Anakapuana

Getting to El Castillo, a small charming and historical town on the San Juan river.

EL CASTILLO is reachable by speed launches that can take about 50 persons from San Carlos, a town on the South-Eastern shore of Lake Nicaragua. The town is small enough: no need to give directions to the pier. There are several launches departures daily, less on Sundays. The trip downriver is VERY pleasant, in great parts like a walk through the jungle, without having to walk. The launch's outboard motor is astonishingly silent and our passage did not distrurb the numerous aquatic birds, turtles, caimans and monkeys seen on the way. The fare is quite reasonable, some 5 US$ if I remember. Of note: numerous waste baskets on board and NO ONE was seen dumping any garbage into the river, small children included. Nicaragua could give a lesson to many in this respect!

El Castillo is by no means the end of the way if you feel adventurous; we poceeded from there ALL THE WAY down to the Carribean, to the very small, boring, depressing town of San Juan del Norte (not to be confused with the one on the Pacific coast). The boat ride, still pleasant, becomes soporific after a few hours though, and the backs a bit stiff: 8 full hours to get there, with various short stops on the Nica or Tica shore to disembark one or the other passenger. A few police/migration checkpoints too on the way. You have to fill in a passenger list several times.

Enough has been written about El Castillo, I suppose (we loved it; a population that is obviously trying hard to put their town on the map. Good food, adequate accomodation and very able and qualified guides on the various tours and activities offered), so I will not insist. Mighty few must have had the pluck to go and discover San Juan del Norte though and I will deliver our experience of this Carribean megalopolis.

A good part of the town was destroyed between the war years and the hurricanes. S.J. now consists of small houses in a grid pattern, some new ones built thanks to donations, others just old shacks falling apart. No roads in "town": there's nowhere to go to! The "streets" are in fact only elevated concrete walkways to keep your feet dryabove the swampy soil. S.J. is not actually on the Caribbean shore properly speaking but on an inland waterway. You would need boat transportation to reach the beaches. These are said to be unsafe anyway because of the surf and infested with barracudas (so we were told...). The town has little to offer: a couple of about decent accomodations  (B&B boasts one: no breakfast available all the same). A couple of depressing eateries, but with ONE notable exception: a charming lady runs a restaurant right on the water edge (no name on house  and I forgot the lady's name but S.J. is so small anyway...): EXCELLENT cooking by devoted gourmet chef: Her food was our streak of sunshine during our 2 (rainy) days of confinement in this forgotten place. The food was better than in many large cities we know. Electricity runs from 5pm to 11pm. A couple of public satellite phones link this backwater town to the rest of the country. Internet? forget it. The ride back to San Carlos - against the current - takes 12 hours... It would be theoretically possible to enter Costa Rica without going all the way back to San Carlos (...and from there to Los Chiles, again by water. A nice way to go): you could catch a separate launch at the opening of Rio Sarrapiqui, a few hours upstream from San Juan, and proceed to Puerto Viejo, in C.R. Unfortunately, this is reserved to Nicas  and Ticos: there is no immigration service at any point on this route to get the proper entry/exit stamps on your passport.

The above trip was made in December 2007