Adventuras Acuáticas: Capitulo Dos - From San Carlos to El Castillo

[continued from Capitulo Uno]  Taking the fast boat got us to San Carlos with just enough time to hustle down to the other dock in town to catch the boat to…

El Castillo.  Seriously, we made it to the dock just minutes before the boat headed downriver.  Perfect!

Ceci n'est pas our boat - but ours was very similar.

Just a short distance downriver from San Carlos we passed under the huge new Japanese-funded Puente Santa Fe, linking Nicaragua with their 'friends' to the south.  It's interesting that Ortega built this $30 million dollar bridge without full buy in and cooperation of Costa Rica.  The idea is good - the bridge offers another route to the ports in the Caribbean, maybe get some truck traffic off the Pan American highway to the west and hopefully bolster the economy in one of the poorer regions of the country.  

What's that?  I thought we were in the middle of the wild and wooly jungle.

But it only works with cooperation between the two countries and there is a long history of bad blood.  Hell, the exact position of the border itself along the Rio San Juan is constantly in question.  Time will tell.  If and when the bridge is put into use, it may just replace one of the coolest border crossings ever, a border crossing that we would be making in a few days.  More on that later.

As we made our way down the wide slow Rio San Juan, we realized that these boats are just like the one we took to the Solentinames, in that they stop anywhere.  On several occasions, we would cut toward shore, gently nose right up to the bank at some random point and pick up more passengers or drop people off.  The pilot is very good, too.  He nudges the boat right up close and the people moving on/off barely have their feet clear before he reverses the boat to continue on our journey.

Ten hut!  Another boat stopped at this Nicaraguan military dock.

The boat made an official stop in the small town of Boca de Sabalos.  Man, this place looked cool!  Our boat left the Rio San Juan, just barely, heading up the Rio Sabalos no more than 50-75 meters to get to the municipal dock. Again, if we only had more time, we would have loved to stay here a night or two to explore.  Situated where the Rio Sabalos enters the Rio San Juan (boca means 'mouth') this bustling little place looked very interesting.  Just like at the dock in San Carlos, there was military presence here, too.  The soldier asked the pilot about us - we could tell because he gestured and looked right at us.  Just wanted to know where we were from.  It must be my honest face because there was no delay and we were soon leaving.  Good thing they didn't check the wife's passport. (ahem)

Cruisin' río-style

While we were waiting at the dock, people and goods being unloaded, we saw a little skiff, a water taxi, bringing people back and forth across this river.  This costs a few cordobas and adds to the charm of this little river town.  As we checked out Boca de Sabalos from the river, we saw one cool lodge with a neat restaurant and rooms overlooking the river.  We made a mental note for our next trip here.  From what we could see, the town also has a market as well as a few bars and restaurants.    

As we continued downriver, the river narrowed a little and the water was moving a little quicker.  A short time later we arrived in El Castillo.

One if by land, two if by sea.  How many if by river?

We stayed two nights in this cool little river town and would have stayed longer had we known how enjoyable it would be.  We've talked about it since the trip and we agree that the most interesting part of El Castillo was that there are no roads.  No roads = no cars.  Everyone and everything moves by boat.  In fact, we arrived midday and, after checking in at Hotel Tropical and dropping our packs, we walked about town to find lunch.  

With no roads, getting around town was difficult - NOT!  There are nice stone-paved pathways all over town.  The one that runs parallel to the river is wide enough for a horse drawn cart and the side paths are spacious, as well.   Again, we were visiting during the slow season, so we had many invitations from anxious and excited staff at the hotels, restaurants, bars to come in and enjoy.  We continued to explore until we were plenty hungry.  Bex! still wasn't feeling 100% but she was also in need of food, as was I.

We ended up eating at Lara's Planet, which is the restaurant at the hotel of the same name. The place looked pretty new and polished.  It has solar panels on the roof, beautiful tiled floors and a lot of bamboo in the decor - railings, furniture, trim work.  Pretty awesome place, overlooking the river.  

A 'panga', typical transportation in all the river communities.

