antigua

A massive volcano in the backdrop of Antigua

Antigua Market

Antigua is a historic town that deserves more of our time in the future, but for now it was time to say our goodbyes. In no way were we bummed when we left. Before long we were between three large volcanoes: two dormant and one active that was releasing smoke constantly.

One of many picture stops on the ride out of Antigua

More volcano pics

Chris riding away from the three volcanoes

The 30 km leaving Antigua was almost entirely downhill and we quickly descended, losing nearly 1500 meters in elevation but noticeably gaining several degrees of heat. Heat is definitely a factor that changes our energy levels in a large way. We decided to call it a day in Taxisco and headed to the local bomberos to see if we could stay for a night. The Jefe (boss) was out on a call but we were welcomed to leave our bikes in the garage until his return when we would find out if we could stay.

Minutes later there was a crowd of approximately 15-20 curious kids wondering who the heck these gringos with enormous bikes were. After a bit of small talk the conversation was led to fútbol and we began a game in the street in front of the station. Of course the home team came out on top, but interacting with the local kids and getting our muscles working in a different way was a great time! After we returned from a quick trip to a food stand, we saw that the bomberos were back. Our stay would be no problem, which was good since night had set in and it would have been difficult to find another spot. We answered the typical questions: where are you from/going? How long have you been traveling? How much longer? Soon out came a camera and we were lined up with one of our bikes to do an interview. Surprisingly, there was a girl that spoke English and a second interview was done entirely in English. At this point we were pretty drained from the sun and our reunion with nonstop heat, so we retired for the night.

Getting our daily water

One more day of riding put us at Ciudad San Alvaraz where Kanaan reunited with the crew. He had spent the past four days back in San Marcos so that he could spend more time with his Canadian friends, Claire, Dani, and Alana. They shared many great meals together, spent a lot of time swimming in Lake Atitlan, explored the towns of San Marcos and San Pedro, checked out an Earthship (a house built out of recycled materials), sweated out a sauna, and did a lot of relaxing and laughing. Kanaan spent a long day that started at 5:30 a.m. taking a series of water taxis, buses, and biking through the middle of Guatemala City to finally catch up before the border crossing.  Somehow, the timing worked out perfectly and within minutes of getting off the bus at the border of El Salvador, the fortunate four were eating pupusas together.

Our last night in Guatemala was spent in the backyard of the local bomberos station, where we enjoyed the company of chickens, roosters, and puppies. Still adjusting to the low elevation heat, a hose shower was a very welcome feature of the bedroom for the night. The next morning we made our crossing into El Salvador and were happy to see that it was much more relaxed than when we entered Guatemala two weeks before. With no apparent thieves or tricksters roaming around to try to take advantage of us, and no visas or passport stamps to pay for, we were in our fifth country of the trip before we could say “check out my fancy green American dollars”. The currency exchange left our wallets feeling a bit thinner, but happy to be holding familiar bills.

Guatemala was hard to leave. For some of us it was the best country of the trip. From our entrance in the west to the eastern exit, each day was jam packed with memorable events. Getting up into the mountains was a real treat, with incredible vistas and comfortable climates as the daily reward for the hard work of climbing. The mountain people of Guatemala beam with character; always presenting their beautiful gold-teethed smiles shining through a mosaic of vibrant traditional clothing. Lake Atitlan is a definite destination for anyone visiting the country. We can confidently agree that it is a gem of Guatemala. But the coast has called us back. If we stayed up in the mountains forever then we would no longer be traveling. Alas, the journey continues.

Max and Chris at the relaxed entrance into El Salvador

cooling off in the river during a hot day on the road

We reached Puerto Escondido with the plan of leaving the coast and heading inland to our first WWOOFing (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) experience. WWOOF.org is a website/organization that allows people to search and apply to volunteer at organic farms. Volunteers trade labor for room, board, and the opportunity to learn about organic farming. We headed 45km east and climbed up to 1000 meters to the town of San Gabriel, Oaxaca where we found Rancho El Sagrado .

First view of the Rancho

Before coming to the rancho we were not too familiar with their operations except that they grow coffee and have an expanding eco-tourism business. Upon arrival, we went straight for the clear cold river that ran right along the property. The managers (Lalo and Alex), employees (German, Armando, and Dimitria) and other WWOOFers (Chris, Kat, and Dan) welcomed us to our new home with a beer and pizza party using their adobe pizza oven in the rustic kitchen. We had a great time meeting the crew and learning about the different projects that were going on there.

Kanaan and the crew at the Rancho

The next day we got the tour of the property, we were trained in our garden maintenance duties, and started our first project: the chicken coop. Local predator birds had been sneaking in and stealing the eggs, so we were instructed to close off all the holes. It was the first of many projects that we were assigned to, each one a good opportunity to remember the long lost feelings of manual labor that we have been missing for a few months. By the end of our stay there, we had cleared many trails and built a few benches, a desk, some deck banisters, a tire swing, balance beams, and a tree platform. We really enjoyed our time working with Dan, the other WWOOFer, in the construction projects. And it was a great way to earn our delicious meals of the day, prepared by Alex, one of the property managers.

