notesfromcamelidcountry

Getting high in Bogota

First of all, apologies for the unnecessarily juvenile title. Just because Bogota is Colombia’s capital city and Colombia has been synonymous with the international cocaine trade for several decades, there is no justification for such a childish title.

That said, if you want to see Bogota in all its glory you really have to get high. The city has a location as dramatic as most I’ve seen – La Paz may just nudge it into second place. Bogota was a subdued backwater for a long time after it was founded in 1538. Not any more. It seemingly spreads out for ever across a long and broad valley, and is buttressed on its eastern side by high Andean peaks, including the 3152m Cerro Monserrate which can be reached by cable car.

The best place to start your arial overview of the city is from the 48th floor of a downtown office block which is home to the Mirador Torre Colpatria. The mirador offers incredible 360 degree views of the city and surrounding mountains, including some of the less salubrious and secure neighbourhoods to the south that are crawling their way inexorably up the mountainside.

View toward Cerro Monserrate from Mirador Torre Colpatria, Bogota, Colombia

View over Bogota from Mirador Torre Colpatria, Bogota, Colombia

View of the bullring from Mirador Torre Colpatria, Bogota, Colombia

The church on Cerro Monserrate from Mirador Torre Colpatria, Bogota, Colombia

What is so striking about the city, is the contrast between the skyscrapers, and the upmarket residential districts that stretch to the north, compared to the poor barrios spreading up the hills to the south.

View over Bogota from Mirador Torre Colpatria, Bogota, Colombia

After that introduction to Bogota-from-above, it was time to walk over to the cable car station that would carry us to the top of Cerro Monserrate. Home to a church containing an important ‘fallen Christ’ statue that is subject to devout pilgrimages. On the top of the mountain we watched the sun set and the lights of Bogota spring into life.

It was an extraordinary sight. Roads suddenly became serpent-like, snaking their way through the city, office blocks were illuminated and changed colour and the city seemed to stretch to the horizon.

The cable car to Cerro Monserrate, Bogota, Colombia

The church on Cerro Monserrate with Bogota in the background, Colombia

Bogota illuminated, seen from Cerro Monserrate, Colombia

Tags: adventure, Atacama Desert, Bogota, Bogota bullring, Bogota by night, Cerro Monserrate, Colombia, Latin America, Mirador Torre Colpatria, Photography, travel

Comments 1 Comment
Categories Bogota, Colombia

Guinea Pig gambling, the most fun anyone can have in downtown Bogota without alcohol

23 May

I realise the whole concept of using guinea pigs as a form of gambling seems absurd. What can a guinea pig offer the gambling addict when compared to horse racing, cock fighting or just plain old roulette? Well, I’m here to let you know that guinea pig gambling is as nerve-rackingly, heart-pumpingly exciting as much better known ways of being separated from your money.

The Andes is the birth place of the guinea pig, so it seems fitting that an Andean country should have invented a ‘sport’ involving a hand trained guinea pig, upturned plastic bowls and a PA system. Its probably a better life for the guinea pig than the fate that awaits them further south in Peru, where they end up roasted and served with a side of potatoes and veg.

Guinea pig gambling, Bogota, Colombia

Strolling down a busy street close to Bogota’s Candelaria district, a small crowd of people, curiously gathered around a semi-circle of upturned plastic bowls, caught my eye. A man was spinning some yarn to them and as I got closer I realised that the man with the microphone was in possession of several guinea pigs. My eye was no longer caught, I was hooked.

So these are the basic rules of guinea pig gambling: arrange a semi-circle of plastic bowls with a hole cut out of the front of them; take to the microphone and attract a crowd; encourage people to place money on top of the plastic bowls; build the excitement to fever pitch while choosing a guinea pig; and, finally, when the crowd is in a frenzy, release the guinea pig.

Guinea pig gambling, Bogota, Colombia

The furry little critter will dash towards the plastic bowls at full speed and, amid much excitement and hilarity, will go into one of them. The person who placed money on top of that particular plastic bowl wins and receives a cash prize.