I mentioned that boats are used for everything.  While we were waiting for our food, we saw a man on the opposite bank get in his panga (a type of long skinny boat), scoot across the river, and tie up.  He was gone a few minutes and came back with a bag of ?? (groceries?) and hopped back in with another guy to head back across the rio.  The second guy was his neighbor, by the looks of it - each heading to neighboring houses.  River life!  'Just jumping in the panga to run a few errands, honey!  Need anything?'  'No, but don't forget to pick up Carlos!'

With no roads in the area, we're not sure where this truck was headed.

We enjoyed watching the boats and people go by for a while, then lunch was served.  And the food was fantastic!  The proprietress was friendly and engaging.  The cuisine leaned toward Italian, so I had the river shrimp pasta and Bex! had a tasty bolognese, each served with a delicious, freshly-made pico de gallo salad with fresh-picked baby spinach.  We knew we were in good hands when the hostess came out of the kitchen to snip herbs from her garden for our dishes - fresh basil garnish!.  And the fresh grated parmesan was a treat.  It was a little spendy but the freshness and authenticity were worth it.  Plus - you know - real cheese.

Cosmopolitan food in a sleepy river town.

After some more time exploring the town, it was chill time at the hotel.  We played cards (I was still leading) and read, watched the boats going up and down the river and generally relaxed.  I walked to a nearby pulperia where I bought a few beers and a soda for my still-not-feeling-great spouse.  The rooms at the Hotel Tropical are all on the second floor and all share a big deck overlooking the river and, even better, the rapids.  It was nice to have the white noise of the water.

It was dinner time but Bex! still wasn't feeling well.  She was a trooper - two boat rides, lots of walking and, darn it, trying really hard to feel better just took it out of her.  It had been a long day.  So I wandered out to find some food while she napped.  When we first arrived, as we got off the boat that brought us to town, the proprietor of a cool looking little bar with a great location and great music playing from the boom box had called to us to visit his establishment.  I had made note of this and so I headed straight there to have a few beers, some food and chat with the locals.  Mingling, having fun and making new friends is something I excel at thankyouverymuch even with my limited Spanish.  Hell, maybe because of my limited Spanish!  I'm not afraid to try and locals appreciate that, actually.  

I walked in and the place looked dead.  I found the owner sleeping in a rocking chair.  He woke up and seated me.  I ordered a beer to start and he said 'Lo siento, pero no tengo cerveza.'  'En serio?!'  'Si.'  Hmmm… no beer, no other customers to chat with.  I said good night, walked around a little, then ended up back at our hotel.  The ground floor of the hotel is home to Restaurante Vanesa, so I ate there.  I had a decent chicken dinner and a couple of beers as I watched boats navigate the river, in the dark with no lights.  Pretty amazing considering the rapids they were cutting through.

A river boat lining up to approach the rapids on the far side of the river.

Please keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times.

Safely on the way to the Caribbean

I checked on my patient when I got back upstairs.  She was doing okay, just resting.  We sat up for a bit, then decided to watch some TV, a luxury when we travel.  Yeah, except the cable was disconnected.  It seems the hotel cuts the service during the low season to save money.  Smart move, but we felt they could have maybe mentioned that.  In fact, we kinda put up with a fair amount of 'low season' inconvenience here.  The doorknob to our room was loose.  In fact, so loose that if I didn't hold it just right when we closed it from the outside, it would just fall off.  The door would be secure but there would be no attached knob to open it!  Also, the water was turned off during the day.  We came to discover that this was village wide, a way to preserve water.  Again, that would be something to mention to the guests, right?  Nope, apparently.  No water meant no toilet flushing, and I got caught in the shower the first day, all soaped up and no water to rinse.  Bex! had to go downstairs to get them to flip some valves and that got me just enough of a trickle to rinse off.  The price was okay, though, which is why we stayed.  If we had planned a longer stay in El Castillo, however, we would have moved to a different place.

As we finished up breakfast the next morning, we saw our Israeli friends, Joseph and Eran.  We called them over and they joined us to have coffee.  We each shared our adventures since we'd last met up in San Carlos.  They were heading all the way downriver to the Caribbean and were trying to figure out which boat would take them.  Our server told them there was one leaving, um, now so they hurried off!  It was great seeing them again!  Joseph owes me ice cream, though.  