Chris testing out the new tire swing

Originally, Lalo’s grandfather owned the Rancho and 50 years ago began planting groves of coffee throughout the property. Being in its natural habitat the coffee flourishes with little human intervention. Except for the harvest in December, (and if you visit in December you are able to participate in the harvest) the coffee is independent of humans; growing, reproducing, and nourishing itself.  From bush to cup, the production of Rancho El Sagrado’s coffee is a completely artisanal process. The handpicked berries are washed, fire-roasted, husked, and ground into coffee all on-site using local resources – water, wood, and hands. This isn’t a marketing ploy to appeal to yuppie/foodie trends, but is the way they have always done it since Lalo’s grandfather worked the Rancho. And how does it taste? Let’s just say when we think of other coffee we are reminded of the plastic clamshell off the shelf at Freddie’s compared to a handful of Eaglecrest blueberries right off the bush (we apologize to the non-Juneauites for the reference, you’ll just have to come visit some summer.)

Max helping out with the Machete

In more recent times cabanas, kitchen facilities, and an extensive network of trails have been developed on the rancho to attract more visitors to this amazing property. The property runs from the river to a 1000 meter peak and includes a variety of terrain and microclimates. Lalo was pleased to guide us about the property and took us for a walk down the river and a hike up the mountain. We were able to see the river transform from a lazy, meandering mud-bottomed waterway to a torrent of power, steep with waterfalls carving out canyons and cliffs (with some excellent jumping potential). The last day we went to the top of the mountain and were able to survey the surrounding country. We were pleasantly surprised as we neared the top to see ourselves entering a pine forest – not what we were expecting when we began the hike in the shade of banana trees and coffee plants!

Above a beautiful waterfall with the WWOOF crew and Lalo

Waterfall water massage

Lalo looking out over the Rancho El Sagrado Property

As we explored the rancho we were intrigued to find the collection of converted bicycle machines. A friend of Lalo and Alex built these machines and they include a husker (to separate the outer shell from the coffee bean), a coffee grinder, and a blender. Unfortunately all the coffee had been ground in the previous month so our legs would have to have a little more rest.

biking the coffee down

You know what really grinds my gears?

We ended up staying a week at Rancho El Sagrado – but could have spent a month! Lalo and Alex have many plans for the property including expanding the trail system, giving tours of the coffee, elevated tree platforms, ziplines, bikes trails, and more. They are completely open to input from their volunteers and visitors which made it an enjoyable place to work. At the end of the week we told Lalo and Alex that our “goodbye” was only a “see you later” and that at some point we will return to Rancho El Sagrado.

Leaving the rancho, we headed back to the ocean and Puerto Escondido. Two of our Argentinean bike friends – Nick and Frank – who we hadn’t seen since Baja, had made it to Puerto as well. They are staying in Puerto for a while and we are not sure when our paths will cross again so we were excited to see them. We also finally met up with Andrew again, after having been separated for over a month. Our paths crossed in a great place and we were all stoked to see each other again. Four really is so much more than three.

Posing with our Argentian cycling friends (and Nicks Mom!)

Puerto Escondido seems to be a major stop on the “traveler/backpacker” Mexico route and there were tons of young people from all over the world. We enjoyed this change and met a lot of people. Somehow, even among hippies, backpackers, and surfers, four bearded Alaskan bikers seem to stick out and it wasn’t very long until people began recognizing us. Possibly its driving attraction is Puerto Escondido’s surf, giving it the name: “The Mexican Pipeline”. We knew we weren’t going to have too many more opportunities to surf for a while so had to get some boards. There wasn’t much of a swell, which was good for us novices since even the smaller break can be quite large there. However the break was impossibly crowded and although we were happy to get some surfing in, the huge crowd made us happy to leave as well.  At a local coffee shop we met a fellow adventure lover traveling south on his motorcycle, he was wearing an Alaskan Brewing shirt he picked up in Juneau!

Alaskan Beer!

It seemed that we were still on the backpacker’s Mexican route.  Our next stops, on the very special day of February 28 (24 years after February 28, 1989), landed us in the small beach towns of Mazunte and Zipolite, also filled with young travelers. We enjoyed the environment of young energy and even met another bike tourer from Colorado who had just finished a trip through South America and was doing a more laid back Mexico trip to decompress. He directed us to an awesome fruit stand where we dug into some sweet, fresh and juicy watermelon and cantaloupe. After relaxing in town and going body surfing we were looking for more ways to celebrate Andrew’s birthday and guess what? The circus was in town!  The circus was compromised of an interesting blend of acts from all over Central and South America. Andrew had a great birthday night and not only were we able to get our groove on but we even saw an up-close performance by a fire dancer.

Two days later we experienced a fire performance of a little different variety. Leaving Mazunte we had been told there was a Rainbow Gathering 100 km south.  None of us had ever been to one of these gatherings and didn’t have a complete understanding of what they were about, but we figured that since it was on the way we might as well stop by. After pedaling a long day through the dry wind and smoky air, we were greeted at the turn off to Playa San Diego by a young group of Mexican hoodlums. As we made our way down the dirt road to the beach we encountered a number of interesting looking travelers, and even got convinced to help carry some backpacks on our bikes for a few shoeless “family members”.