Retrieve your guinea pig from the plastic bowl and start again.

Guinea pig gambling, Bogota, Colombia

I take my hat off to the person who invented this new sport, and I’m sure it is all harmless fun, but what happens to the guinea pigs once their gambling days are over? I doubt they are put out to stud like race horses…probably shipped to Peru.

Tags: adventure, Bogota, Candelaria district Bogota, Colombia, culture, Guinea Pig Gambling, Guinea Pigs, Latin America, Photography, travel

Comments 3 Comments
Categories Colombia, Bogota

Weird and wonderful Bogota, a walking tour

22 May

There is so much street life in Bogota that at times it feels a bit overwhelming. The old colonial district of La Candelaria and the business district that stretches around it are fascinating places to walk: there are street performers doing some truly odd acts, loads of interesting street art, endless street vendors selling just about everything you can imagine and a sea of people going about their business.

The street life both defines Bogota and defies the all to common stereotypes of the city as a drug-fuelled, crime-filled, danger zone. I love it and I hope these photos give a clue as to why…

Street art, Bogota, Colombia

Building, Bogota, Colombia

Musicians, Bogota, Colombia

Restaurant in La Candelaria, Bogota, Colombia

Protester in Plaza Bolivar, Bogota, Colombia

Sculpture, Bogota, Colombia

Stall selling sweats and phone calls, Bogota, Colombia

Food stall, Bogota, Colombia

Street performers, Bogota, Colombia

Protest in Plaza Bolivar, Bogota, Colombia

Puppeteer, Bogota, Colombia

Coconut seller, Bogota, Colombia

Bogota, Colombia

Plant pot street art, Bogota, Colombia

Car as corner shop, Bogota, Colombia

Street art, Bogota, Colombia

Religious window, Bogota, Colombia

Tags: adventure, Bogota, Colombia, Latin America, Photography, street art, street performers, travel

Comments 4 Comments
Categories Bogota, Colombia

Bogota, a city breaking free of its past

21 May

I have a confession. I really like Bogota. It is a weird, fascinating and vibrant city that has seen terrible times and now appears to have faced-down its past and is looking to the future with renewed confidence. Still, there is no way around the fact that Bogota has a reputation that would give pause to even the most hardened traveller. A reputation for violence, drugs and crime that is well deserved. Except these days, maybe that should read ‘was’ well deserved.

My first visit to Bogota was several years ago for work. During a free afternoon I took a cab to the historic colonial district of Candelaria. I walked around, strolled up and down streets and at one point a policeman came over to me and asked where I was going. I pointed up a street that looked fairly nice and he simply shook his head and drew his finger across his throat mimicking a knife. I didn’t need to be told twice.

Cathedral Primada in Plaza Bolivar, Bogota, Colombia

Colonial buildings in the Candelaria district of Bogota, Colombia

Bogota 2013 seems like an entirely safer place. Not a single policeman drew their finger across their throat or warned us we couldn’t walk down a particular street. The city was alive with activity and I didn’t once feel threatened; although judging by one review of the hotel we stayed at, violent crime does occur all too often. Perhaps that’s why tourists still seem few-and-far-between, or maybe its because this is the low season.

There are safer and wealthier districts to base yourself in the north of Bogota, but we decided to stay in the old colonial heart of the city, La Candelaria, centred on Plaza Bolivar. Here you can wander streets – with one eye open – full of glorious colonial architecture, pop into student bars full of people dancing tango to pumping music and watch street vendors weave their way through the crowds with any number of unlikely items.

Plaza in the Candelaria district of Bogota, Colombia

Church on the edge of the Candelaria district, Bogota, Colombia

Street art in the Candelaria district, Bogota, Colombia

Sculpture in the Candelaria district, Bogota, Colombia

Street art in the Candelaria district, Bogota, Colombia

Food stall in the Candelaria district, Bogota, Colombia

The other benefit of staying in La Candelaria is that pretty much everything culturally worth seeing was within a short walk from our hotel: the Museo del Oro and the Botero gallery being the two highlights. The whole area does still have a slightly down-at-heel feel about it, which is part of its charm, but it probably makes it feel more intimidating than in reality it is.