We walked down through the other area of town, a section we had not explored the previous day.  More hotels, some restaurant potential for later - and Nene's Tours.  One of the things on our to do list while in town was to ride the Raudal de Diablos - the Devil's Rapids.  The very rapids that run through town and past our hotel, in fact.  We stopped in Nene's to inquire about the possibility of doing the trip this afternoon.  The proprietor stepped out on the porch, yelled across the way to a young man to see if he could take us later.  The guy, Ernesto, told us to wait a sec.  Then he walked over to check the river.  It must have been okay because he said yes and we arranged a time to meet him.

Perhaps a short prayer before hitting the river?

Google street view Guagin painting anonymous mural of El Castillo

After setting up our rafting excursion, we hit the fort.  And what a fort it is!  Wow!  Originally called the Fortress of the Immaculate Conception  it was a vital protector of Lake Nicaragua and Granada, as Spain established their dominance in Central America.  The link (above) takes you to a 1988 article from the New York Times that gives a good description of the history.  The only difference between the 1988 El Castillo described in the article and the El Castillo we experienced is that the town has definitely been discovered.  Granted, it's still far off the beaten path and takes a commitment of time and prior scheduling to get to, but the town has embraced tourism and seemed to be thriving, for the most part.  

As I mentioned before, the Spanish chose this very spot on the river because of the rapids.  Invading British and pirate ships had to unload downriver and very slowly navigate their ships through the rapids, with people pulling ropes from shore.    A perfect spot for a fort with lots of cannons.  It wasn't foolproof, however.  The fort itself was taken a time or two.  So, yes, there is much history here.  We paid the small fee to enter the grounds and visited the tiny museum.  They had many of the original cannons on display as well as a chronological history of the town and the fort.  It was extremely interesting and a good way to work on our Spanish, as we read the posters.

You want me to use this little tiny cannon ball to hit that little tiny ship?

Wait, I thought the British came from that-a-way?!?

The museum is cool but the real attraction, of course, was the fort itself!  Impressive, to say the least.  It's not a huge complex but as you'll see in the pictures, it's situated on a bluff with great views up and down river as well as providing the perfect spot to take pot shots at invading ships.

Rampa de accesa

"Hi, welcome to Taco Bell.  Can I take your order?"

Great views!  Shaggy monster!

A view through one of the many rifle ports

Bex! must be feeling better - she found the room where the soldiers stored their food!

Views up and down river - perfect for spotting marauding British ships

Booby and Beauregard Honeysuckle Hedgehog III - travel buds!

And the other travel buds.  Man, do I need a haircut!

When we left the fort, we passed the local primary school.  We heard drumming as we approached and then saw the kids practicing.  Their drums were made of recycled tubs and cans!  But they had them rigged up around their waists or hanging around the neck and were rehearsing and marching.  It was pretty awesome to see.  [Note:  Ian F - come give lessons!]

You say school, I say escuela

We took the long way around town, visited the house where Horatio Nelson holed up while he planned the British attack on the fort, then skirted the high school.  We ended up taking a path that led us to a bridge that had washed out.  D'oh!  In fact, we had to scamper across the only remaining part of it, a 6"x6" support log.  We got back to the main drag and I decided to get a haircut here.  In our earlier wanderings we had passed a 'barberia' and so, what the hell, right?  Sorry, Samantha at Hair M!  This establishment might not offer hot towels and beers, but it did have pay by the hour video games.

Haircuts, photocopies, and video games - a match menage-a-trois made in heaven.

Pre-cut mug shots

Edwin was great!  We communicated through language and gestures about what I wanted (Bex! helped, of course) and he went to work.  He asked where we were from, then commented that it was funny I was from the US getting my hair cut by a Nicaraguan in El Castillo who was using electric clippers manufactured in the US.  Ha!  

First under the axe - the burns.

Now, a little off the top, please.

Post-cut mug shots.

Gracias, amigo!