The Rainbow Family greeted us with open arms and a delicious communal meal, dished out by the chefs to about 100 thankful bowls. We were impressed with their ability to estimate and ration out a meal for such a large and uncertain number of hungry bellies. We enjoyed the company of a diverse crowd, and learned about the Rainbow Way, how they are able to pull off such large scale gatherings of hundreds of people for multiple weeks at a time by performing shows in nearby towns and using contributions to feed the Family. It was a great introduction to Rainbow life, but just as the night was about to be surrendered to sleep, the second half of the night ignited, keeping us awake for a couple more hours.

“Is that the moon? No, the moon is over there. Well, I guess that must be the forest fire that we saw earlier then.” The wind was howling that night and the mountains were covered in little blazes that no one seemed to be too worried about. But eventually it was clear that the palm forest we were camped in was about to get consumed by a raging flame. We hustled to pack up all our gear as the alarm sounded throughout camp that everyone needed to wake up and get the heck out as fast as possible. The next couple hours were spent shuttling gear from one spot to the next, getting chased down the beach by smoke and blasted by sand from the wind. Finally we settled next to the lagoon in a place that seemed like it would be relatively protected. After a few hours of sleep behind our tarped-bicycles bunker, we awoke to a flameless beach. All of the craziness from the fire had beaten us and our gear up a bit, so we decided that it was time to leave that place. It was unfortunate to leave the Rainbow Gathering so soon, but with rumors of another gathering taking place in Costa Rica in April; we figured there will likely be more opportunities down the road in a potentially more comfortable setting.

A fellow cyclist pushing his bike down the beach away from the massive fire

Our bike-tarp bunker from the wind, sand and smoke

The following days were wind filled. As we entered the famous Tehuantepec Gap region, the prevailing northerly winds channeling from the Gulf of Mexico down to the Pacific coast made themselves known. Suddenly it seemed that we were back in the desert again, the constant winds keeping the climate untropically arid. The dry, strong air currents kept our body temperatures more comfortable but also made us move much slower. Eventually we ended up in La Ventosa, the center of a gigantic wind farm that had us biking through turbines for hours. Luckily the wind took a bit of a break as we crossed this section; otherwise we might have been trapped on the west side of it by a wind hazard closed road, as happens often in that area apparently.

As we were having lunch in a federally funded “Vivir Mejor” public playground, a sharp looking fellow in a nice car pulled up and waved us over to talk with him. He was wondering why we hadn’t called him yet. He is a warmshowers.com and couchsurfing.com host in a town 80 km down the road, and we should stay at his house when we get there. We knew this trip was pretty easy going, but usually it takes at least a little bit of effort to find places to stay on those online traveler networks. Now we don’t even have to do the research, the hosts find us! We took it as a good excuse to cover some ground, so we hustled the rest of the day to make it to his house before sunset.

Rodrigo and Lupita treating us to all you can eat fresh mangoes!

Rodrigo and Lupita were excellent hosts, entertaining us with a pair of crazy young boys and feeding us with great meals and nonstop mangos off their trees. We even got to do our laundry and take showers! Good times. The next day we crossed the border to Chiapas, our last state in Mexico. The wind picked up strongly again, starting as a tailwind in the morning but eventually blasting us from the side. We pulled in to Arriaga and went straight for the bomberos station. The good people of the public service took us in graciously, and we were able to play a bit of baseball with the high school team as they were practicing on the field behind the station.

All night and the next day the wind was ripping again, and Max was feeling a bit sick from all the mangos of the day before. We didn’t make it far out of town before we pulled off at a gas station to rest and reassess Max’s health situation. It was decided that he would either bus or try to find a ride to Tapachula, the city on the other side of Chiapas that we would likely be able to reach in a few days. Just before Kanaan, Chris, and Andrew were about to bid Max ado, they asked a Canadian guy towing a trailer and a speed boat if he might be able to offer a ride south. As it turned out, he was on his way to Costa Rica, and was driving in a fleet of cargo trucks. They offered to take all four of us, with our bikes in the back of a dump truck, no problem. We figured it was the best option, to keep the group together and take advantage of a good opportunity to cover some long flat distances. So we hopped in three different trucks and in a few hours we were dropped off about 15 km from the Guatemalan border.

Passing through Arriaga, the train was full of travelers heading north

We went to the first restaurant we could find and asked if we might be able to camp on their property if we bought dinner there. They excitedly agreed and soon we were chatting up the night with the whole family, grandparents to grandkids. The next morning they treated us to a variety of fruits from their backyard orchard and sent us on our way for Guatemala. On the way out of town we stopped at some Mayan ruins and explored intricately carved story stones and ceremony structures. We met some visitors from Guatemala who were in town for the international fair and they convinced us to stay for one more night to check out the events. It turned out to be a bit of a different cultural experience than we were expecting (pretty much just an American style county fair in Spanish), but we had fun. The next morning we got on the bikes and officially said our goodbyes to Mexico.

