Blogs from El Castillo, Rio San Juan Region, Nicaragua, Central America Caribbean

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We decided to travel down de San Juan river, straight through a pristine bio reserve, all the way to the caribbean coast of Nicaragua. After stamping out of Costa Rica, walking across the border and stamping in to Nicaragua we got to the small but busy river town San Carlos. We emptied the only cash machine in this whole region, had a very nice diner overlooking the river and lake and next day shipped ourselves into a ‘bote’, a long but narrow riverboat. We got out in the middle of ... read more
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I’m scribbling this as we wait for a working boat to take us up river to San Carlos. We were due to leave at 11.30 on the quick boat but the engine has conked out so we now have to wait for the slow boat that leaves at 2pm. Such is the life of the traveller; we have fallen into the stride now so delays like this no longer feel like a problem. The helpful lady at the tourist info has kindly invited us into her office/house so while we wait Helen is researching Costa Rica, our next destination and I am taking the opportunity to keep our beloved readers informed of our adventures. Whatever gets you through the night We are on the Rio San Juan on the border of Nica and Costa Rica, a ... read more
The smiles didn't last long
The local kids with their 'catch'
Helen and her naughty horse


Our Arrival The boat took 3 hours and we arrived at 3pm. Where We Stayed Hospedaje Universal - $10 for a room with shared bathroom. $18 with private bath. Lovely place with firm mattresses and pillows, crisp white sheets and river views from 2 rooms. Nice balcony with river or street views and rocking chairs. When you get off the boat turn left for a few metres. They can also arrange tours. What We Did Visit the fort - $2 admission with a museum attached with English signs. Watch a baseball game - on Sat or Sun Caiman Tour - $40 for 4 people booked through our hostel. Saw mostly glowing eyes. The guide caught 2 baby caiman's with his hands and brought them on the boat for us to look at. Where We Ate Comedor ... read more


We got to El Castillo, on the San Juan river about midway between the atlantic and lake Nicaragua yesterday around 3. We checked into a decent place for like $4. The town was very strange. First of all, it was about 60% hotels/hostels but we only saw a few other tourists. We were the only tourists at our hostel. People were friendly in general but we also noticed pretty quick that the young people there seemed particularly unapproachable and would not respond when we greeted them...i don´t know why. We booked 2 tours. Our frist tour was for that night to catch some nocturnal camians (an alligator-like creature except smaller) they were about a meter in length. We on board a wide canoe with an outboard motor at about 7pm with our guide and a couple ... read more


I’m back in El Castillo, sitting in a hammock on the balcony of the charming Casa de Huésped Chinandegano, with the rapids that almost defeated a young Nelson in 1780 off to my right. I feel a little guilty for not going back to the pretty Nena Lodge that did me so well last weekend, but this place is right on the river, the French-Argentinean couple I’ve run into from time to time this week went out of their way to recommend it to me, and I was already going to come back here for dinner tonight, with the mouth-watering memory of its “camarones en salsa”… Did I really think this morning that the San Juan del Norte-San Carlos “rápido” could stop here and I would be able to resist the temptation of Yamil’s “bom-bom” coffee ... read more
downriver from the fortress
main street, El Castillo
El Castillo


Hi from Nicaragua my friends! A long trip, another long trip with the boat, hahahaha, I think that you expect the word "bus" but this time is boat! It's quite choking to arrive in San Carlos, I got the same feeling when I first arrived to Ciudad del Leste in Paraguay. Both are pretty the same, chaotic, a lot of traffic with people trying to sell you something. A lot of hi-fi made in …. who knows :-) To get to Boca de Sabalos, I took the boat and stopped on the way to sleep one night in a lodge. The place was quite nice actually and made easy to get to the fortress on the next day but when I arrived there, the fortress was closed! It’s first of November so they close also on ... read more


We took the overnight boat from Ometepe to the village of San Carlos, located at the head of the Rio San Juan. We had planned to go down to El Castillo, the site of a Spanish fort, and spend a few days before returning to San Carlos and then up the Rio Frio to Costa Rica. Some advice to anyone travelling this route: no matter what you hear or are told, you cannot access money using a bank card nor can you charge anything to a card once you leave Ometepe!!!!! No ATMs on Ometepe, and the bank in San Carlos wouldn´t even take travellers checks....!!! We had enough $$$ to stay just one night on the river.....so sad.... Back to the trip.... When the boat arrived, it took on passengers, lots of plantains (like large ... read more
On the boat
On the boat
On the boat


Hola! Costa Rica ist schon ziemlich touristisch gepraegt, was man an den Menschen, den Strassen, eigentlich der ganzen Infrastruktrur merkt. Ist ja nicht verkehrt, fuer mich jedoch, ein bisschen nach dem Abenteuer suchend, aber etwas langweilig. So verliess ich San Jose mit dem Bus Richtung Nicaragua. Habe mir den Grenzuebergang Los Chiles ausgesucht, wo man nicht ueber den Landweg sondern ueber Wasser und mit Boot einreist. In Los Chiles endet die Strasse auf Costa Rica Seite, man holt sich seinen Ausreisestempel bei der "Migracion", die uebliche Ausreisegebuehr wird nicht verlangt und macht sich dann zu Fuss auf den Weg zum Fluss, wo die Boote nach San Carlos (Nicaragua) ablegen. Die Fahrt auf den Rio Frio dauert ca. 30 Minuten und auf halber Strecke passiert man den Grenzpfahl, kurz danach ist auch der erste militaerische Grenzposten, den ... read more
El Castillo
Shopping




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