After my spiffy new 'do, it was time for lunch.  We went to Borders Cafe, a new-ish place in town and one known for their coffee.  I had a latte and Bex! had a juice.  The manager bragged about how his restaurant recently won an award and how popular they were.  The drinks were great, the food was average.  Neat place, though.  We went back later that day for micheladas, in fact.  As you may recall, a michelada is a beer served in a glass with a salted rim, and mixed with lime juice, sometimes even a little tomato juice, maybe a dash of hot sauce or black pepper.  Poor man's Bloody Mary.  I like them quite a lot.  They are refreshing and drinking plenty of them prevents diseases like this one.  It's like the 'apple a day' theory, only with alcohol.

After a stop back at the room, it was rafting time.  We didn't really know what to expect.  Ernesto was waiting for us.  On the porch at Nene's was our watercraft - a raft that looked maybe a little too small.  Hand made paddles, cut from planks, and - thankfully - real honest-to-goodness life jackets.  As stated, the rapids run right through town.  So we walked along the main path upriver to the municipal dock (the one we had arrived at the previous day), and put in there.  We got plenty of looks walking through town.  We half-expected to see locals lined up along shore to watch the crazy gringos.  

(ring ring)  "Hello?  "Did you hear the news?!  Some gringos are actually going rafting!"  "No way!  Seriously?"  "Yes!  Hurry!  They just went by my place on the way to the dock!"  "Okay, okay.  I'm on the way!"  "Bring beer!"

Our guide, our raft, Bex! with one of the homemade paddles heading to the dock for the first of five runs.  This is the 'main street', by the way.

Ernesto is doing all the work, obviously.

Then we paddled out toward the middle and let the current take us from there.  We ended up making five runs in an hour - cruising through the Raudal de Diablo, making for the bank, walking back up through town to the stares of the locals, launching from the dock, paddling up river to get a good angle and then doing it over again.  Ernesto was great, increasing the excitement level each time until the 4th and 5th runs were right through the heart of the big stuff.  It was fantastic fun and it cost all of $15.  We tipped Ernesto on top of that and walked away with big smiles.  

We were getting tossed pretty good while snapping pics, so I left this picture cock-eyed rather than leveled out.  That would be cheating!

And… back to Borders Cafe for post-rafting micheladas!  We relaxed at the hotel for a bit, checking out the rapids below with a newfound perspective.  With Bex! feeling better and after a full day of adventure and exploring, it was dinner time!  We went to Cafe de Huesped Chinandegano and were not disappointed!  This place had the perfect blend of location (right on the river, of course), service (the owner was extremely friendly, helpful) and food (it was fantastic!).  Bex! had her favorite dish - pollo jalepeño.  I had arroz con pollo and it was dee-lish.  We also found the BEST micheladas in town Central America thus far.  Minimally salted rim, nice blend of lime and tomato juice, hot sauce and a little pepper, all mixed with the Toña.  Perfect blend of umami and beer.  They have rooms here, as well, and it's top choice for our next stay.  At the very least, we will for sure dine here again!

Back at the hotel, we enjoyed the rest of the evening on the deck, visiting with some other tourists and listening to the rapids below.  One of the staff asked Bex! to translate between her and a young man who was traveling with his mother.  They were from the US (or maybe Canada?) and were trying to make arrangements for an extended stay after a brief excursion downriver.  Anyway, they didn't speak Sapnish.  And Bex! does!   She rawks. 

We slept well that night, after a big day, a great meal and a few beer cocktails.  The next morning, we ate breakfast and caught the morning rapida back upriver.  The river was clogged with floating debris, mostly wood and logs of various sizes, from El Castillo to Boca de Sabalos.  We're guessing the big rains washed this stuff down river.

River monster!

The boat again stopped in Boca de Sabalos and, yes, we still very much want to come back to explore this town.  And to see El Castillo again, of course.

But for now, our border run adventure would take us to…

[continued in Adventuras Acuáticas:  Capitulo Tres]

Adventuras Acuáticas: Capitulo Uno - From Our Island to New, Different Islands

It's been a while, hasn't it?!  Sorry 'bout that!  We got back from the border run, finalized planning for the last semester, then started teaching again right away.  Now that we have our feet under us, it's time to blog!

Here we go!!