To me, the real joy of being in Bogota is the human life that goes on there. It is a joyous place to be at times, and on odd occasions I found myself thinking I was back in La Paz.

Sausage seller, Bogota, Colombia

Doorway in the Candelaria district, Bogota, Colombia

Cake shop in the Candelaria district, Bogota, Colombia

Balloon seller in Plaza Bolivar, Bogota, Colombia

Mobile tienda in Plaza Bolivar, Bogota, Colombia

Candy floss seller in Plaza Bolivar, Bogota, Colombia

Feeding the pigeons in Plaza Bolivar, Bogota, Colombia

One thing is for sure, Bogota is a surprising city. Ringed by mountains, full of history and culture, outrageous street art, welcoming and friendly people, bizarre street performers and any number of excellent restaurants. It feels like a city waiting for its moment, and that moment seems to have arrived. That makes me happy.

Tags: adventure, Bogota, Candelaria district Bogota, Colombia, culture, La Candelaria, Latin America, Photography, Plaza Bolivar, street art, travel

Comments 4 Comments
Categories Bogota, Colombia

Isla Taboga, an unforgettable panorama of Panama City

20 May

We decided to take a day trip to Isla Taboga – an hour’s boat ride from Panama City – despite the weather looking terrible. It wasn’t raining but the sky was grey and threatening. While we were hoping for blue sky and sunshine to enjoy Isla Taboga’s beaches, the rest of Panama was praying for rain. The rains that normally arrive at the start of May hadn’t materialised, causing major problems.

Much of Panama’s electricity is generated as hydro-electricity. In times of water shortages this has serious impacts on Panama, made worse by the fact that the Panama Canal – the country’s major economic driver – uses huge amounts of fresh water to operate the locks needed to transport ships. For the government the equation is simple: lose money and credibility by restricting the operation of the canal or take emergency measures in other parts of life.

To save electricity the government decided to close all the nation’s schools on the flimsy premise that since they weren’t allowed to use air conditioning during the drought, studying would be dangerous. Despite an extensive media campaign to conserve electricity and water in homes and businesses, we didn’t notice too many places in Panama City turning down the air conditioning…suffer the children, or at least their education.

Large cruise ship, Panama Canal, Panama

Boat to Isla Taboga, Panama

Panama City from the ocean en route to Isla Taboga, Panama

Bridge of the Americas from the ocean en route to Isla Taboga, Panama

Ships waiting to enter the Panama Canal, Panama

While this played out in the background we jumped onto a passenger ferry to Isla Taboga. We didn’t really know what to expect, but the young Panamanians on the boat loaded down with cool boxes gave us an indication that it might be fun. The boat is worth taking just for the panoramic views you get of Panama City, including the weird and beautiful Frank Gehry building.

Isla Taboga, with sandy beaches, incredible views and good food, is a lovely place to spend some time. The ferry heads through ranks of ships waiting to enter the Panama canal, but when you reach Isla Taboga and climb a nearby hill you get the full impact of what is going on off the coast of Panama. It is a truly impressive sight, dozens of ships lined up reminding me of when all the allied ships appear off the coast of France in the WWII film The Longest Day.

Isla Taboga, Panama

Most people visit the island for its beaches – although they disappear when the tide comes in – but the island has some history as well. It was settled by the Spanish in 1515 (after they had killed or enslaved the native population) and still boasts the second oldest church in the Americas, which was sadly closed when we were there. The island didn’t always belong to the Spanish though. English pirates made it their home and attacked Spanish shipping from here.

After a steep and hot climb up the Camino del Cruz, which leads you to the top of a hill crowned with a cross and offering panoramic views of the island, ocean and Panama City, we had a tasty lunch overlooking the water and wished we’d decided to stay for a night or two.