The Mayan ruins of Izapa, our last stop in Mexico

After three months of riding the pacific coast of this great nation, we feel like we’ve obtained a pretty good understanding of what this side of Mexico is all about. It’s been an awesome introduction into the Spanish speaking world, and we are especially thankful for all the caring people that have contributed to our journey along the way. Mucho gusto to the country of Mexico for teaching us so much and delivering such great experiences, certainly to be remembered for the rest of our lives. Now we begin the next leg of the trip, Guatemala and the rest of Central America. Looks like some big mountains are up ahead to start us off…

Kaitlyn substituted for Andrew in San Blas with her personal beard knitted by Barb Mitchell, our former teacher at Gastineau Elementary

From a few comfortable, air-conditioned bus rides Kanaan and Kaitlyn wandered around Puerto Vallarta trying to find a cheap place to stay near the airport. After a night´s rest in a sleezy pay-by-the-hour hotel they went on the search for the bike box. Luckily they ended up finding the coolest bike shop in town, Japodrillo´s, two blocks from the airport. The owner, Javier, had just opened the shop in the past couple months and was overwhelmingly generous and helpful in getting us all our needs. We were also stoked to see that he was carrying Elecktra bicycles, designed by our friend Beno who we met in San Diego while visiting Kanaan´s aunt Kristi and uncle James. Not only did Japodrillo´s bike shop provide us with a bike box and use of the shop tools, but Javier also invited us to go mountain biking in the mountains of Puerto Vallarta, lending us awesome rental bikes! Serendipitously Chris and Max rode by just as the Bauslers were leaving the shop for the beach, and we were reunited again. After sending Kaitlyn to the airport, Kanaan, Chris, Max, Javo, and our new friend Carlos took off for the Rio Cuale bike trail.  Thanks for joining us Kaitlyn!

Groovy art and good vibes at Japodrillo´s Bike Shop in Puerto Vallarta

Javier, the owner of Japodrillo's bike shop in Puerto Vallarta, led us on an amazing mountain bike ride.

The perfect swimming hole after climbing the hills of Puerto Vallarta. Bouldering, cliff jumping, and mountain biking in one evening? Obviously we enjoyed our time in PV.

After going out on the town for a few cervezas and hot wings, we said goodbye to Javo and went to crash with a warmshowers.com host who’s son had actually biked the northern section of our same trip. Belin’s hospitality was much appreciated. The next morning we made our move to get out of Puerto Vallarta, feeling it was about time that we got back into bike mode for a while. A long climb out of the city put us in the sub alpine environment of the mountains, where we were surprised to see pine trees and felt a refreshing bit of cool air in the middle of the night as we slept by a beautiful clear-water river under the bridge of the highway. It was good to be camping again.

The coming miles were slow.  We climbed and snaked our way through rolling hills, desperately trying to pedal in the shade.  Each night we made our way off of the main highway out to the coast and the scenic playas to make camp and search for surf! One of the beaches we hit was the beautiful Arroyo Seco, a powerful break surrounded by awesome climbing cliffs. Check out the Arroyo Seco surf shop at http://www.christianossurfteam.org/

Kanaan looks for waves in Arroyo Seco.

Fires are only for cooking now, we don't need more heat!

In the next days, we continued on the road south.  Breaks from pedaling now consist of sitting outside of small stores with cold drinks and shade.  Usually we meet interesting people in the tiendas and have an opportunity to practice speaking Espanol.  Rural areas often require less effort to find camping for the night.  Entering the large port city of Manzanillo, we had to be more creative.  After much confusion with directions, we decided to ask the local bomberos if we might be able to camp there for the night.  They ended up being incredibly hospitable, offering us a chance to do laundry, take a shower, and even sleep in a bed!  Thank you guys so much!

Kanaan thankful for the hospitality of the bomberos.

Continuing south we were excited to find some good waves.  We had heard from several people that there was a good break in Nexpa, so we aimed to get there for some afternoon swell.  Although it did not look far on our zoomed out map of Mexico, we couldn’t seem to get very far.  Every pueblo said that we were only 30 or 40 km away, but as we kept pedaling we realized that the number never went down.  The constant switch backs of the road made the distance much longer, and we didn’t arrive until the following day, Super Bowl Sunday. When we got to Nexpa we were looking to find free camping, go surfing, and watch the Super Bowl. It didn’t take long at all to find all three when we met Martin, the owner of a new restaurant in town called Mary Janes. He offered a place under the restaurant to put up our tents and invited us to come to his Super Bowl party after we went surfing. We were excited to be meeting people from all of the world united in Nexpa to catch some waves.  The day brought perfect smooth sets, a great super bowl fiesta, and a long night of dancing!  We met people from all over Mexico, Quebec, Washington, British Columbia and Italy.  Our new amigos Omar and Areli fed us an amazing ceviche lunch and shared advice about traveling through Mexico.  We even met an amigo with a small craft brewery in Mexico who happened to be offering samples! It was a truly special place and we will certainly be heading back there sometime in the future.

Hanging out with Omar y Areli in our common camp area under the party.

Stretching out before heading into the waves. What better sign could we find on Super Bowl Sunday?

Check out La Bru, craft beer in Mexcio.

After our second night in Nexpa potlucking with rad new buddies Andrew and Mariela from Bellingham, Fred and Kari from Montreal, and Jerry from Nexpa, we packed up and hit the road.  It was tough to leave, but we decided to move on before we got too attached.  We had met a motorcycle rider named Braulio a few days before who had invited us to come stay with him and his family in Lazaro Cardenas.  It was a funny scene, us in our spandex pants speaking Spanish to a large man in full leathers who rides in a Hell’s Angel-esque biker gang called “Los Bandidos”.