/////     /////     /////

It was border run time again - time for our every-90-day trip to Costa Rica to renew our visas.  This time our trip would be water themed.  We opted to head southeast across the lake from Isla de Ometepe to the small town of San Carlos, where the Rio San Juan begins its journey to the Caribbean.  This relatively quiet region of Nicaragua did not disappoint, either.  Absolutely amazing, and if we had done this trip on one of our earlier border runs, we would have come back to do it again.  Incredible country.  In fact, although we're heading home to the states in a few months, we're already discussing how a return trip downriver could look for us as a vacation from our as-yet-to-be-determined real jobs someday.

After getting the house situated and getting Hamilton lined out to watch the place while we were away, we hopped in with our friend/driver Miguel for the trip to Altagracia.  This is where we would catch the ferry to San Carlos.  This boat only goes twice a week, leaving at 6:30 in the evening and arriving in San Carlos around sunrise.  Yep, the lake is that big and the trip takes that much time - 10+ hours  and overnight, to boot.  You can check out a Garmin map of the entire ride here:  Altagracia to San Carlos.

We got to Altagracia and hit up an ATM and a grocery store to get goodies for the boat trip.  We were excited and ready to get to the port.  Instead, we ended up in line behind a woman with a bunch of small items and who was paying in mostly 1 cordoba coins, 25 of which make a dollar.  Ummm… yeah.  The lady working the register was visibly upset and got more agitated as the woman was digging in her bag for more coins, counting them slowly into piles to pay her tab.  Oy.

Finally, we were on our way to catch our boat.  This was our first time to this port on the island and we were a little surprised at how far out of town it was.  And the road!  Holy hell.  Parts of it made the road to our village look paved in comparison.  It was brutal.  Thank goodness it was just a couple of kilometers.

Never knowing what to expect as far as schedules go in this neck of the world, we arrived plenty early and got our tickets.  We played cards, deciding before we left that we would play rummy during the entire trip and keep a running score.  (Spoiler alert:  Bad idea on my part, as it turned out.)  The ferry arrived and unloaded those that were making Ometepe their final stop.  The ferry originates in Granada, stops on our island, then finals in San Carlos, making a couple of stops along the way, delivering people and supplies to small fishing villages (Morrito and San Miguelito) on the eastern shore of the lake.

The ferry has bench seating inside, with a TV and AC.  But it was pretty full and we didn't really want to be stuck indoors for the nighttime lake crossing.  For $1 each we rented deck chairs, picked a spot along the rail on the upper deck and settled in for the journey.  It was a cloudy night, unfortunately, but the almost full moon peeked through a couple of times.  We had never seen our island from this side, so we thoroughly enjoyed watching Ometepe get smaller and smaller as we traveled.  Bex! slept some; me, not so much.  It was just too damn cool to sleep this trip away.  There were only a few others on the deck, so it was quiet - the sound of the motor and the water splashing the only sounds as we made our way across the lake.  We were grateful to Hamilton because he suggested that we buy snacks for the trip!  We had munchies and a few beers, so we picnicked as the sun set over Ometepe.

To each their own, of course, but we couldn't understand why travelers would want to sit inside on narrow benches with a TV showing an old black-and-white martial arts movie dubbed into Spanish.  Okay, that last bit actually sounds kinda badasss.  But for us, the trip across the lake was part of the adventure, not just a necessary evil.  All the gringos were camped out inside, exiting only to hit the head.  We met a couple of guys from Israel, Eran and Joseph.  They were 'sitting' inside but their chain smoking habit made them frequent visitors to the deck.  It was fun chatting with them.  And, as it turned out, we would see them several more times over the next week!

Gettin' comfy

Want to sing sea chanteys?

The lake was calm for our trip, which made it even more enjoyable.  And once we got close to the eastern shore, the water shimmered like that old-timey glass you see in old houses.  Very cool experience and highly recommended for anyone who has the time to make this journey.  We pulled into Morrito around 10:30pm or so.  There were a few people waiting for a young woman who disembarked here and the port crew unloaded some supplies onto a rickety cart - boxed goods and several stalks of plantains.  We pulled out of Morrito and made our way south along the eastern shore.  The next stop was San Miguelito.  Larger than Morrito, we were here for about 45 minutes while they unloaded a LOT of stuff.

