Around The World In 80 Waves

My cars tyres are quite often getting a bit low on air because of all the hits they are taking from the poor road surfaces I am rolling down.

I also suspect the seals on them are not the best after all this action and the amount of dust we have driven through together across two continents.

As I premptive measure I tried to find a foot pump at he hardware store I was surprised to find along the road into Pavones.

However all they had to help me keep things in check and get them back up to pressure before the journey out of town was this bike pump.

As they say up north, “Owt is better than Nowt!” so it will have to do. I just hope I dont have to use it much in the heat.

A bit more explanation about the area I am staying in.

Gulfo Dulce is the inlet you can see here and the Panamanian border is along the right of this picture.

Pavones is at the entrance to the gulf on the right hand side. The swell hits from the south and the waves just wrap around the coast into the inlet.

There are a number of great rights across the other side of the entrance, which I would like to be surfing but I was told to avoid the road to then, although how it could be worse that the mission to Pavones I don’t know. You can also get a panga boat across but it is $150 to do so and I cant justify that expense just for a wave. Despite this trip I do have limits!

However I couldn’t do it even if I wanted to share the expense with a few other natural foot surfers keen to score more rights, because I am almost completely out of cash having used my emergency supply to pay for everything because there isn’t an ATM anywhere near here, and I have no intention on covering any road around here more than I absolutely need to.

Shame. I guess I will just have to make do with the 2km Pavones lefts!

After a couple of great sessions today I was able to enjoy one of the most amazing sunsets so far on this trip down the west coast of the Americas.

My gorgeous cabin at the Riviera was only available for two nights because the word is out that a great swell is on its way and people have been phoning ahead to book accommodation. I want to stick around for the first day or so of the swell so had to go around town trying to find a new place to call home.

However almost everywhere is fully booked because this isn’t the biggest place in the world.

As a result I was thinking I might have to sleep in the car which would be awful in this heat or worse still have to move on just as the swell was arriving and miss it completely.

One of the locals helped me out though and don’t ask me how I have managed this, because I don’t really understand myself, but I have managed to get the last room in the women only hostel. Either my man boobs have got way worse than I am willing to believe they are, or the bloke who runs it just took pity on me.

Either way wish me luck I’m going in. Some days you have bad days and others not so much…

The gardens at the Riviera are full of wildlife, some of which gets closer than I would have expected.

This bird has made its nest in the young palm tree whose leaves lean into the shade of my porch. 

There are humming birds busily going around all the trees, and even the insects are really funky. This one landed on my sofa the other day.

My patio area had a door at the entrance which at first I thought must be some sort of child gate or other, however after leaving it open while I went surfing the other evening I came home to find a group of toads partying under the cool of my fans. the gate is now shut but I should add that no boots were required for the removal of the toads!

The air is full of exotic birds and I can see Macaws chasing each other through the sky almost all day long.

I have no idea what menacing creatures may lurk in the sea here but thus far, and I hope it stays that way, I have nothing to report.

Not even a fish!

Regardless of my stressful drive here I had already promised myself a nice place to stay whilst visiting Pavones.

I managed to get this great bungalow at the Riviera which is a fantastic place situated alongside the Rio Claro and is run by Jamie and Sean. (http://www.pavonesriviera.com/) 

To minimise expense and confront the heat in Central America head on I have not allowed myself air conditioning since Guatemala, but it has been difficult to say the least so I cannot tell you how wonderful the respite of having it here is, not to mention the joy of not counting fresh insect bites each morning. 

In addition to the air-con I have no less than four ceiling fans, one of which cools my private outdoor sofa which you can see here.

I spent a whole afternoon in the hammock too, enjoying the fan which beefed up the cooling breeze coming from the ocean. 

This is my private garden which is so pretty. There is a gate at the bottom of which leads me to the 2 minutes walk to the world class break here.

The garden is full of exotic plants and there are pineapples amongst other things growing in the flower beds.

It is certainly a bit dearer than most of the places I have been using so far on this trip because I have hired a bungalow on my own, but it is worth every penny and I would have no problems in telling you to stay here if you visit, especially if there are a few of you sharing. It is brilliant, the standard through is much higher than most of what I have experienced and it has all the important things I need such as a fridge/freezer and a toaster. The owners have been wonderful with me too, helping me out with a couple of issues with the car and my cashflow.

As well as being one of the best places in the world to surf, Pavones is also a great place to watch the surfers in action because it all takes place so close to the shore.

There used to be a bar right on the shore where you could drink beer all day and cheer people on as the whizzed past end of the patio, but unfortunately it burnt down last year.

However all along the break there are whole tree trunks that have been washed up on the shore, which make great spots to take a seat upon and view the action from.

Yesterday afternoon in between sessions I took advantage of one of these for an hour or so. However whilst minding my own business, taking a few pictures and having a few beers in the sun I made a new friend.

I have no idea of his name, but can only confirm that this surf mutt wandered up and just sat along side me taking in the surfers riding in front of us, so I can only assume that his owner is one of them.

There are loads of really mellow dogs throughout Central America, probably because it is too hot for them to be aggressive all the time, and this one was typical of that.

Without wanting anything he just hung out wih me, but always kept one eye on the horizon presumably to see if his master or mistress was on the way back in.

I have wanted exactly this sort of surf mutt since I started surfing and have promisd myself I will be getting a new best friend shortly after returning to the UK.

