Story
<p>
<p>London – Panama City</p>
<p>Early morning flight from London to Panama </p>
<p>City; currently via Madrid and Guatemala City. </p>
<p>We arrive in the evening and transfer to the hotel.</p>
<p>Panama City – La Fortuna </p>
<p>Forest Reserve </p>
<p>This morning, after a detailed briefing, we </p>
<p>leave early and head to the Panama Canal. We drive </p>
<p>approximately 6 hours stopping regularly to savour </p>
<p>the magnificent history and incredible landscape. </p>
<p>Miraflores is one of four great locks that allow ships to </p>
<p>pass from the Pacific to the Caribbean. We can watch </p>
<p>as vessels – some carrying up to 4000 containers – </p>
<p>pass through the lock gates. From the Canal we drive </p>
<p>across scenic Panama to the Fortuna Forest Reserve, </p>
<p>stopping for lunch en-route. Our journey takes us </p>
<p>through rainforest and banana plantations, and finally </p>
<p>up into the mountains to the foot of Volcan Baru, an </p>
<p>extinct volcano where we reach our camp. </p>
<p> La Fortuna Forest </p>
<p>Reserve – Almirante </p>
<p>After all the excitement it’s great </p>
<p>to start pedalling! Our start is inspiring, with spectacular</p>
<p>views of the Caribbean Sea below us, as we descend </p>
<p>through dense primary rainforest: listen out for howler </p>
<p>monkeys! The road is steep in places and there could </p>
<p>be animals on the road, so be wary! As we descend </p>
<p>from the mountains, the humidity and heat will </p>
<p>become very noticeable. We reach the small village </p>
<p>of Mali and continue towards the coast through forest, </p>
<p>passing other small settlements on the way. Once on </p>
<p>the coast, we head north along an undulating road </p>
<p>where we will catch glimpses of the Bocas del Toro – </p>
<p>a collection of small islands and a hide-away of pirates </p>
<p>in the past! We continue to our simple camp with a </p>
<p>local bar just south of Almirante.</p>
<p> Almirante – Cahuita </p>
<p>(Costa Rica)</p>
<p>Today, we set off early and head </p>
<p>towards Costa Rica. Cycling along the coast to </p>
<p>Almirante, tackling several hills on the way, we climb </p>
<p>to a great look-out spot before heading through a </p>
<p>flatter area of banana plantations towards the bustling </p>
<p>city of Changuinola. From its rough streets we cycle </p>
<p>the final 14km to the border. This is a busy crossing </p>
<p>with plenty of activity. We pass through Panama’s </p>
<p>border controls and walk our bikes across the </p>
<p>dishevelled bridge to Costa Rican immigration. </p>
<p>After completion, we continue our ride along a variety </p>
<p>of roads, through small busy villages and tropical </p>
<p>plantations. The final part of our day takes us along </p>
<p>the coast to our hotel on the Caribbean Sea.</p>
<p> Cahuita – La Fortuna </p>
<p>Today, we enjoy a fairly flat 42km </p>
<p>ride along the coast to Lemon. This </p>
<p>section is wonderful, with palm trees and beaches </p>
<p>along the coast interspersed with villages and dense </p>
<p>jungle. We could have a drinks-stop on the beach as </p>
<p>we go and may even have time for a quick dip! On </p>
<p>the outskirts of Lemon we load up in vehicles and </p>
<p>drive through amazing countryside to La Fortuna </p>
<p>and the foot of the amazing and smouldering Arenal </p>
<p>Volcano, where we spend the night in our hotel. </p>
<p> La Fortuna – Santa Cecilia</p>
<p>After breakfast, we drive for around </p>
<p>1 hour to the start of the day’s ride. </p>
<p>From San Rafael we head along reasonable tarmac </p>
<p>roads through flat cattle country until we arrive at the </p>
<p>bustling town of Upala. It is low lying and pretty hot </p>
<p>and humid. From here we head towards the small </p>
<p>town of Santa Cecilia. The cycling is gentler and </p>
<p>we enjoy the scenery around us as we pass through </p>
<p>traditional villages and lowland jungle with fantastic </p>
<p>trees as we go. The tarmac gives way to a rough dirt </p>
<p>road, which is tough cycling but lasts only around 10 </p>
<p>kilometres before reaching our camp near the village. </p>
<p> Santa Cecilia – </p>
<p> La Virgen (Nicaragua) </p>
<p> We head along the last 10km of rough </p>
<p>road to the small town of Santa Cecilia, where we </p>
<p>meet tarmac again and continue to the Pan American </p>
<p>Highway - an exciting landmark. From here we head </p>
<p>along smooth roads north to La Cruz and then onto </p>
<p>the Costa Rica-Nicaragua border. We then continue </p>
<p>for around 25km to our lake shore camp beside Lago </p>
<p>Nicaragua. In front of us, Volcans Concepcion and </p>
<p>Maderas rise to 1610m and 1394m respectively.</p>
<p> La Virgen – Granada </p>
<p> Our final ride takes us north along </p>
<p>the Pan American Highway, enjoying </p>
<p>its smooth road surface and views of the lake and </p>
<p>volcanoes. We are heading for wonderful Granada, </p>
<p>the most beautiful of Central American cities. Its </p>
<p>wonderful churches, museums and squares, combined </p>
<p>with its lake-side position, make it a great place to </p>
<p>finish and relax in our hotel after the huge achievement</p>
<p>of completing this ride. </p>
<p>Free Day</p>
<p>Today is free to explore the churches, museums</p>
<p>and plazas of Granada, or to enjoy a horsedrawn ride around its streets or just to relax by the </p>
<p>pool with a cool beer. In the evening, we come </p>
<p>together and enjoy our celebratory meal. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Depart for UK</p>
<p>We depart Granada for Managua for our flight </p>
<p>back to the UK.</p>
<p>Arrive UK</p>
</p>