Welttour // Nord- & Zentralamerika: Los Angeles - Panama City

Here we are! Pablo and myself (Holger) welcoming Dan from Canada, Thies, Michael, Martin, Natali and Marc from Germany! Welcome to the Central America leg of our Edelweiss World Tour! The next 40 days we will complete a loop in the Californian outback and cross the border to Mexico. We will tackle another 6 border crossings and discover 7 countries reaching Panama by February! Before we went for dinner together, the group joined us for the first route briefing. Everybody was paying attention. The special Porterhouse steak at our... ... Edelweiss dinner. Everybody in a good spirit!

Our first group pic. Here we go. Natali brings some color into our group! Dan arriving... ...and enjoying the views Thies and Pablo! Super! Our strong Natali, weightlifting on the pass :-) We were lucky with the weather, and the first ride was great, just a bit cold towards the arrival.

A cool place this national parc... bizarre these trees which look like cacti but belonging to the agave family and the rock formations which attract climbers, fotographers and all kind of outdoor & wildlife enthusiasts.

Dan... ..with Natali, Marc and Thies Sooo cute, but better you don't touch these monsters :-) In the Box Canyon ... And at Salton Sea, again another world ... Natali dancing ... ... in the dunes Thies and Marc And our lovely couple!

Just South of El Centro we hit the border to Mexico...a 12 m high fence. Here we are just about a 100m away from the super protected border. Every kilometer a border patrol car. Our nice Edelweiss dinner in Ensenada. That means we crossed the border today! Viva Mexico!

On our first stretch on the Baja (Californa). Nice weather, nice people, nice riders :-) In San Quintin at our lunch stop.. These dogs out here...:-) Preparation for the next day, briefing as well the very few gas stations Just amazing these Kandelaber Cacti (Cardones)!! They can get several hundred years old and can reach a height of 20 meters!

Before breakfast Martin made a loop in the desert and took some fotos...(for us:-) Thank you Martin! And after breakfast a love seeking dog found Dan...:-) These Cirios (boojum tree) are also strange desert characters.. Even though we are riding the whole day thru THE desert the landscape always changes Here we went right "into" the sea, across a lagune... so nice and peaceful ...some of us at dinner in San Ignacio tonite

The last 75 km, passing el volcano tres virgines... ...we hit the coastline again.. The crew and.. Thies ..and amazing views on the Bahia Concepcion for the next 40 kilometers. Lunch on the beach, very simple pero muy bueno! Hey Pablo! What a nice day! ...briefing the options for the next day In the evening enjoying good pizza (viva Mecico:-)

In the morning we left the coastal line again, climbing a smaller though impressive mountain pass and then.... straights up to the horizon had to be covered A nice local lunch stop, quesadillas o burritos con calabaza o con carne...simple and yummy! Meeting Canadians (actually one is a migrant :-) from Munich) at our lunch and other motorcyclists outside Martin and Michael on the alternative Route

After a nice night and relaxed morning in our Marina Hotel we had a target today: Our 13 hours ferry trip from La Paz to Mazatlan. And here we are, leaving the harbor with the sundown at the horizon Arrival in Mazatlan in the morning, beautiful weather welcomes us! Now we gonna hit the road again towards Puerto Vallarta 460km south of us Close by the sea we found this hut...and this family which offered (and opened) some coconuts for us. The Mexicans are such nice, happy and welcoming people!

In the morning a nice and curvy mountain road which we are longing for after the Baja (okay, okay, they have also some curves over there...and amazingly beautiful nature and landscape!) The locals are so friendly and welcoming! From sea level up on ~1.800 meters again, Agave plantations around us but no Tequila tasting for us-) And then we arrived at our Palacio :-), what a beautiful hotel! ...in the evening we went for a Edelweiss dinner. A very good location in this cute Ajijic village at the Laguna de Chapala.

Marc testing the suspension of our van :-) last views of the Laguna de Chapala, the biggest lake in Mexico... and here the most beautiful lake (locals say) of Mexico, Lake Patzcuaro and arrival in our super beautiful Hotel in Morelia. What a place and just 100m walking distance from historical center of Morelia, UNESCO world heritage since 1991.

