Into the heart of darkness.

Trip Start Sep 16, 2007
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Trip End Ongoing


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Flag of Nicaragua  ,
Saturday, August 30, 2008

El Castillo is a site of historical significance in Nicaragua's colonial history, so much so that it appears on one of their banknotes. It was a Spanish fort that held its own during an attack by British raiders. The place itself is no more than a few houses on the banks of the San Juan River, with a little fort. I guess not a lot of tourists get down here, at least we didn't see any.

The trip to the fort was, for me, more impressive than the fort itself. A small river boat took us far down the San Juan River towards the Caribbean. Looking at a map, I saw that this whole chunk of Nicaragua has no roads and is dense forest, very sparsely populated. The isolation made me feel like Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now, or the narrator (whose name I forget) in Heart of Darkness.

A couple of  interesting facts about the San Juan River: strategically it was very important for the Spanish colonials as it stretches all the way from the Caribbean to Lake Nicaragua, almost bisecting the isthmus. (Come to think of it, that's not all that interesting). The other fact is pretty cool though: bull sharks, those big bad-tempered fish that eat any old crap, can survive in freshwater and have swum all the way upriver to Lake Nicaragua where they hang out. Scientists originally thought that the bull sharks in Lake Nicaragua were an autoctonous species until it was discovered that the sharks - which can grow pretty big - actually swim up the rapids like salmon. Fancy that!   
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