Nicaragua - Meeting of Travellers

I made contact with my motorcycle traveller friend Martin Brucker who was heading north from Panama after some repairs to his bike. Martin and I met on the Stahlratte returning from Cuba where he had spent two months with his BMW 650 X-Challenge. He has been travelling solo for 4½ years, the last year in South and Central America, and before that Australia and Africa. He is a genuine adventurer who travels off the beaten track regularly, opting for the back roads, dirt roads, tracks and small villages in preference to the black highways. It was great to hang out with him and listen to his stories and experiences, sharing some of my own.

It certainly gives you a different perspective on life travelling for such a long time. He is still as enthusiastic as ever and has plans for the next year up to the US and Alaska with no signs of slowing down. It makes my now eight months feel just like a holiday in comparison, but there will always be people that have travelled for longer. We talked about the other riders we have met travelling. It’s like an update of who is where, what places to stay, good routes, exchanging contacts and road reports of countries. I’m heading south and he is heading north so we both had lots to share on these subjects and more. Spending some time with people like Martin enrich the journey immensely and helps to make you feel part of a bigger community of like-minded people. It also connects us on an individual level. Meeting people for the second, third time or more reinforces friendships and trust. You have a shared history on the journey and these connections will continue for life and all over the world.

 We met in an interesting town called Masaya with a novel, very tall coffee table and four chairs in the main square, 

then rode out to a hostel I had found online called The Peace Project. 

They had a bunch of programs running with local kids in a very interesting piece-meal house near the edge of Apoyo Lagoon. 

The delivery didn’t seem to really add up to the promise, but it was friendly and cheap and staying contributed to the project. Martin and I shared a family room.

 Incredibly he celebrated 4.5 years on the road so we celebrated in small style…single beds, one beer, early night.

We talked more about our journeys, with Martin having many more countries and stories to share. We stayed three nights and after the second night I walked out the front of the hostel and there was another BMW 650 Dakar parked across the road with the telltale travel gear. I walked out for a closer look and it had an Australian plate from Victoria. Walking up from the lake was Paolo Pastore (Adventure Before Dementia), an Italian rider who had bought the bike in Australia, and had been travelling on it for four years.

He came and joined us and he and Martin could have been twins. Same height, same build, similar bikes with similar mileage, similar time travelling and similar travelling ethos.

Paolo stayed a night and the stories became three-way. He was also travelling north so I’m sure they will cross paths again. We left together in the morning and rode to Masaya again for some photos and as a takeoff point. 

We even found an interesting trailer to attach to Martin's bike.

It was a great meeting of three solo travellers and I in particular learned a lot listening to these seasoned adventurers.