Panama City from Isla Taboga, Panama

Ship arriving at the Panama Canal seen from Isla Taboga, Panama

Isla Taboga, Panama

Instead, we got on the return ferry and headed back to the mainland just as the sun was setting. Back on terra firma in Panama City, we walked up the causeway towards the Frank Gehry building that will one day become an ecological museum. The causeway offers great views towards the Panama Canal and as we strolled we saw a giant cruise ship emerge from the Panama Canal underneath the Bridge of the Americas.

Frank Gehry building in Panama City, Panama

Bridge of the Americas with a large cruise ship, Panama

Large cruise ship, Panama Canal, Panama

Tags: travel, Latin America, adventure, Panama, Central America, Panama Canal, Panama City, Bridge of the Americas, Isla Taboga, Pacific Ocean beaches, Panama City panoramic views, Frank Gehry, Frank Gehry building Panama City, second oldest church in the Americas

Comments 1 Comment
Categories Panama, Panama CIty, Panama Canal, Isla Taboga

The great inter-oceanic railroad, from the Pacific to the Caribbean on the Panama Railway

19 May

Crossing the Isthmus of Panama by rail has to be one of the great rail journeys in the Americas – not that there are many of the continent’s once magnificent railways left. Although I’m no train spotter, the journey is worth the $25 one-way ticket for the historic and atmospheric route passing through jungle alongside the Panama Canal.

At only 77km it isn’t a particularly long trip – it takes an hour from Panama City on the Pacific to Colon on the Caribbean – but the route has a history that has defined Central America. The overland route has been used for over three hundred years from colonial times onwards; people and cargo were unloaded on one side and crossed overland to the other. By the nineteenth century the growth in global trade and the arrival of steam trains gave rise to a daring plan to construct an inter-oceanic railroad.

Panama Canal Railway station, Panama City, Panama

Train, Panama Canal Railway, Panama City, Panama

The City of Gatun, Panama Canal Railway, Panama City, Panama

Train, Panama Canal Railway, Panama City, Panama

Carriage, Panama Canal Railway, Panama City, Panama

Spurred on by the California Gold Rush, construction of this incredible engineering feat began in 1850 and was completed in 1855 – just as the Gold Rush was coming to an end. During the American Civil War troops and materials travelled along the railway between the coasts of the United States because it was quicker and safer than travelling overland. In the 1880s and 1900s the railway played a pivotal role in the attempts to build a ship canal.

Today, the railway still carries large quantities of cargo from shore to shore. The huge container ships that won’t fit into the 100 year-old Panama Canal locks unload their cargo on one side of the canal, the railway carries it to the other side, where they are loaded onto waiting ships. Nothing has really changed in four hundred years, but now new locks, big enough to carry the super-sized cargo ships, are being constructed and the railway’s day may be numbered.

The Panama Canal Railway, Panama

Global trade in a box, the Panama Canal Railway, Panama

The day we went, the rainy season seemed to have arrived, just without the rain. The sky was a battleship-grey and it looked like it was going to pour with rain at any minute. The journey began at 7.15am and we soon passed the Miraflores Locks close to Panama City. Soon though, we were travelling through dense forest with views of the canal and ships heading towards the Gatun Locks and the Caribbean.

I’ve read some accounts where people have felt cheated by the journey. While its no Trans-Siberian, I thought it was great. Tourists get put into a panoramic carriage with air conditioning and, while the complimentary coffee was welcome, the snack box was very underwhelming. Customer care aside, we saw lots of boats from the outside viewing platforms and the dark, brooding sky seemed to add an extra dimension to the journey.

Ship on the Panama Canal from the Panama Canal Railway, Panama

If there is one down-side to the whole trip it is arriving in Colon. There isn’t a train station at Colon and passengers are just disgorged onto a platform in the middle of nowhere, where a number of touts and taxi drivers try to sell vastly inflated trips to the Gatun Locks, an old Spanish fort or to the beaches on the coast. We were planning to do a trip but on arrival in Colon it started to rain and we decided a hasty retreat was probably wiser.

