The main objective for today was to go to El Castillo, which can only be reached by boat, via the Rio San Juan. So the first thing we did in the morning was to find the port which didn't take long. This town has no more than 10 streets and usually, if you follow the water, you have pretty good chances to find it. Step 2 was a bit trickier. We had to figure out what the schedule was for the express boat, which takes about 2 hours. The night before, we asked 2 people and got 2 different answers. At the port, there was a schedule posted on the wall and, of course the info there was different from what the 2 locals told us. So I asked la Señorita at the counter ¿Cuál es el horario para el barco expreso para El Castillo y desde El Castillo para San Juan de Nicaragua? I don't know if it was exactly how to ask for it but she understood. And, after a lot of efforts from her and us, we finally understood that there was an express boat to El Castillo at 10:30am but boats to San Juan, both from El Castillo and San Carlos, were only leaving on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. So we bought our tickets for the 10:30 boat and decided that we would see, once in El Castillo, what we want to do. Because on Thursdays, the boat to San Juan is not an express one and apparently, it takes something like 12 hours… and we're not talking about 12 hours on a fancy cruise ship!
It was 8am and we were hungry so we went back to the same restaurant than the night before for breakfast. Our friend Esteban was not there but we had a good breakfast.
Then, since both Steve and Youppi wanted a trim, we went to the barbershop. The young barber did a very good job and he was really trying to communicate with us. He showed us pictures of his baby and his wife, asked if we had kids, but the problem is that even when they know you speak and understand Spanish like a 2 years old, they speak so fast! I need to concentrate so much when they speak, I'm sure I look like a dumb donkey with their head slightly inclined and with empty eyes. But they don't stop! ¡Hablar lentamente por favor! And they are super happy to chat with you! Anyway, Steve and Youppi were very happy with their new look and it only cost 6$.
We went back to our room to get our bags. Oh, by the way, for the ones who think that we always have fancy rooms when we travel, this is, in fact, more often like this…
But we were lucky this time, we even had 2 beds so we could use one for our backpacks! Isn't it cool?! And, of course, don't expect a/c and hot water. It's something luxurious and sometimes not even possible. But this room was perfectly located and cheap.
So we went to the port and then, on the boat. The breeze was nice and warm on the boat. But, I'm definitely unsure if I would be able to spend 12 hours straight on a boat like this. I think I would go "loca"!
After an hour and a half, we made a first stop to drop off some people. I was truly hoping our destination would be just a tiny bit less remote than this one!
We arrived in El Castillo in 2 hours. It was a very charming remote little village!
Our guesthouse was literally a few steps away from where the boat dropped us off. Our room looked a little bit like a tree house and was right by the river. It was perfect!
We went for a short walk, because the area doesn't take much time to explore, and we stopped for lunch in a very good little place with no name. We ordered "pollo" and after maybe 10 minutes, the man proudly brought a nice plate of delicious fried chicken with rice, beans, plantains and grilled fresh cheese. It was delicious! Not long after, he bought an avocado from a woman who was walking down the street and selling fresh avocados and 2 minutes later, he brought us 2 big quarters of this rich tasty and creamy fruit. He prepared good homemade tamarind juice and finally served us colorful and juicy watermelon. We were soooooo full! Sorry for the picture, I could not wait to eat so I took the photo after a few bites!
After lunch, we grabbed beers, went up on our private patio and relaxed. It was a delightful moment! The Rapids of the Devils were not far from us and all we could hear was the sound of the raging water, the symphony of the exotic birds and our eyes were filled with colorful beauties of nature.
After the sun went down, we went out for dinner. I was absolutely not hungry but Steve was so we found a little place by the river and sat facing it. There was only one other guy.
A woman brought us menus and said something very quickly so I said "No entiendo". She immediately went to see the other guy that was there, eating his food, and asked him to talk to us because we didn't speak Spanish. This guy ended up being from Montreal! He worked in Mexico when he was young and learned Spanish and he is now living in Alberta. His name is David and we spent the rest of the night chatting with him and had a few beers. It's cool to practice our Spanish but it's also nice to be able to speak French sometimes!
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