We reached La Fortuna, a bit bruised, a bit battered and a bit shaken.

The bike had a few more character scratches and a wing mirror stem was partially broken. I tried to fix it but I was a little too rough and it snapped. It was a just one of those days so we went for a walk, a pizza and a beer.

It’s a nice town but you wouldn’t send a postcard home about it.

It does have a nice volcano. The Arenal volcano was thought to be extinct until 1968 when it unexpectedly erupted, continuing until 2010. This event changed the geography of the entire region, making it one of the most visited destinations in Costa Rica.

Thankfully, we found BeerLand and all our troubles seemed so far away.

For the next few days we rested and did jungle things. Keeping Susan happy makes me happy. Here’s Susan happy and cool walking along hanging bridges in the jungle canopy. It’s a bonanza of biodiversity.

Back at our hotel, I tried to repair the broken wing mirror but it was beyond help so we bought a replacement at a local garage. I don’t think anyone will notice.

I also replaced the gas cannister in Susan’s safety vest and, hopefully, she won’t waste this one. I’ve still got a spare but that’s mine. Susan is on her last cannister until we get to Dallas where I’ve ordered her another. It’s like the helmet – she doesn’t deserve a new one until she learns to look after the one she’s already got. Okay, okay sit down! I’m only kidding. She’s the priority.

After La Fortuna, we travelled to Monteverde and did some more jungle activities. Nature and biodiversity make me so happy.

We went to a Sloth sanctuary. I could hardly contain myself with the excitement.

The guide explained that the sloth is the slowest mammal in the world. It’s a close call between the sloth and the koala.

When I heard this I immediately raised my hand and put the guide right – I’ve got friends who move much slower than that! Oh, the assembled party had a good laugh. What a great time we were having in a biodiverse world.

Okay, that’s all the biodiverse fun I’m going to tell you about. Back to the journey. Back to reality.

So it’s time to leave the mountains and leave Costa Rica.

Leaving Monteverde was a rollercoaster road but largely downhill. The clutch wasn’t happy and everything was overheating and slipping. It was a little bit fraught. Actually, it was a big bit fraught. You wouldn’t believe how fraught we were.

Out of the mountains, we stopped at a gas station at the junction with the Panamanian Highway and let the bike rest and cool.

What do we do?

Do we go back 70 miles to San Jose where there is a BMW garage or do we push on?

It was a huge dilemma. I knew the sensible option. I knew the riskier option. I knew the ins and outs, the upsides and the downsides, the good and bad, the pros and cons.

Yes of course, we pushed on.

We were now on the Pan American highway where inclines are more gradual and I kept it smooth, we rolled on and reached Liberia. The following day we crossed the border into Nicaragua.

It was the worst border crossing we have encountered so far in South and Central America. Three hours of awful checks, queues and bureaucracy.

Susan suffered in the heat of the immigration queue but I found her a nice chair, gave her water and a cool place to relax and eat a few snacks. She always carries a few emergency snacks and her current favourite is Ritz crackers. Meanwhile, I struggled through the heat, the bureaucracy, the idleness of officials and completed the police and customs processing.

Once we got our temporary import permit for the bike we headed for Granada. Seemingly it’s one of the highlights of Nicaragua with a genuine colonial feel.

We reached our nice hotel early afternoon and parked the bike.

Now, I really don’t know why other hotels don’t offer this convenience. There’s the bike safely parked, under cover. You can see Susan checking in at reception and the tables on the right are for breakfast. What a sweet arrangement.

Our room was rustic but that’s what you get in this biodiverse part of the world.

We were at one with nature. I can tell you it’s fulfilling to be living a biodiverse life in this frenetic, wasteful world. You should try and be like me. It makes you so happy.

After a quick cold shower (us biodiverse people don’t waste energy on heating water) we went into town to explore the colonial setting.

Now I would like to tell you about a colonial biodiverse paradise and make you envious of the life I was living. But I can’t. It was a dump!

Yes, there was the odd okay bit

But largely it was a dump.

Thankfully we found a nice restaurant and had some nice food and okay beer.

Welcome to Nicaragua.

• Central America
• Nicaragua