Braulio in casual wear on his way to work

We rode to his home, and ended up spending the next two days visiting with him as his family.  Braulio’s wife Debora is an Italian professor at a local university IDESUM, and she invited us to come and meet the students.  We had a great time checking out the school and speaking Spanglish with the students and staff.  The students there are all required to learn not only Spanish and English, but also Italian, French and German.  And we thought just Spanish was hard!

Posing with Debora and her students at the University.

Hanging out with Braulio, Debora and their Family

View from the board.

The next morning, we had a great surf session and a huge breakfast with Arnt and Valerie.  They even gifted us a pair of fins for future snorkeling and body surfing sessions.  It was great to meet you guys and hopefully we will see you down the road! Braulio had mentioned that he had a friend, Fidel, in Zihuatanejo that we might be able to stay with, so we gave him a call and made plans to rendezvous somewhere on the highway.  It is quite difficult to make plans over a cell phone in Spanish, so we were not quite sure what to expect.  Fortunately, Fidel was easy to find, as he pulled over with his friend in his crazy three wheeled custom motorcycle contraption.

Thinking about a trade, We will take the tricycle Fidel!

He told us that he wanted us to meet a friend who worked for the regional tourism office.  We agreed and he tailed us in the moto-tricycle for the next 20 km or so.  Climbing the large hill before Zihuatanejo we were completely surprised by a huge group of reporters and on lookers snapping photographs and asking us questions about the journey.  Along with the media, the coordinator of tourism came and gave us an amazing welcome to town!

The welcoming group to Zhiuatenjo.

We followed Fidel down the steep and scenic hill into Zihuatanejo where he led us to his amazing Hotel Casa del Mar on Playa Ropa.  He has put us up in the hotel for the next few days, as we are scheduled for a radio interview on Monday.  Thank you so much for everything Fidel!  Once again, our journey has been packed full of awesome people and gracious hosts.  This journey would not be possible without the generosity of everyone along the way!

Hanging with the crocs at Hotel Casa del Mar

Skabenga waiting to get in the water!

That night we camped halfway between the ferry terminal and the shipyard where Skabenga was docked. After deep contemplation, we decided that fate must dictate our future. In an epic series of rock-paper-scissors tournaments to decide who would call and who would flip, we tossed an American quarter to see who would sail and who would ferry. Chris called tails as the coin flew through the smoke of the fire and landed decisively with George Washington looking up into the stars. Kanaan and Kaitlyn, Team Bausler, would be sailing to the mainland.

Cooking dinner, and deciding who will sail and who will ferry

The next day all four of us went back to the shipyard to tell Captain Bruce the news. Luckily, he and his first mate Mouse took pity on Chris and Max and said, “Sure, why not?!” Since it was such a short journey, squeezing two more on wouldn’t be that big of a deal! We were very relieved and excited to hear the good news. But they also delivered an additional piece of news. Due to the weather system rolling in over the weekend, we wouldn’t be leaving until next week. After a bit of debate and reassessment, we decided that it was worth the wait, since this boat seemed more dependable and they would be taking us further south than Mazatlan anyway. With a ride across secured for next Thursday, we took off for El Pescadero, 100 km south of La Paz.

Kaitlyn was feeling the need to justify her “bike trip” so her and Kanaan pedaled across the Baja peninsula while Chris and Max stashed their gear and hitchhiked. Team Bausler was stoked to get out of La Paz, although it wasn’t easy. The commute through the city was a bit intense but luckily they got taken in that night by a generous man named Fili, who was caretaking a deserted resort in the middle of the desert. After an early wakeup call the next day they made it to El Pescadero in good time to meet up with Chris, Max, and our Argentinean friends that we had split up with two weeks earlier.

Chris, Max, and half of the Argentineans went mountain biking with the owners of the house they had been staying in. They were stoked to get a bit more aggressive than our usual touring bikes allow, and luckily only managed to crash into cacti a few times. Meanwhile Kanaan and Kaitlyn hung out at the Baja Extreme Surf Camp, playing ping pong and tasting some smoked sierra fish that brought back memories of home brewed salmon. That night the Bauslers attended a unique multimedia event consisting of a slideshow of local surfing, fishing, and fiesta photos while the husband of the photographer tore up the air waves on his electric guitar. At the event, they met Brady, Troy, Dan and Ben, two pairs of brothers from Kansas who had rented a beautiful home next to the beach at El Cerritos, one of the best surf breaks in the area. Fellow adventurers themselves, they invited us to come stay at their place to enjoy the good life for a few days.

Hammock sunrise in Pescadero

Our time at El Cerritos was pretty ideal. Ten minute walks to the beach with borrowed surfboards gave us some awesome surf sessions in fun waves with very little crowds. When not surfing we visited the El Pescadero farmers market to get a good taste of localized living in Baja. We helped host a carefully planned and perfectly executed multicultural party at the house where half of the attendees were English speakers and the other half Espanol. Everyone spoke slowly and deliberately to ensure successful communication. We made a bonfire using “fire by friction” techniques, shared some delicious dishes, and got a tour of the constellations. The next morning we got a free yoga class from Dulce the movement specialist, waking our bodies up for a day of waves. On our last night at the house, Brady showed us a film that he actually helped create called Within Reach about a couple that toured the States on bicycles looking for sustainable communities (sound familiar?). It was great to reflect on and share our experiences with the Kansas crew in El Cerritos. Thanks for an incredible time dudes!

