A low fog has settled in on the Río San Juan flowing alongside this town of El Castillo, probably matching the fog in many of the heads adorning the pillows in this colorful fishing village. Some of those heads, such as the one we saw being carried home in his own canoe by some of his drinking buddies, may not have even made it to a pillow. We on, the other hand, are into our second week of sobriety (yes, definitely temporary). Admittedly, some Cana de Flora, the local rum would have ben helpful these last few days as we paddled endlessly down the river, a grueling 14 hrs. of paddling over the last two days that has left our shoulders bunched and bound, and our spirits ready for a break. Despite the super-abundance of flora and fauna that we saw, aided immensely by our beautiful young guide named Minor, we have decided to exchange the grueling aspect of so much paddling each day for the more vacation-like process of choosing to stay or go. Today we stay here in Castillo, in a small hospedaje with a corner room overhanging one of the few rapids on this river, a rapid named Caudal del Diablo, which was watched over by cannons in the fort on the hill above us, guarding against the English, Danish, and French pirate longboats trying to make their way up the river to sack the town of Granada back in the 18th Century.
A flock of florescent green parrots squawks as it flies past. The bird life is diverse and colorfully spectacular, the jungle along the banks verdant with orchids and a healthy tarpon population abides here. We are on the edge of the Indio Maiz reserve, one of the last and largest virgin rain forests in Central America. The preservation of nature is at the heart of most of what seems to happen in this town. Almost every restaurant or hospedaje (hotel/hostel) or pulperia (corner store) has a guide service connection where one can arrange to travel by panga to Bartola, the entrance to the reserve for a 2-3 hour hike on one of three senderos (trails) to view toucans and parrots, iguanas and jesus lizards that run across the water standing up on their two hind legs, turtles and small colorful frogs, wild pigs and monkeys, as well as orchids, poponjoche, and other amazing flowers attended by butterflies and hummingbirds.
The town itself demonstrates its commitment to preservation through a daily horse and wagon garbage patrol emptying the town-provided cans that line the streets, accompanied by signs declaring that a clean, safe, beautiful, and healthy life is the right and responsibility of all citizens. There are no motorized vehicles here and we welcome the relief of the slow and gentle pace. There is a palpable difference in the energy of a place without autos that is more attractive than any glittering diamond. A further tuning of our bodies' electrical systems is taking place aided by the physical exertion of the last days, simply being on the river and landing at this sweet place. Our ears are being cleared by the lack of artificial sound replaced by bird, river and frog song. Our eyes are being washed clean by the sights surrounding us. Healing happens here.
Before we end this blog entry, we feel compelled to speak a bit more about the illustrious Minor. As we paddled down the river, he would wait for us, gesturing toward this tree or that vine, pointing out sloths and capuchins and howlers and iguanas. He knew the plant names and bird names. He knew where to find the animals by what they ate. He knew which fruits were edible for humans, which for monkeys, and which were poisonous. He would also wait patiently as our energy flagged, then pull us along by telling us that there was only another hour of paddling, mas o menos, or dos vueltas mas (two more turns) mas o menos, dangling the carrot in front of our mulish noses so that we had hopeful energy once again. We joked together and reveled in natural beauty together and shared the love of the riparian zone, together. We trusted him as soon as we met him; such is his energy. It is our major regret in not continuing to San Juan de Nicaragua by kayak that we will not be enjoying his company for the next 3 days. We said goodbye to him last night with hugs and his sincere entreaty that we call him when we return to San Carlos.
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