Blogs from Rio San Juan Region, Nicaragua, Central America Caribbean - page 2

“The great difference between voyages rests not with the ships, but with the people you meet on them” Amelia E Barr, Writer & Journalist I have arrived in Costa Rica, the penultimate country on this Central American odyssey and it’s hot. My god, it is hot. But not a comfortable dry heat like northern Nicaragua where it felt like a warm hairdryer was constantly blowing in your face because of the Pacific winds. Nope. Here in La Fortuna in the shadow of Volcan Arenal it’s hot and humid and wet. No matter how many showers a day you have, you feel like your body is coated in a fine layer of sweat at all times. It drips off you even if you are standing still – the backs of your knees, under your chest, the back ... 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

As northern Nicaragua is dominated by the highlands so the south of the country centres around Lago de Nicaragua, the second largest body of fresh water in Latin America after Lake Titicaca. Separated by a narrow strip of land from the pacific and connected to the Caribbean by the mighty 199km Rio San Juan, historically the lake was of great strategic importance to the colonial powers; Nelson commented on his 1780 expedition that "once we took possession of , we would cut in two pieces the Spanish America". Before the Panama Canal, this waterway was the principal crossing point across the Americas, in fact it was the obvious location to build a larger crossing & the Nicaraguans may yet build a transithmian canal. Founded in 1524, Granada typifies the rich history of the region. Perched on ... read more

I stood knee-deep in the water at the edge of the lake, my skirt hitched up as we used to do when attempting handstands in the school playground, rubbing my laundry on the already-soaped ribbed board at one side of the concrete unit. When everything was thoroughly scrubbed, I bent over to rinse the clothes. Having wrung them out, I took them back to dry land and hunkered down under the small lapa, watching the water and the birds as I waited for my flip-flops to dry in the sun, before I headed back up the hill to my washing line and a rare date with a book and a hammock. This is island life. This is the Archipiélago de Solentiname. Where there is no traffic; there are no roads – only, at most, paved pathways ... read more

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