to Cerete: from undulating to a flat road

May 8, 2017

We wake to thunder. We are off early in order to not be riding when the day becomes hotter. Tom and Hillary are awake and come out of their cabana to say goodbye.

Rachel has been promised flat roads for days. The decision yesterday to change our route staying inland rather than heading for the coast meant more rolling hills, nothing really steep just constant. There is nothing much along the way until at the junction turnoff to Cerete. We stop for a cold drink.

Around 17km from Cerete, the road turned into a dual carriageway and finally...relatively flat! The cloud cover that kept us cooler at the start of the day is going away and it's getting hotter. We get to town around 11:30 and find the Santa Cruz Hotel. There is another hotel in town that has a swimming pool, so we also want to check that one out and find it too outrageously expensive. Across the street is another hotel, more reasonably priced but the room is small. So back we go to Santa Cruz and it's just right. Right price, right size, WiFi, TV, air conditioning.

We find a restaurant nearby and revert to standard fare of an almuerzo. For dinner, chicken and potatoes, only we are not given silverware but plastic gloves to use our hands to eat. That's a new one.

Tomorrow we head for the Caribbean Coast and plan several rest days in Tolu.

Old Renault loaded with plantains. Not sure how the rear suspension is doing.

Hotel Santa Cruz in Cerete. 40,000COP ($14)for a decent room, AC, Wifi and TV. There is a nicer place in town with a fancy courtyard and swimming pool, but they wanted four times this amount. Who pays that in a town like this?

Today's ride: 72 km (45 miles)
Total: 31,583 km (19,613 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	0
Comment on this entry	Comment	0