A fantastic ride in the morning.. ...a pink church in the middle of nowhere but in the mountains ...and a try of myself to get closer to the Volcano Nevado de Toluca, here on the way back already, all on a sand piste...challenging :-)

After a great ride thru pine and oak tree forests we stopped here for a coffee... A first glimpse of the most famous volcano in Mexico, the Popocatepetl. 5.460m high. Our target to ride up the 3.600m high Paso de Cortes and ride down the hardpac/sand road to Puebla The group gathered again on the pass and we engaged a policeman to take a picture of us :-) The last meters of the sand road coming down from the historical pass... Cortes crossed over in 1529 on his march on Tenochtitlan, today's Mexico City, and the tragedy unfolded...But today no tragedy :-) Marc and Natali coming down the mountain and having fun! Dust in the wind, they say. Natali and Marc decided to join us on the gravel road going down the hill from Popocatepelt on our way to Puebla The bikes also need a rest. Beautiful Hotel Reyna in Puebla

What a day! While riding, we found a very local lunch stop with friendly people and very tasty quesadillas. Homemade food is always a good choice! Yummy Dan was happy but tired after hundreds of curves on the road, even without knowing what was ahead of us before the hotel. Another intense session.  Coffee is always a good option to stay awake. Cheers! Night live at main Zocalo (Plaza) from Oaxaca seems to be the correct place to be. People dancing everywhere. What a great mood. The pescatarians on tour also got the chance to have nice food at Oaxaca's main square.

Monte Alban, built a 1.200 years ago by the Zapotheks, blew our mind! ...and pretty steep :-) The colors of Oaxaca with the perfect weather to enjoy our rest day ..and in the evening once more downtown, Dan finding a new girl friend :-) Beautifull Cathedral at Oaxaca

An early start in the morning brought us almost immediatley into the surrounding mountains... Amazing twisty roads catapulted us on 3.000m a.s.l. and amazing never ending roads led us down through a bosque de niebla still on high altitude into the jungle on the other side...I thought I arrived in the North of Thailand...and actually we are now on the same latitude With Thies and some local riders When we stopped in their village we were the talk of the day...:-) ...so cute, these parrots! Yiehaaa! We made it to the world city of Catemaco! You never heard of it before?! :-)

We thought this would an easy peasy day and we went for the longer route, about 370km to Villahermosa. On this stretch a detour to the coastal line, a big laguna inbound and the open carribean sea on our left...some bridges connecting the small sand islands overgrown with palm trees... Not many tourists coming here, children and grown ups fascinated by our motorcycles and ourselves...:-) We even found a small restaurant - the one and only - serving us tasty empanadas con camarones.. ...lonely beaches ...and then the thing got wild...here the team getting the bikes out of the sand The road was destroyed by the sea and the sand was pretty deep...we took a decision and turned around meanwhile Michael and Martin arrived and they continued... ...including the cocnut paved sand stretch...:-) and Michael and a Martin had to pay at the end 50 MX! on the way back we had to tackle again this nice bridge...great stuff for a big motorcycle :-) Beautiful picture Martin! And some teamwork at night, fixing Dans panniers on his bike again. Thank you all!! And welcome to the world tour! :-)

Palenque belongs to a National project of protected towns in Mexico called "Pueblos mágicos" (Magic towns, and it really was one. Today a relatively short ride brought us to Palenque to enjoying the Maya Ruinas in the afternoon. Just impressing! The magic of Nature. This Tree is amazing. Holger and Dan went there for the pic. What a heat we had there.

A short detour in the morning to the Cascadas Aguas Azules... Twisty roads thru Chiapas, first thru jungle and later again on higher elevation towards Comitan. Here we will spend our last night in Mexico

At the border to Guatemala...once the process started everything went smooth, however 3.5h went by stamping us and the motorcycles out and getting everyone into Guatemala ..border scenes from Martin.. ...inspecton of our motorcycle gear :-) ..as well an inspection of Martin and Michael :-) by then the mother (a nice couple of from Israel) accepted that her son will ride a motorcycle one day Aduana done as well for our motos and getting ready for our 4 hours ride in the afternoon to Chichi Maya rituals in front of the church...this region (like Chiapas as well) was never completely christianized... This pictures we took after our chaotic landing in Chichi...going with our motorcycles right thru the market in small cobblestone alleys...Wow, what a day! the patio of our nice hotel right behind the market The House is about 100 years old and operates nowadays as Hotel. A very quiet place. And the people there were really friendly to us. and enjoying the fire place in our room. Yes, quite chilly here on 2.000m

The flower sellers in front of the Church, thanks Martin It seems that Pablo will navigate for our tour guide today. To leave Chichicastenango was a challenge. Old school is always a good option. Lago Atitlán. On our way to Antigua, the old Capital of Guatemala. Amazing Volcano region. Thies went off-road. We were crossing a small river. Well done Mr Ehlers Cesar from Guatemala joined in the evening our dinner. He extra came the long way down from Puerto Barrios to see us. I was with him together on the Mediterranean Alps Extreme tour last year...

In the alleys of beautiful Antigua... At least Martin is ready for the group foto :-) Finally, we got the group for the pic. It took us a while to accomplish this task.

...on the way to the border to Honduras ...and a late arrival in our super beautiful Finca in the forest Tortillas originally made...just beautiful What a place. This hotel will be remembered. Green everywhere; we were so close to nature. Enjoy the view Dan! 

