Nicaragua to Argentina
Abe Ramirez has made it his goal to ride a bike from Nicaragua to the Southern tip of Argentina and embrace every opportunity to surf, skate, ride, and connect with the local people. He is a great dude with a passion for adventure. Below is a journal entry and a selection of photos from his travels.
Its been seven months. Hot weather, cold showers, aggressive mosquitos, wild
animals, dense jungle, and its all been an extraordinary adventure. Im sitting in what I
would like to call my temporary office, in a small community tienda, (store) on a peak of
a Panamanian mountain jungle. How did I get here? Well, its funny. I was just like you
working a full time job to support my self and racking up my debt on student loans. Not
to say my way of living is any better, its just what I prefer to be my lifestyle right now. I
didn’t wake up one day to decide I would be riding a bicycle through central and south
america routed to Ushuaia Argentina. Instead I was on a two week surf vacation with a
couple of friends from Santa Barbara. They left and I stayed. The freedom you
expirience when you are traveling is unlike anything I have ever experienced before.
The culture is different, the people are different, they speak differently, the smells, the
scenery, the food its all strange at first. I was learning so much about myself and other
people in a rapid rate I thought It would be foolish to go back home and chase the
routine. I decided to stay, but for what? I didn’t know what that was until I met a fellow
traveler and good friend of mine, Jaryd Adair. I met Jaryd in Nicaragua, San Juan Del
Sur in between my two week interim. I had learned that he had ridden his bicycle from
Calgary Canada to Nicaragua in about eight months. I was blown away," I didn’t even
know people do that! ”, I thought to myself. That was the beginning of my seven month
to date bicycle journey and here I am in Panama. I stayed in Nicaragua planning, and
gathering gear to begin the trek for three months, It has been nearly four months riding
now. To save some time and to keep this article short I thought it would be a good idea
to list some notable moments from the road.
- Nicaragua is insanely cheap, undeveloped, and there is an immense amount of
natural beauty in this undiscovered country. My good friend Matt Evans and I
rode motorcycles through a double volcanic island named Ometepe. We rode
through small island towns and up through dense hiking trails. The trails were
obviously not designed for motorbikes which made the drop back down
interesting when it began pouring rain.
- The beaches in Costa Rica are my favorite. There is so much green jungle
around you its hard to stay away from these locations. Pura Vida is the saying, it
means pure life and really, I’ve heard it in just about every context possible.
- The roads through Costa Rica are the absolute worst, especially through the
pacific coast. The hills are so steep that even cars can’t make it up. I found my
self walking my bike most of the time averaging about 2-4 miles per hour. It was
discouraging but still I am proud we made it through.
- I was carrying a skateboard for the first month of riding my bicycle and it was
awesome when I arrived at a town with paved roads. unfortunately the dust,
and the rain eventually destroyed it so I gave it away to a stoked local kid.
- We rode though river crossings! Usually in Costa Rica, when we passed through
a river there would be a nice steep hill to climb after. Wet shoes and soggy feet
don’t bother me anymore.
Follow Abe @aberamirezphotography