Cycle 4 Strays
Cycling for Animal Welfare2011 Cycle 4 Strays/Panama
December 3, 2011-Extending the Corridor of Compassion to the Panama Canal.
2011 Cycle 4 Strays: locked, loaded & ready 4 take off...
This year's ride is considerably shorter and easier when compared to last year's effort, which means I am able to leave with less gear, feeling nimble and relaxed. My first stop is scheduled in the town of Grecia, where the local volunteer group has set up an adoption event...
This cute puppy lucked out: plucked from the streets, he is now on his way to a new home.
Leaving Grecia, the road climbs up the Cerro Atenas then drops down towards the Pacific coast with a series of fast sweepers in a long, breathtaking downhill ride that is the dream of every two wheel enthusiast. The weather is picture perfect and the mountain air feels fresh on my face.
The Pacific! It takes about 5 hours of hard riding to reach the coast from the Central Valley, but, once there, the views are spectacular. From this point on the road follows the coastline pretty much all the way to the border. Traffic is scarce, asphalt smooth and cadence high. Panama is less than 2 days away...
Luckily, refueling stations are frequent on this coastal road: healthy, vegan & cheap! In Playa Uvita, I snag a room at the Toucan Hostel and manage to sneak inside before a torrential downpour that cuts the heat and wipes the humidity off my skin.
The Southern Zone of Costa Rica is sparsely populated and a lot less developed than the Central Valley, where the capital city of San José is located. As always, the more rural the area, the higher the number of strays. These are areas where the concept of spay & neuter is still fairly new and many small advocacy groups are hard at work to promote responsible ownership.
The following morning I leave at dawn and continue south towards the town of Palmar Norte, where I scarf down some breakfast before veering off the coastal road and joining the Interamericana Highway. The Pan American highway is a busy road with lots of heavy trucks speeding in both directions, so riding becomes a little more stressful.
With every kilometer the air feels thicker and heavier and the sticky heat makes it hard to stay focused. I find myself pedaling as opposed to spinning: I realize I am having a hard time keeping momentum going, almost if with every revolution I am starting from scratch.
Rio Terraba: this is where I run into my first snag of the ride... Approaching the bridge, the road narrows as the shoulder disappears in favor of a narrow sidewalk designed for pedestrians...
As I attempt to enter the bridge, a semi roars by and squeezes me into the sidewalk. I hear a loud metallic screech and feel my pedals go slack. My chain is broken.
A fellow cyclist stops to lend a hand and, together, we manage a roadside repair that will last the rest of the trip. While we work on the chain, a few clouds assemble overhead and soon it's raining. Not one of those frequent tropical downpours that are so common in southern Costa Rica and Panama, but a Seattle-like drizzle...
I finally arrive in Ciudad Neily and elect to stop for the night. The border is only 20 clicks away and I need to recheck my chain, maybe adjust the derailleur and attempt to dry my gear.
The beauty of travelling light is that cleaning up is a snap. In no time I am all packed up and ready to resume riding. No reason to wake up at dawn tomorrow since the border crossing doesn't open utill 7am...
When I get there, there is virtually no one waiting to exit Costa Rica, but the line to enter Panama is fairly long. I wait for my turn chatting with the people in front of me and answering the usual questions... Where from? Where to? How many kms per day? Why so little gear...?
One of the first things I notice about Panama is how smooth the asphalt is... I am headed for the town of David, a major commercial and duty free zone. I have no plans to stop, but to continue to San Felix where I intend to spend the night.
A mass spay & neuter clinic was recently held here by Spay Panama and one of the volunteers offers her guest room. I am happy to accept and crash exhausted after the 8 hour ride from the border. From this point I need to pedal for about 300 more kilometers in order to reach the Canal. I should be there in 2 days...
This part of Panama is extremely rural and I pedal for hours without seeing or talking to anybody. The villages are small and poverty is everywhere... The differences with Costa Rica are staggering: even though both can be classified as "Developing nations", Costa Rica is decades ahead in terms of environmental policies and tourism development. Central Panama feels like I am back in Nicaragua where the conditions of the indigenous people made my eyes fill with tears of sadness. Yet, every time I stop to refill my water bottles and snag a few bananas, people gather around and offer assistance. Amazing how the poor are always the first to share what little they have with a complete stranger.
In Santiago, I stop at the local university where Spay Panama volunteers have arranged for me to address first year students: we talk about the importance of community advocacy work and many share their animal rescue stories before I press on...
The final kilometers of every ride are always the hardest ones, but the end of a trip that started in January 2010 at the Best Friends Sanctuary in Utah is now in sight...
Crossing the bridge over the Pacific end of the Canal...
Where Spanish Conquistadores once ruled, now Spay Panama tirelessly works to save unwanted pets, promote spay & neuter as well as responsible pet ownership...
After a visit to the Canal, truly amazing!, I reach the HQ of Spay Panama, lean my bike against the fence of the clinic and it is officially over! Now all is left are the 1,000 kms to get back to the capital of Costa Rica...
The Spay Panama facility: spotless, well organized and cranking out the surgeries...
One surgery and one stray at a time: with your support we managed to raise $7,000 and extend the Corridor of Compassion all the way to Panama. This money, every cent of it, will be spent in Central America to train more doctors in the small incision method and to pay for spay & neuter of stray dogs and cats.
Once again thank you so much for supporting Cycle 4 Strays! One surgery and one stray at a time: with your support we managed to raise $7,000 and extend the Corridor of Compassion all the way to Panama. This money, every cent of it, will be spent in Central America to train more doctors in the small incision method and to pay for spay & neuter of stray dogs and cats.
With your help we will keep the Corridor open and continue to champion the rights of homeless companion animals in the developing world.
Gracias & see you on the road...!