Supplies bound for the towns along the eastern shore of Lago de Nicaragua.  The white specks in the picture are choyules, the miserable little midges that swarm this time of year.  Fortunately, they were only attracted to the lights, not us!

I've mentioned before how resourceful and hard-working the people of Nicaragua can be.  We made San Miguelito well after midnight and there were two women at the dock waiting for the boat.  One had styrofoam cups, the other had two plastic buckets.  One had café negro (black coffee), the other had café con leche (coffee with milk).  Captive audience while supplies were unloaded, right?

Finally, as the rising sun was just barely lighting the sky, we could make out the silhouettes of the Solentiname Islands.  And soon enough we were pulling up to the dock of sleepy San Carlos.  Because of the proximity and ease of access to the Costa Rican border, there were Nicaraguan military personnel waiting for the ferry - bag searches, looking for drug smugglers.  After getting the go ahead, getting our bearings, and heading into town, we stopped to check the boat schedules to the Solentinames, our destination for the day.  We confirmed that we had pretty much all day to kill, so it was time for food.

Our first dawn glimpse of San Carlos

And with the dawn go the fishermen in their boats.

We grabbed breakfast at the Soda La Forteleza, right on the malecón (waterfront).  We watched as residents gathered along the stone wall at water's edge to buy fish from the pescadores (fishermen) who were returning from their early-morning excursions.  After breakfast, we sat on a bench near the water, played cards and watched as San Carlos woke up.  We marveled at the number of vultures that hang out along the malecón, waiting patiently while fish are cleaned and sold. Of course, they're only interested in the 'cleaning' part!

Mmmm… fish entrails...

With plenty of time to kill, we hoofed it uphill to check out the parque central and the remnants of the old Spanish fort that was the last stand against the pirates that used to ply these waters, guarding the entrance into the lake.  Granada was a prime target back in the 1600-1700's, a wealthy, established, and thriving Spanish colonial city - the oldest in Central America, in fact.

David channeled the spirit of a long-dead soldier.

Now, we don't know a lot about building forts and how they work as far as defending people from pillaging, raiding and other pirate-y shenanigans.  The cannons in the above pic are great for this, of course, as they were aimed at the point where ships would enter the lake headed for Granada.  But I think we could have come up with something a little better for the actual fort part, better than what we saw up the hill.  The location was great, with views upriver to spot approaching marauders and clear views into the lake.  Structurally I think it was a little lacking.  But, what do I know, right?

The guard towers had 360 degree views and militia could move easily between them to protect the town.  And the giant Viking horns were intimidating to potential invaders.

There is disagreement among historians as to what function these chutes served.  Some believe they were to allow Spanish troops to quickly descend upon the enemy while others think they were used to pour hot oil onto invading armies.

Because it was the slow season, we had not made any reservations for our trip this time.  After exploring La Forteleza de Fisher-Price, we sat in the park and Bex! made some calls to find a place on Isla San Fernando, the second largest of the Solentiname island group.  We got voice mail at the place we wanted to stay but got an answer from Hostal Vanessa, so there you have it.  The latter got our business.

The guy Bex! was talking to, José, let us know that he was currently in San Carlos, so he told us to wait in the park and about five minutes later - boom - there he was.  He told us about the hotel, tour options, etc.  We worked out a price and he even took our names and passport info to make sure we got a spot on the afternoon public boat to the islands.  The colectivo boat would take a little longer but the experience was worth it.  These boats are the equivalent of the chicken buses we take on land.  They stop anywhere along the way to drop off/pick up people and/or supplies.  José also confirmed our hopes that there was a rapida that ran every day.  This was key for us as we had a schedule, albeit a rather loose schedule.  The public boats only run two days per week.  The rapidas are faster and more frequent.

We still had time before the 2:30 boat left, so we had lunch overlooking the harbor at La Teraza and played rummy.  I was waaaay ahead - for now.  We decided to walk down to the dock to wait for the boat and people watch. 

Then... The Joke happened.  