Gruesome Scorpion hiding under the tent!

After El Pescadero, Chris and Max bussed back to La Paz while Kanaan and Kaitlyn pushed for two days against a gnarly headwind (that one that we were trying to avoid in the sailboat). Other than the wind, the ride back was largely uneventful other than the giant scorpion that was crawling on the tent as it was getting packed up in the morning. Chris and Max prepared the boat and bikes for the journey and the Bauslers arrived at the shipyard just in time to celebrate Captain Bruce’s 48^th birthday. After a raging party with a variety of travelers and ruffians, the next day was spent getting the boat in the water and making final preparations. Two weeks after arriving in La Paz, it was finally time to get off the Baja!

Kaitlyn and Mouse posing with the water-proofed bikes in the boat yard

With 10-20 knots of Northwesterly wind and 2-5 foot seas, the conditions were almost perfect for our first multi-night sailing trip. As the mountains of Baja got smaller and smaller, S/V Skabenga ripped past three or four different mono hulled sailboats going menos rapido in the same direction. We raised the spinnaker and dropped the fishing lines, searching for dinner and speed. Everyone took shifts at the helm, keeping an eye on the course at all times. It was quite a sight coming out of wheel watch on the first morning to see that we were completely surrounded by water, no land in sight. Of all of us, only the captain had ever seen that before.

Max watching the land dissapear

Those days crossing the gulf seemed so eventful, but other than the fish we caught there doesn’t seem to be much to write about. Between changing the sails and the skipjack, horse-eyed jack, and marlin bites, we all spent a lot of time playing card games, reading books, and watching the wind, waves, and clouds. As Isla Isabella came within sight, Chris pulled in a big old ~80 lbs. sailfish who welcomed us to the island.

Chris, Captain Bruce and the Sail Fish

Within minutes of dropping anchor, the beards were in the water. Surrounded by frigates and boobies overhead in the air, and perched on shore, the ecosystems below the surface were equally as lively. Visual memories from Blue Planet and Finding Nemo came to mind as we explored some of the best snorkeling zones we’d ever encountered. After a deluxe dinner of beer battered fish tacos we awoke the next morning fully inspired to find more fish. We followed Bruce around with flippers and paddle boards as he speared a couple of triggerfish for lunchtime ceviche and a horse-eyed jack for dinnertime steaks.

Paddling out to investigate the depths of the volcanic islands

After an epic snorkeling session listening to whale songs and diving into caves, we took Skadinghy to the Island to visit the birds. As a nationally protected heritage site free from invasive species, Isla Isabella is smothered with wildlife. Every tree has at least a few families nesting in it, but the minefield of nests cover the ground between the trees as well. Boobie and frigate eggs, hatchlings, juveniles, adults, and deceased elders lay, sat, squawked, and flew in all directions. In addition to the birds was a resident population of iguanas, lazing about in the afternoon sun. It was exciting to be surrounded by so much energetic life.

Blue Footed Commotion

Blue Footers

The Crew on Isla Isabela

That night we watched a lightning storm on the horizon from clear starry moon skies while playing pirates dice. Max came one game short of winning the required five for a pirates dice champions t-shirt. But after watching a humpback breach fest and catching a mahi mahi en route to the mainland, Bruce and Mouse gave us our official Skabenga crew uniforms.

Captain Bruce with an El Dorado (Mahi-Mahi)

Skabenga Crew

We were originally planning on sailing to Puerto Vallarta, but Bruce got word that his son would be meeting him in San Blas so our time to jump ship had come. After some great times aboard the Skabenga, it was hard to pry our butts off those cushy padded seats. As we shuttled our gear to the beach through the humid heat of the evening and got attacked by no-see-ems for the first time in six months, it was clear that we were definitely somewhere else. Time to see what tropical cycling through mainland Mexico is all about…

Welcome to the Mainland

Although nothing seems to be “regular” on the bike trip, the last few weeks have been especially irregular. Our last blog post was uploaded as we reached the Sea of Cortez in Santa Rosalia, only a few days before Christmas. Between then and now we have crisscrossed Baja, re-united and departed from many friends, and spent many days sitting in marinas trying to hitch a sailboat ride across to mainland Mexico.

From Santa Rosalia we continued to ride south, stopping in Mulege for two days over Christmas to help Chris recover from a stomach illness.  The group was now made up of the regular four (Max, Andrew, Kanaan and Chris), our good friend from home Mike, and our three new pedaling mates from Argentina.  After resting up, we pedaled on.  The 70 km stretch of road south of Mulege follows along the Bahia de Concepcion.  It is undoubtedly some of the most beautiful country we have seen on the trip.

Lunch break view of the bay.

We couldn’t help ourselves and ended up camping on a beach for two nights, swimming and snorkeling in the unbelievably warm water.  Lots of marine life made for great viewing and the need to be a little cautious. We quickly utilized the “sting-ray shuffle” after Kanaan and Chris both got harmlessly (but still painfully) stung.