Ship on the Panama Canal from the Panama Canal Railway, Panama

Being stuck in Colon isn’t a great experience, it is Panama’s most crime ridden city and the idea of spending more time in it than necessary is not appealing. The train back doesn’t leave until 5.15pm, giving you nine hours to fritter in a city with nothing to fritter it on. In the end we negotiated a taxi to the bus station and took one of the regular buses back to Panama City – an eye-opening experience, as it passed through very poor and run down neighbourhoods that you’re unlikely to see on any tourist borochures.

Tags: adventure, Central America, Colon, Colon Panama, Gatun Locks, Latin America, Miraflores Locks, Panama, Panama Canal Railway, Panama City, Photography, trains, travel

Comments 6 Comments
Categories Panama, Panama Canal, Panama Canal Railway, Panama CIty

A walk through coffee country

17 May

After my disaster climbing Vulcan Baru the previous day, we decided a leisurely stroll through the wooded hills surrounding Boquete would be much more sensible. Although the day was hot, there was a mountain breeze and the countryside was absolutely beautiful: forested hills, coffee plantations, small suspension bridges, rushing rivers and a somewhat disappointing waterfall.

Countryside around Boquete, Panama

The ultimate goal of our walk was a waterfall that several people had told us was ‘spectacular’. It was a disappointment, but thanks to the fabulous countryside the journey really was better than the arriving. I wish we’d had a few more days so we could have explored a little more of the area, its such a beautiful place.

Waterfall in countryside around Boquete, Panama

Coffee finca near Boquete, Panama

Countryside around Boquete, Panama

Coffee beans in the countryside around Boquete, Panama

Countryside around Boquete, Panama

Mother and daughter walk in the countryside around Boquete, Panama

Tags: adventure, Boquete, Central America, coffee beans, Latin America, Panama, Panama coffee country, Photography, travel

Comments 3 Comments
Categories Boquete, Panama

Boquete, wake up and smell the coffee

16 May

After our epic hop, skip and jump through three countries in 36 hours we decided to spend the night in David, Panama. We were heading for Boquete, a small town in the wooded hills east of David, and the centre of Panama’s coffee industry. We were quite excited at the prospect of having decent coffee for once, but not enough to board another bus.

As an aside, Central America is famous for producing some of the world’s finest coffee. Yet ask for coffee in most restaurants or cafes and chances are you’ll get powdered rather than ground coffee…all the best stuff is on sale at inflated prices in North America and Europe.

Boquete, Panama

David is a busy commercial centre and Panama’s second city. As a tourist there is precious little to detain you beyond breakfast, so after a cup of awful coffee we headed back to the bus station for the one-hour journey into coffee country. Boquete sits at an altitude of 1200m and has a cool, refreshing climate – after the tropical heat of the last few weeks it was glorious.

The climate is one reason Boquete is a retirement destination for North Americans, well that and the low cost of living and high quality of life. Panama goes out of its way to encourage people to move here and gives tax breaks and other incentives to retirees. For us, the up-side of Boquete having so many expats was the number of good restaurants offering cuisines we hadn’t seen for two months.

Boquete, Panama

House, Boquete, Panama

Our main reason for coming to Boquete was to do some walking in the hills surrounding the town. The nearby national Parque Nacional Volcan Baru contains a wide variety of wildlife and is home to Panama’s highest mountain, Volcan Baru, which rises 3475m above Boquete. Despite two months in the Caribbean with very little exercise, I decided it would be a good idea to climb to the summit.

Boquete, Panama

House, Boquete, Panama

Boquete, Panama

To get there you either walk 22km from Boquete or take a taxi to the park entrance and walk the last 14km up a steep dirt track. The going is hard, so hard that at the 9km point and at 3047m on the mountain I decided to turn back. The altitude was affecting me but worse was a massive blister that turned into a weeping sore on my right heel.