One thing I love about my wife is that she is extremely smart.  Tactful?  Meh.  We were heading to the Solentiname Islands, described as 'an archipelago'.  I asked the simple question 'So, what's the difference between an island and an archipelago?', thinking it had something to do how the islands were formed or how close together they must be.  Her head swiveled around quickly, she looked at me with a smirk on her face and said 'What, is this a joke or something?'  Translation:  'That was about the stupidest question I've heard in a long time.'  

Um…

Bex! here.  For the record, the delivery of this aforementioned question was exactly the delivery you'd expect for "What did one priest say to the other?" or "Two Irishman walk out of a bar" or "What's the difference between a fiddle and a violin?".

Ha!  Not true - and besides, two Irishman would never walk OUT of a bar.  For the record, an archipelago is a group of islands.  Like the cluster of 36 small islands we were heading to.  Even Japan is considered to be an archipelago.  So, yeah… I done got schooled.  

Bex! and some unkempt traveler she met on the boat.  Oh, wait...

Finally - nay, thankfully - I was distracted from my embarrassment by the boat leaving the dock.  The crossing was fine until a little squall came at us, blowing rain in through the windward side of the boat.  Luckily we were sitting on the other side but still got a little damp.  The waves got going pretty good and these boats are long and narrow, so I was scoping out life vest locations and an escape route should the boat decide to not be upright.  Once we got close to the ARCHIPELAGO the water settled down and we proceeded to make several stops at various islands, delivering people and stuff at rickety little docks here and there.  We also have a Garmin map of this trip: San Carlos to San Fernando.

One of several stops we made before reaching our destination.

Isla San Fernando is also known as Isla Elvis Chavarria, named after a young martyr from Nicaragua's revolutionary war.  The dock for our stop was pretty elaborate, being the primary receiving point on this island.  Our hotel, Hostal Vanessa, was quite literally about 10 meters from the dock.  We were met by a young man who showed us to our room, up the hill.  Pretty cool place, with a porch and hammocks.  With no restaurant on site, we were directed to Cabanas Paraiso next door for our meals.  Being on a small island, we were somewhat captive to eat at the only place in town!  The food was good overall and our first nights' dinner of fried fish and all the Nica fixin's was exceptional.  The owner talked us through all the options when we first stopped in and ordered our first dinner.  After that we followed the tradition of ordering our next meal after each time we ate the current meal.  Having dinner?  Afterwards, order breakfast for the next morning!

'Hello, Narnia?'  These lamp posts are situated all along the stone walkway along the lake shore.  Given the rustic nature of the islands, they seemed a little incongruous.

Power on the islands is by generator, so during the day there is no electricity.  They fire up the juice at sunset and it goes til about 4:30-5 AM.  It's important to power lights, fans, and TV's in the evening!  Okay, our room only had the first two items.  I'm assuming someone somewhere on the island had a TV and was hooked on Ojo por Ojo.

The next morning, after breakfast, we met up with Julio to take a little boat tour of the islands.  He putted along the shore of Isla Elvis, then sped across to a couple of the others, giving us ample opportunity to scout out birds, all the cool old docks and other interesting features of these islands. 

The Garmin map of our boat excursion can be seen here: Solentinames Boat Excursion.  What's the opposite of "as the crow flows"?  Oh, for the record the green squiggle on Isla Mancarrón was not part of our boat trip!

The trick is to not drop the camera in the water.

Impenetrable jungle abounds.

Second island to the right and straight on 'til lunchtime.

After the boat trip and some lunch, we walked the paved path that runs along the shore to the local museum for a tour.  Situated a ways up the hillside, it was a bit of a hike on what resembled a drainage ditch.  It wasn't until we left and headed down the hill that we saw the actual, easier path we should have taken up.  (ahem)  The woman who runs the place seemed genuinely surprised when we walked up the steps.  The look on her face was 'What are you doing here?'  It was, after all, the slow season.  

She multitasked as she showed us around, carrying a dust rag to wipe down the exhibits as we went along.  She was pretty funny, too, giggling at the Latin, scientific names of the flora and fauna.  For example, she would show us a painting of a tiger heron done by a local artist, telling us the artist's name and the Spanish word for the bird.  Then she would read the scientific name "Tigrisoma mexicanum… heeheeheehee".  Very cute.

