The Real Pirates of the Caribbean

We visited the remains of the Spanish fortress occupying a strategic position on the hill above the rapids. The Spanish arrived here in the 1500's and the fortress was

completed in 1672, a deterrent to pirates who were constantly raiding their galleons carrying gold and precious metals from Peru back to Spain.  Sir Francis Drake was one such pirate, an authentic pirate of the Caribbean. Later the fortress was stormed by Admiral Lord Nelson in a conflict that saw him lose all, but 10 of his 200 crew to dysentery, and that nearly cost Nelson his own life.  So proud was Nelson of his achievement that he had the Río San Juan and the fortress at El Castillo added to his

coat of arms. The Spanish flag was torn down in 1819 and the Nicaraguan flag raised in it's place when the country gained its independence.  Later still in the 1840's the Río San Juan became a strategic waterway during the California Gold Rush and the remains of Cornelius Vanderbilt's steamship can be found rusting along the banks.


We visited the cacao factory, a cooperative where one man and 5 women produce the

best chocolate in the whole of Nicaragua.  They have won the award three times.  We tasted chocolate in all stages of production, were staggered by the labour intensiveness of the process, and the small rewards for such effort.  Farmers are paid 7 cordobas per pound of cocoa beans (about 15 pence), and the cooperative produces about 40 bars of chocolate per week that it sells to tourists at 35 cordobas a bar.  We tried a hot chocolate drink that was divine, and then bought, for 160 cordobas, a large pack of cocoa powder to take home.  We felt good that this would help to fund the education of the son of the lady working there.

Finally we walked through the village to see Nicaraguan life at first hand. One thing that makes El Castillo so special is that there is no access by road.  The river is the highway.  There are no cars, no motorbikes, only a few pushbikes and handcarts.  Children play freely without fear of being run down, and hens scratch in the dirt beside the path as they teach their chicks to look for food.   Orlando showed us his house and proudly introduced us to his daughter and grandchild. I had read in an article in an inflight magazine that Nicaragua was the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere but the tenth happiest in the world. Our experience had borne this out, and on this, our last full day in Nicaragua, we felt honoured to have experienced such a beautiful country with so many warm, happy, naturally friendly people.