Lunch stop on the way to San Pedro Sula.. Pulhapanzka Watter falls. Really nice place. ...and our arrival at the Lago Yojoa... amazing again!! Chicken, birds, horses, water buffalos...wildlife on our farm here

The riding in Honduras is relaxed and relaxing...generally less traffic compared to Guatemala, less agressive drivers, they give you space if you need it and everyone enjoys to see big bikes...many thumbs up on and beside the road. Just beautiful. About 3 km before the border to Nicaragua trucks lined up left and right on the road and it got narrower and narrower for us to pass these monsters... ...but all of us made it through! Natali.. ...and Thies Michael and Martin spending the last Lempiras fueling up their bikes.. Other motorcycle travellers...this friendly couple from Nicaragua All in all about 4 hours for the border crossing, going thru the processes...in between thinking about life, about our journey, having a coffee...all good and everyone friendly... ...inclusive the dogs :-) Special guardance of the M&M motorcycles :-)

..at our nice coffee stop along the Panamarica Dan found this moss couch :-) First impressions of Granada, situated at the Lago Nicaragua Thank you Martin, for the great pictures! On our restday in Granada we enjoyed the small city... ..colonial architecture La gran Francia Hotel. A colonial building from 1524, that because of fire, was almost destroyed in 1856. They rebuilt it and since 1865 they have kept it as original as possible. Nowadays is this great hotel where we stayed. A volcano is born when magma comes to the earth surface. Central America has lots of volcanos and Nicaragua is not an exception, because it has 7 active ones. Masaya is one of the most visited ones and is located just 40 minutes' drive away from Granada, a very touristy city in the country. Nature is always prepared to surprise us, and watching lava just 200 mt away from us, was astonishing,  Our Edelweiss dinners are always a great moment to go back to the day´s memories on the road.

After a tough day crossing the border, is nice to wake up in this beautiful hotel close to the beach. Costa Rica seems to be a destination that will keep surprising us.

Okay okay, tourguide first :-) At the Largarto beach, we decided to stop for some drinks and check the place out. This one is untouched and was amazing.  Our nice Edelweiss dinner at the beach

Our stop at the Taiwan friendship bridge...this nice couple prepared scraped ice drinks...the taste soooo sweet, wow ..at the Lago Arenal...back in the mountains, more specific in the volcanic zone Arenal Lake has 85 square km and it is a hydroelectric project in Costa Rica and is a very important electricity source for the country. Fishing, Kayaking, and Wind surfing among others, are those activities you can enjoy if you visit the region. Our lunch stop in paradise... Definitely, Costa Rica is one of the most biodiversity countries all around the globe, and once we reach the mountains we were able to discover it. Not only seeing it, but hearing it while driving is just amazing. And then later these cute Pizotes! Curios and very friendly... The mirador de volcano Arenal with no vista today...but another beautiful bird we saw up there. Costa Rica has rich nature, flora and fauna! Stay tuned for our next days in the country. It seems we are going to have fun here.

Another great day on the motorcycle thru the lavish nature brought us down from Arenal with its great - for us hidden - volcano to Uvita close to the coast. We were that much focussed on riding that we didn't take pictures...amazing :-) Relaxing at the pool with a sundowner.. A nice twisty curvy road along a river, slowly gaining elevation again, later on a mountain ridge with great vistas and we reach our border crossing in the middle of nowhere...Here the Costa Rica Customs&Migration officers..:-) Still on the Costa Rica side, waiting for Godot...actually waiting for the Panama side to open after lunch break.. ...still.. ..action: buying insurances for our bikes.. ...and an amazingly slow process at the Panama customs...but finally we made it and in 3 groups we leaft the scene having the first 3rd of our way to David a super ride on super twisty roads...

Michael and Martin went the originally planned way to the beautiful Venao beach, the rest of our crew went straight to Panama city because of servicing the bikes for the continuation in South America and for logistic purposes. Here we are already at our bike wash location in Panama.. A bustling city with some crazy traffic but also nice to explore! Our nice Edelweiss dinner developed...here the bar coming to us :-) Happy food... Our lovely group... ..and amazing Panama Well done! All of us arrived safely in Panama City! On our exciting 9.000 - 10.000 kilometers (depending on the routing the groups decided on) through 7 countries we discovered the beautiful nature and landscapes, amazing history and sights, the friendly people with different indigenous background, always right in the middle of it on our motorcycles. We share a great adventure in our heart! Thank you very much, Natali and Marc, Michael and Martin, Thies and Dan! Safe travels to all of you, for those going home and for those continuing on the South America leg of our Worldtour! Our best wishes to everyone Holger & Pablo