Christopher Baker leads Costa Rica - Panama motorcycle tour

PrintEmailSave to Favorites

I’m excited! I’m shopping for a new motorcycle. A BMW R1150GS or R1200GS Adventure to be exact.

And the reason is even more thrilling: I’ve been invited to lead a special 13-day Costa Rica-Panama tour for MotoDiscovery, one of the world’s preeminent adventure motorcycle touring companies. Since I sold my BMW R100GS PD about three years ago and haven’t ridden since, it’s time to get back in the game and put some serious miles beneath me before heading south to Central America next April.

MotoDiscovery has been running trips south of the border for three decades, when it was known as Pancho Villa Moto Tours. It knows the destinations back to front, including Costa Rica and Panama. In fact, two decades ago the company founder, Skip Mascorro, invited Ed Culberson to lead a similar trip. Ed famously became the first person ever to “ride” a motorcycle (a 1981 BMW R80GS) across the Darien Gap, a brutal, haunting 1986 journey regaled in his superb book: “Obsessions Die Hard - Motorcycling the Pan American Highway's Darien Gap”.

My partnership with MotoDiscovery has a long evolution. Segue back to 1995 when I was gearing up to ship my PD to Cuba. (As I reported in my September 10, 2010, blog post –“Motorcycle Tours are a popular Costa Rican adventure “ - I used the bike to research my Moon Cuba Handbook, but also ended up writing a literary travelog, Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro's Cuba.) Back then I contacted Skip for advice on what spare parts to take along. We’ve stayed in touch ever since and often mulled the idea of a collaboration, notably for future tours in Cuba (stay tuned on that score).

But I digress…

The current ‘Costa Rica-Panama’ description on the company’s website isn’t the exact route that we’ll follow. Skip has invited me to design the perfect itinerary. So, using the existing route as a template, I decided to add some of my favorite must-see places without extending the number of days. Skip also said that a little off-road challenge would thrill most riders, since we’ll be using BMW F650 and 800 enduros and the eminently capable GS machines.

So I added Arenal Volcano and Monteverde, which gave me the chance to then route us south through Manuel Antonio. All three are absolute top of the list in terms of popularity among visitors to Costa Rica.

Meanwhile, in Panama, I felt that we didn’t need two nights in Boquete (nice as it is) while three days in Panama City seemed like overkill. Shortening stays at both places provided a chance to add the exquisite Valle de Anton and a swing through the Azuero Peninsula, with its remarkable colonial cities, vibrant culture, and lovely beaches.

Here’s the route I came up with, including overnights (yes, Skip gave me free rein to recommend stays at some of my favorite lodgings). It’s a wish list that includes some real adventure. For example, there are river crossings on day 5 and 6, and plenty of gnarly unpaved routes around Monteverde and the Osa Peninsula to get the adrenalin pumping.

Day 1: Arrive San Jose.
Overnight Xandari Plantation
Day 2: Via San Ramón to La Fortuna.
Overnight The Springs Resort (Arenal)
Day 3: Around Lake Arenal to Monteverde.
Overnight Monteverde Lodge
Day 4: Onto the Pacific coast via Jacó to Manuel Antonio.
Overnight Hotel Si Como No
Day 5: Via Uvita, Palmar Norte, Rincón to Drake Bay.
Overnight Águila de Osa Inn
Day 6: Via Rincón to Puerto Jiménez or Carate.
Overnight Iguana Lodge or Luna Lodge
Day 7: Via Paso Canoas to Panama; via David to Boquete.
Overnight Coffee Estate Inn
Day 8: Via Penonomé and Valle de Antón to Panama City.
Overnight Albrook Inn
Day 9: Free day. Visit Miraflores Locks & tour Casco Viejo (Old Panama City)
Day 10: Loop the Azuero Peninsula, then via Volcán to Cerro Punta.
Overnight Casa Grande Bambito Resort
Day 11: Back into Costa Rica. Via Wilson Botanical Gardens, San Vito, and Los Cusingos Bird Sanctuary to San Gerardo de Rivas.
Overnight Monte Azul
Day 12: Via San Isidro and Cerro de la Muerte to San José.
Overnight Hotel Grano de Oro
Day 13: Depart for USA

We’ve set April 15-27, 2012, as the dates for the trip.

This is going to be a thrilling adventure.

Please join me!

Motorcycles not your things? Then join me aboard the National Geographic Sea Lion for a National Geographic Expeditions’ natural-history cruise-tour of Costa Rica & Panama (January 7-14 and January 14-21, 2012).

Learn more about Christopher P. Baker.

For further information about travel in Costa Rica, buy Moon Costa Rica

If you're traveling only to San José and the Caribbean, buy Moon Spotlight Costa Rica's Caribbean Coast pocket guide.

If you're traveling only to the beaches of Nicoya, buy Moon Spotlight Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula pocket guide.

If you're traveling only to Arenal and/or Monteverde, buy Moon Spotlight Costa Rica's Arenal & Monteverde pocket guide.

Disclosure: I occasionally accept free or discounted travel when it coincides with my editorial goals. However, my opinion is never for sale. The opinions you see in Cuba & Costa Rica Journal are my unbiased reflection of the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Copyright © Christopher P. Baker