Solentiname Archipelago, Nicaragua

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The lodge owner from San Carlos very kindly agreed to let us take one of his kayaks with us to our next destination, the Solentiname Archipelago. This proved to be a great asset and we went out on it every day, even transporting it to the islands was no problem, the boat owners proving to be very friendly and helpful with everything we needed to organise. So after leaving the lodge at 1.30pm we arrived at our new lodge at 3.30pm, kayak and all, durring the crossing we discussed with the captain a full days fishing for the following day on his panang.

He picked us up at 7am as agreed and took us all around the islands to the most beautiful fishing spots. It was the perfect way to spend Marks birthday, and the captain even brought him a present, a wooden sculpture of a white heron which are abundant here. Mark caught lots of Mojara and Guapote (rainbow bass), and I took loads of photos. One of the highlights of the day was seeing an osprey flying over the lake with a fish in its talons, what a treat.

The Solentiname are made up of four main islands each only a few kilometers long (we stayed on San Fernando) and are surrounded by about 32 smaller islands. Not many people live here and there are no cars on the islands, even the boat traffic is few and far between. Of the people who live here a great many of them are artists and sculptors, we visited a gallery (the only gallery) and the work was beautiful and colourful representing all the flora and fauna of the islands. The art work from here is exported all around Nicaragua and some parts of Europe and North America too. We also visited a lone petroglyph which unfortunately didn't have any information at the site and no one seemed to be able to tell us much about it. Apart from this short outing we spent the rest of our four days on the water.

Paddling around the tiny little uninhabited islands was magical, no human sounds at all (apart from us), just birds, howler monkeys, our paddles and Mark whispering "here fishy fishy fishy". I did a sterling job as acting Gilley keeping the kayak well positioned for some target casting in this tranquil little paradise as we drifted in the breeze.

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Photos

Now thats a Guapote!
3+1/2lb Rainbow bass caught from the kayak, we ate it for supper that night, lovely.

View from main dock
San Fernando Island, Solentiname

The Dock
This is our dock for the cabin we booked on Solentiname

Action Shot!
Fishing in Solentiname

Silvio our guide and captain
First catch of the day

Birthday Fish
Solentiname fishing on Marks Birthday

Guapote
The first Guapote (rainbow bass) only a tiddler, but still a birthday fish.

Beautiful
We were the only people around when I took this shot, just beautiful.

View from the dock
The location where we stayed.

Action shot!
Not only was I acting Gilley, but camera women too!

Another tiddler
Small but perfectly formed.

Mirador
We hiked over the island to see the petroglyph and came across this lovely view.

Green Parrot
Pet of the cabin owners, had the run/walk of the place as his wings had been clipped.

Red Parrot
Constantly called out Papa Papa to his owner, also had the run of the place, wings intact but never learnt to fly.

Comments

[Karen]

Heaven
What can I say ..... it just gets better and better x

[Graeme]

Proper Fish!
Hi to you both, Good to see that the old man has not fully lost his touch and at last managed to catch something bigger than his hand!! Also good to see that Denise is managing to get in plenty of R & R, the sound of a hammock sounding very good. Once again some wonderful pictures, take care and enjoy the remainder of your trip of a life time cheers, Graeme

[Dave & Rose]

The world looks pretty good, so pleased your having a brilliant time, so many story\'s to tell us on your return plus a photo or two ! ENJOY the remainder of the trip, stay safe, see you in November. LOL Dave & Rose XXXX P.S. You now have a SMART pub next to your house, BIG improvement-- good !