Packing up the bike after two nights of greatness on our personal island/peninsula (depending on the tide).

At the beach we bid farewell to our Argentinean friends knowing that we would see them somewhere later down the road. Leaving the beach we had a spectacular ride to Loreto that cut in from the Sea of Cortez winding through some craggy mountains for the day.  The road then shot back out to the water and we entered Loreto. That night the local bomberos (fire fighters) gave us a place to sleep and a secure place for our bikes so we could explore the town.  We truly enjoyed hanging out and cooking in the fire hall, it was an excellent opportunity to work on our Spanish skills! The next day Chris got some surprise news that his girlfriend Elyse was heading to Cabo for New Years so he stuck out his thumb and headed south. (Some of you may have noticed and wondered why our position on our SPOT map did not move. Chris is the carrier of the SPOT and took it with him on his side trip and did not track our progress.)

Mike was leaving that evening at 11pm to return back to school, so Andrew, Kanaan, and Max hung around Loreto helping to make a travel box for his bike.  We met a couple from Hornby Island, B.C. who invited us in for hot showers. During the kayak portion of the trip we had paddled right next to their island!  We had a great evening recounting familiar places and talking about the road to come. Leaving their house we were hungry as usual and Mike took us out for tacos as his parting gift. The taco stand had a large lot behind it so not only did Mike provide us with dinner but he asked in his broken Spanish “Acampar aqui?” We had a place to camp for the night!

With Chris and Mike gone, we were down to only three people (Max, Andrew and Kanaan) – our smallest group in months. Thirty kilometers south of Loreto we took a left and arrived in Puerto Escondido, the best natural port on the Cortez side of the Baja.  We had got it in our heads that we would be able to find a sailboat ride from there to La Paz.  As we have since heard, Puerto Escondido is an excellent natural anchorage that had aspirations to be a destination port, but poor management lead it to become an eerie place with a lot of half installed infrastructure (including the grid of streetlight lined paved streets empty of houses) that sees little traffic.  In other words, not an ideal place to become crew on a sailing boat.

Sunsets not too bad in Puerto Escondido.

Although we had no luck catching a ride, we spent the next two days resting off the bicycles and having our first interactions with the cruising community. We also had time to explore a stunning boulder-filled canyon that was on the opposite side of the road of the port.

Scrambling up the canyon we found some awesome boulders and trees to climb, stoked to use some different muscles.

Our second day in Puerto Escondido was New Years Eve.  The festivities were a little unusual for us; first off, instead of shivering as we walked around downtown Juneau we closed out the year with a dusk snorkel session. And second, although we attended two separate parties with some of the local cruisers and second-homers, we still managed to be in our sleeping bags before midnight.

On the first day of 2013 we pedaled out of Puerto Escondido and up the largest hill in a longtime. It was good to be moving again and it was a fun ride up the hill. That night we camped by a residual pool in a dry riverbed and it felt like we were back in the swing of the bike trip.

Looking back down the 20 km long climb.

We rode the next few days and eventually ended up in La Paz – the most populous city since entering Mexico. Using Couchsurfers.com we were hosted by Carlos a most gracious La Pazan. The first night he took us for a cultural experience – going to the movies in Mexico. The whole experience of going to the movies was quite a trip.  Three tall, long-bearded, long-haired, white guys were led through the food court by our Mexican hosts.  Everybody eating stopped talking and stared at us as we walked by.  We saw “Un Buen Adventura”, to us the title seemed a little off seeing how the movie was “The Life of Pi”.   The film was in English with Spanish subtitles, so it was easy to follow along.  It was fun to see a movie on the big screen for the first time in a many months.  Thanks to Carlos and family for putting up with us and all of our gear!

The next week or two could be summed up as the week of “marina waiting”. A major part of the trip for us is trying new things and having completely new experiences, this includes varying our method of travel. None of us have previous sailing experience, but we all decided that we would prefer to sail to the mainland rather than ride the ferry.

Every morning we headed down to the marina for “the Net” at 8am – the daily VHF broadcast of what is happening around the marinas. Quickly, the Alaskan bearded cyclists became memorable as we chatted with the many boaters, picking up lots of information and getting a good network of contacts. At this time Andrew had left us and ferried across to the mainland to meet up with his parents in Puerto Vallarta, Chris rejoined us, and Kanaan’s sister Kaitlyn flew down from Juneau to join the adventure for a few weeks.  La Paz has many large marinas and although we were past the peak crossing time we found there still to be many boats headed to the mainland. However four people and four bikes don’t pack to easily on a boat, so it was going to take the right boat or boats to get us across. Thankfully we found that combination with Stella Blue, Banjo Jane, and Aztec – three boats that were traveling together to Mazatlan.  We stocked the boats with provisions, and were set to leave in the morning.  The following day, we received news that the weather had shifted and there would not be another window to sail for another week.  Disheartened, we pedaled towards the ferry terminal.

On the way out of town we ran into the Taggarts, a family from Juneau that has been sailing the Pacific for the past two years with their young son Glen.