The two of us sat there for ages but I couldn’t figure out who is owner was in the lineup that you see here:

Whilst there I took a few pictures and also took some video footage on my phone.

It is a little bit shaky (probably due to the beers) but it should give you some idea of how good the surf is and the standard of some of the people riding it as the crowds in the water build along with the swell through the week. (http://youtu.be/g8Gmae7gv-Q)

It was shot from the midway point of the maximum possible ride but will give you some idea of what to expect if you have not been here before. Goofy Foot Heaven!

The left at Pavones is simply epic.

You can actually ride it from the rocks at the point that you can see on the left of this picture.

From there you keep going past the river mouth which is just out of sight on the left. 

It doesn’t stop there however because you keep going to the mini-point where the picture above was taken.

Indeed turning my camera around at that location you can then see the bay in the distance where you can keep riding all the way into the shore. If you think I am joking check out this video of Robbie Naish doing it on a Stand Up Paddle board (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9rI76MuaXI) He needed several cameras just to catch it all on film and tracked his distance travelled using GPS! I haven’t bagged anything in that league yet, but still trying.

You are never too far from the shoreline all along this ride, and it is covered in rocks. At low tide they are a nightmare to walk across, because they stretch right out to sea and you slip, stub you toes, upend yourself, etc across several hundred metres of them. 

I have had a few sessions in the water here already enjoying the smaller surf before the big swell arrives. I was barefoot for the first of them but enjoyed the benefits of my booties after that. However they didn’t stop me going over the falls on one wave in the morning when I wasn’t wearing a rash vest and I scraped across more than one of the boulders under the water with my back which was a tad worrying.

I’m not complaining though, and only wish this wave was a right. As lefts go I can’t imagine much better, and have been having fun whizzing down the line looking over my shoulder as I go. More to come from his break too as the waves build through the rest of the week.

Wave 50 means I have reached my half century. Good batting!

Two hours into my drive south eastwards I turned off the main road in order to head down to Pavones.

I had been reliably informed by a number of people that this was a good road and that I should have no problems getting there in the Volkswagen. 

Getting past the fallen tree I encountered early along the journey was a concern but had I known what was coming I would have scoffed at it. 

As you can see here it is a dirt road where just enough dirt is on top of the large rocks for you to bump across. However I didn’t see anybody else on the road that wasn’t in a 4×4.

I got this picture to demonstrate how bad it was thinking that it couldn’t get any worse. How wrong could I have been? 

I had to cross several rivers and the surface you see leading up to this bridge was more typical of what I found.

I.e.  absolutely no coverage over the rocks at all. That there were no potholes in this shot, and by that I mean the sort of gaps in the road that a big lump like myself could comfortably sleep in, is. 

One section was so bad (and I regret not taking a snap, but had to focus on trying to get the car across it at the time) that I can only equate it to trying to drive from the waters’ edge at a beach like Brighton or Llandudno and make it up to either promenade over the loose stones which were anything up to the size of house bricks. Any one of which easily had the capacity to game over the car! The only way to tackle this was to reverse back and then take a run at whatever you might have thought was the best line, with the wheels spinning on all kinds of things and ominous bashes being heard against the underside of the car. Barely making it to the top of one hill and then looking down the much longer slope on the other side I seriously thought ‘well the car is staying in Pavones because I have no chance whatsoever of getting back the other way.’ 

Aware of the risks to the underside of the car I had to go so slowly on the flat, barely getting to 20mph at any point and the 40km of road took nearly two hours. I have to say that it is without doubt the most stressful drive of my life! Going so slowly also meant there was no air blowing into the car, so I was getting all the more wound up as I suffered in the heat. 47C according to the thermometer!

As if the roads themselves were not bad enough the bridges were simply frightening. I went over one, which I later discover has been called the German bridge ever since a family from the fatherland didn’t tackle the necessary high-wire act 30 feet up in the air in their car well enough, going over the edge and ending upside down in the river killing them all! I can see how easily this could happen because the bridge, and I use the term loosely, was simply a few planks of wood precariously balanced on a few fallen trees. There are no barriers whatsoever and unlike Top Gear I didn’t have anybody to tell me ‘left a bit, right a bit, etc.’ so I was doing it entirely blind just hoping that the line I chose across the bridge, that was only as wide as the bug, was going to get me to the other side and that the bridge which was creaking rather too seriously would remain intact.

I have no problem in telling you that I was genuinely afraid doing this and that I was in bits by the time I arrived in Pavones. My hosts told me about the Germans and where to find the picture you see above of another bridge crossing failure which has happened here. Just to rub the salt in I was also told that if you go the very long way round it is tarmac practically all the way until the last slope down into Pavones. I dont want to jinx things but based on that it would seem that the bug might be rolling out of here after all. However I can categorically tell you I will not drive that road again, ever. I would prefer to drag all my gear the 40km out using only my third leg!

After leaving Dominical I had the most glorious drive down the coast road towards the Golfo Dulce.

The scenery is simply stunning and is some of the best that I have seen so far on my travels on this trip. I bagged quite a lot of pictures whilst trying not to crash the car. 

Here are a few snaps to give you an idea of what it was like.

The road has recently been resurfaced so I was flying in the bug and making quick progress. 

The first couple of hours were simply a delight. Empty roads, breathtaking scenery and a cool breeze from the ocean.

I only wish it had stayed that way…