I’ve seen women in London walking home in their bare feet after a night out, high heels in hand, but never had much sympathy until now. I was in agony. So much so I had to walk down a rock-strewn track in my stocking feet…sisters, I feel your pain. Making painfully slow progress, but unwilling to put my boots back on, I spotted a discarded plastic bag. I’ve never been so happy that someone had taken the time to litter in an area of outstanding natural beauty.

En route to Vulcan Beru, Boquete, Panama

The plastic bag had once contained something wet and sticky and was now home to a variety of insects. In one of the less dignified moments of my life, I evicted the insects, turned the bag inside out and put my foot in it; then I put my sock on. Gingerly putting my boot on I found I could walk almost pain free. My homemade ‘second skin’ worked, although the plastic bag was like a foot sauna…once again it contained something wet and sticky.

I finally reached the park entrance and the paved road. Since no one lives here and hardly anyone visits, and it was a Sunday, there were no cars or buses to flag down and I had the prospect of another 8km walk back to Boquete. After walking for 5km I got lucky, a taxi came round a corner and the driver, spotting someone who was definitely willing to pay over the odds for a ride back to town, screeched to a halt and drove me the rest of the way.

Trail on Vulcan Beru, Boquete, Panama

Vulcan Beru, Boquete, Panama

After seven hours and 23km of walking, a cold shower and a cold beer have never been so welcome.

Tags: adventure, Boquete, Central America, David, Latin America, Panama, Panama coffee country, Photography, travel, trekking, Vulcan Baru

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Categories Boquete, Panama

Barack Obama owes me breakfast…from Nicaragua to Panama

15 May

OK, so the President of the United States isn’t entirely responsible for my missing breakfast, but if he hadn’t been arriving in San Jose, Costa Rica, for meetings with Central American leaders I would almost certainly have been able to take advantage of the breakfast included in the price of my room…it would have looked something like this, but this is for illustrative purposes only since I didn’t actually get to eat it.

Typical Costa Rican Breakfast

After spending so much time in Nicaragua without internet access we didn’t know President Obama was visiting Costa Rica the same day we’d be arriving. This is the sort of thing that happens when you’re travelling. It could have been worse, we met someone on our bus to Panama who’d had his flight cancelled so Air Force One could land…makes missing breakfast seem small fry.

President of the United States and breakfast thief?

As it was, the entire centre of San Jose was to be placed in virtual lockdown from 6am in the morning until 4pm in the afternoon. Getting to the bus station in time for the 7.30am bus to David in Panama would require leaving the hotel no later than 5.30am. Breakfast started at 6am, lockdown-time.

I didn’t really mind about the missed breakfast, but losing an extra hour of sleep following a long day of travel the previous day was pretty galling. We’d arrived in San Jose at 9pm after setting off in a boat down the Rio San Juan in Nicaragua at 9.30am. After a delay of three hours in the transport hub of San Carlos, we got another boat to the Costa Rica border at Los Chiles.

San Carlos sits at the confluence of the Rio San Juan and Lago Nicaragua, Nicaragua

En route to the Los Chiles boarder crossing between Nicaragua and Costa Rica

Immigration formalities complete we had to walk 2km to the bus station in Los Chiles. Why, oh why, couldn’t the bus station be near the port? Failing that, surely some enterprising taxi driver might consider it worth his or her time to hang around the port when a boat from Nicaragua arrives? Apparently not. So in the baking sun we walked.

Dripping with sweat, we made it just in time to catch the last bus to San Jose. Its not far from anywhere to anywhere else in Costa Rica, but buses pick people up along the road and drop people off outside their front door, making Costa Rican buses one of the least efficient forms of transport on the planet. It took five and a half hours of squashed bus travel before we reached San Jose.

It wasn’t all bad. As we crawled up the zig-zag road through the mountains we witnessed a truly stunning sunset over the ocean to the west. Although this was ruined by a passenger two rows in front being violently sick over himself. Actually, it was pretty bad.

