The river journey

Trip Start Aug 07, 2009

Trip End Jul 14, 2010

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Where I stayed

Auberge El Castillo

Flag of Nicaragua El Castillo, Nicaragua
Friday, December 25, 2009

We set off from San Juan del Sur about 7am, to head for the Costa Rican border. It would have been easy to cross but we had had a blackout for several hours and the computers of course had gone down… so it took a while. Anyway, we got across (a few dollars lighter for taxes) and then headed down a back road towards the river Rio San Juan. We passed lots of plantations and cattle ranches, and really it was quite developed countryside. We got to the small port by 1pm and had lunch at a hotel, before boarding the river boat.

The boat was very long and thin and we had fab views of the river on both sides. We also managed to get a fast boat, and so halved the transfer time. We passed isolated farms and houses, often seeing local people fishing on the river. There were plastic bottles floating on the sides of the river, attached to a line, and this was for the shrimp pots. We got to the border via the boat, and had to get out, have the passport stamped and then return to the boat to go downstream again. We reached the town of El Castillo about 4pm and checked into our hotel on the hillside overlooking the river. We had amazing views of the river and the local life. A nice group meal and a surf on the internet (yes, technology gets to all places) rounded off a lovely day!

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