Like I mentioned, the hill on which the museum was situated was pretty steep and on our way down, I lost my footing but thankfully regained my balance.  As I slipped, I looked down at my feet but also reached out to a nearby tree in case I needed an emergency handhold.  Thankfully I didn't because…

Would have definitely left a mark!

We decided to hike up to the mirador next.  We had some vague directions from a fellow traveler, a young woman named Stef who, as it turned out, was from Alaska.  Small world and all that jazz, for sure.  She told us how to get there:  "Take the trail just after the restaurant but before you get to the other hotel.  You'll walk past a house and it will feel like you're in their yard but keep going.  When you get to the big field, go around the right side.  Eventually, you'll pass the school and then you have to go through the fence.  You'll be in a field with a bunch of cows, but just make your way through.  Then head up the hill to the viewpoint."

Okay.

We found two trails between the restaurant and the hotel and, after taking the wrong one first, we got on the correct sendero.  It was just as described - like cutting through someone's yard.  We got to the field and there was a man there, cutting hay with a machete.  He confirmed our intended route to the mirador and we went around the field.  We soon came to a junction of trails - again, we took the wrong one.  Extra exploring!

After backtracking, we finally passed the island's primary school...

…then we cut across the cow pasture… 

...climbed up the steep hill through the waist-high jungle grass ("Trail?  What trail?!")… and eventually made it to the top!

Archipelago from the El Tragon mirador 

Break at the mirador to clean off mud, dirt, rocks. 

After taking in the views all around, we started back down the hill for an afternoon of relaxation and book reading.  And, yeah, maybe a beer or two.

About 2 seconds after I took this picture, the wife turned back with a horrified look on her face because... 

…this fuzzy dude was smack dab in the middle of the trail.

Like I've said before, these things are fearless.  I kicked some dirt at it to get it to move.  He just raised his front two legs, laughed, and stared me down.  Seriously, I heard a chuckle.  We gave Cuddles a wide berth and continued on down.

I can't see my feet!

School in the background

At the bottom, re-entering the cow pasture, it was my turn for photos of getting through the gate!

Are you absolutely sure this is the path we took on the way up?

Good thing I'm so skinny these days.

Phew, made it, piece of cake.  (Mmm… cake…)

Here is a Garmin map of our bipedal excursion: San Fernando Exploring.  And some cool pics (below) from our amblin' around.  The island is known for its artists and their work but, being the slow season, we didn't see either.  We think maybe the artists head for the cities to sell their works during the slack tourist times.

Bex! making her own art in the so-called islas del arte.

The local flora is art-like.

Maybe it was all our gallivanting around for the day or maybe it was the tarantula encounter.  Whatever the cause, Bex! wasn't feeling well that evening, so I went to dinner by myself.  The restaurant staff asked where she was and when I explained, they set me up with hot tea and a plate of fruit to bring back to the room for her.  Very kind, indeed.

Man, did it pour that night!  It rained so hard that the bathroom in our room flooded from water seeping in under the wall from the uphill side of our room.  Cra-zy!  As we would find out later, this is the same storm that caused the flooding and landslides back home on Ometepe.  More on that in another post coming soon.

The next morning, the rain had abated and we went to breakfast.  Bex! was still a little queasy so she tried some pancakes.  This was the day we had planned to leave the islands and continue our border run adventure.  We discussed whether she was feeling well enough to make the boat trips required to do this.  She said she was - and she was.  She's a trooper.

For this trip back to the mainland, we took the daily rapida, the fast boat shuttle to and from San Carlos.  We were told that this boat is also used to pick up the high school-aged kids on school days, making the rounds to all the inhabited islands and bringing them to Isla Mancarrón for classes.  Awesomeness.  

Booby enjoyed the boat ride, at one point saying "Beats the hell outta flying." 

Making for San Carlos.

Yep.

Thankfully, we once again had a pretty smooth lake for the trip across.  Taking the fast boat got us to San Carlos with just enough time to hustle down to the other dock in town to catch the boat to…

[continued in Adventuras Acuáticas:  Capitulo Dos]