We left Ensenada with a bit more Spanish under our belts and maybe a few too many pesos spent on tortas and tacos. The road turned from a four lane main street back into a smaller two lane highway, something we were a bit more used to and comfortable with. What was slightly more uncomfortable was the fact that the shoulders went away the same time as the other lane. It took a little getting used to, but once we realized that for the most part the drivers give just as much room (if not more) as they did in the States we started to loosen up a little bit.

Truck traffic has been decently heavy throughout Baja, but they have been very good about giving us plenty of space.

As we moved south, the fauna became more and more sparse, and what was around was either covered in thorns, small shrubs, or a combination of the two. This made it quite difficult to find things to lean the bikes against. Trying to find the least dangerous thing around became the name of the game.

Cactus is the most common place to lean bikes now…

…But also the most dangerous!

Based on our maps, it looked like we were really about to enter no-man’s land; this was the fabled Baja desert. So we stocked up on food and water, almost acting like we weren’t going to see humanity or any sign of civilization for days. In the end, although the area was one of the most rural ones on the bike trip, our rationing proved rather unnecessary, because there was definitely enough out there for us to have made it between places without having put all the extra weight on the bikes.

Andrew and Colin leave Rosario thinking it was the last of humanity for many days.

The desert is a fascinating place; a place where it rarely rains and the sun can be unbearable, yet animals and fauna still find ways to survive in such a harsh environment. These conditions have created some of the strangest and most beautiful plants in the world. Some of the plants were so odd looking, it made us feel like we were in a Dr. Seuss book.

Even the most unassuming plants had thorns on them.

We stopped at a little restaurant between El Rosario and Catavina, where a nice gentleman by the name of Abraham gave us the lowdown on what was in store for us up to Guerrero Negro. He also informed us that not every cactus in the desert was good for extracting water from, but there was one that he used rather often.

Cutting up the cactus for water – the hard part is getting it open, then you get to enjoy the delicious cardboard taste and styrafoam texture that holds the water.

We decided to hang around the area just north of Catavina, which was a land filled with giant boulders, giant cacti, and cave paintings. We took a nice little hike, exploring the cave paintings and rocky hills. We even spotted a roadrunner while checking out the massive cactus!

Kanaan and Colin try to decipher the meaning on the ceiling.

Andrew finds an interesting rock.

One of the other tidbits of info that our friends Abraham told us was that there hasn’t really been any rain in this area in the past two years. The day we rode to Catavina had been mostly cloudy, pretty windy, and there was even a few droplets in the morning, but we didn’t really think that much of it. As night began to set in, the rain and wind did as well, turning into a full on storm. So much for the “no rain in two years” thing. The rain kept up for two and a half days and put a bit of a damper on our desert exploration and riding. The plus sides were nice, though; no heat and a completely different way to see the desert.

As the towns began to grow further apart, so did the chances for cars to get gas. A simple solution? Fill up your containers in the bigger towns and sell it in the middle of the desert.

The Catavina gas station

We made it to Guerrero Negro, where we made some new friends who we had been hearing about for quite a while. Nick and Sebastian, two Argentineans heading from Alaska back home (sound familiar?). They have been staying in churches their entire time in Mexico and graciously offered to include us in their group for the night.

The next day was an emotional one for a trip south, being Colin’s last day with the crew. He caught a bus (south, of course) to Cabo to meet up with his family for the holidays and from there head out to Costa Rica with his girlfriend. After six months together, he was hard to let go, but we hope he has a great time and we get to see eachother soon!

Max and Evan share some tears with Colin on his last day.

After shedding some tears with Colin and making a ton of pancakes, we made a late start to Vizcaino with our new Argentinean friends. Luckily, we had a really strong tailwind that sent us along in record time. The next day we were prepped for more flat, straight roads and a minimal amount of wind. We took another late-ish start and took a nice long lunch about 20 miles from San Ignacio. As soon as we took off after lunch the wind began to really blow, this time directly into our faces. This was definitely one of the hardest bits of riding we’ve had yet, making it into San Ignacio as the sun began to dip below the horizon. After riding through the desert for many days, San Ignacio was quite a surprise; as you drop off the highway you enter an oasis, complete with fresh water and palm trees galore.

We stayed at an amazing Mission that was at least 400 years old, sharing dinner with the Padre and exploring the town.

Being in Mexico, we had to play some soccer, so we asked a local shop if we could borrow one and hit the field. In a couple close matches, the Argentineans/Wyoming Boy took the wins from Team Alaska.

Nick enjoys Evan’s game winning goal

After the match we were invited to eat at a local Canadian owned restaurant called Tootsies by our new Aunt Suzie, who was also kind enough to invite us to a wonderful breakfast which fuelled us all the way to Santa Rosalia.

Thanks for everything Aunty Suzie!

The road to Santa Rosalia was amazing, holding two of the most fun and scenic downhills of the trip so far. The second hill was very steep and very long, called Cuesta del Infierno, or Hill of the Inferno.

After a great ride down!

We’re now in Santa Rosalia for the night, happy to have finally reached the Sea of Cortez! Not only that, but we were met by a surprise guest biking through the middle of town! Mike “Spike” Riederer has joined up for a few days while we continue south down Baja!

Mike brings the count back up to six!

- Evan

And Evan has taken a sabbatical from the trip to enjoy a winter of snowboarding in Jackson, but is planning to rejoin the group once they hit Costa Rica!!