After only a few hours sleep we got cab at 5.30am to the bus station in San Jose, narrowly missing the city centre lockdown. We got our tickets and prepared to wait an hour and a half for the bus to leave. It would be a nine hour journey if everything went well at the border crossing between Costa Rica and Panama, and after the previous day’s travel we weren’t looking forward to another long bus journey.

Costa Rican bus

In the end everything was fine, although the border crossing at Paso Canoas between Costa Rica and Panama was one of the most chaotic I’ve ever come across. We arrived in David, Panama in the late afternoon, tired but relieved that we’d managed to cross from Nicaragua to Costa Rica to Panama in a day and a half using only two boats, two buses and three taxis.

We’d decided we wanted to see a bit more of Panama before we headed back to Colombia and then to Bolivia via Peru, so skipped through Costa Rica as quickly as possible. Next up, Boquete, Panama…

Tags: adventure, Central America, Costa Rica, Latin America, Nicaragua, Panama, President Barak Obama, travel

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Categories Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama

Reserva Biologica Indio-Maiz, where death by frog is a possibility

13 May

The Reserva Biologica Indio-Maiz is home to large number of impressive animals – monkeys, tapirs, jaguars and panthers to mention but a few – but perhaps the most dangerous is small, damp and has a red body with blue legs. The Poison Dart Frog doesn’t look like much, most of them are little bigger than the tip of my index finger, but it is a renowned killer.

In the hands of an experienced indigenous hunter, the toxic secretions of the poison dart frog in combination with a blow dart is deadly – either for hunting game or combat between warring tribes. There are two fairly common types of poison dart frog in the Reserva Biologica Indio-Maiz, the red and blue version and the slightly harder to find green and black-spotted version.

Poison Dart Frog, Reserva Biologica Indio-Maiz, Nicaragua

The Reserva Biologica Indio-Maiz is an extraordinary place. A vast and pristine tropical rainforest, it runs for over 100km along the banks of the Rio San Juan and goes a similar distance inland. The majority of the reserva is off limits to anyone who isn’t a scientific researcher, but along the fringe of the river sections of the forest have been opened to eco-tourism, so now we can all get a glimpse of the flora and fauna that inhabit the forest.

If there is a small upside to the terrible war civil war that raged in Nicaragua for a decade or more, it is that this huge tropical rainforest was cut off and left largely untouched by human development.

Reserva Biologica Indio-Maiz, Nicaragua

We hired a local guide in El Castillo and early one morning set off in a motorised canoe down the Rio San Juan, spotting large numbers of river birds, and smaller numbers of turtles, green basilisks and alligators along the way. The entrance to Reserva Biologica Indio-Maiz is only 30 minutes away from El Castillo and almost from the moment you get off the boat you can hear Howler Monkeys high in the trees.

Green Basilisk, Rio San Juan, Nicaragua

Turtles, Reserva Biologica Indio-Maiz, Nicaragua

Alligator, Reserva Biologica Indio-Maiz, Nicaragua

Green Basilisk, Rio San Juan, Nicaragua

After a quick orientation session with the park guards – during which I almost walked into the web of a poisonous Golden Orb Spider – we were off down a forest trail for three hours of animal tracking and plant spotting. The interior of a tropical rain forest is a hot and silent place. Very little wind reaches the interior and there doesn’t seem to be any oxygen in there either.

Entrance to Reserva Biologica Indio-Maiz, Nicaragua

Golden Orb Spider, Reserva Biologica Indio-Maiz, Nicaragua

Hot, sweaty and breathless we made our way deeper into the forest spotting birds and listening to the occasional Howler Monkey making its point to its fellow monkeys. Our guide showed us medicinal plants and explained the way of life of the indigenous peoples who still inhabit the forest. At one point we chewed a small twig which instantly numbed our tongues – a natural anesthetic used by the forest tribes.

We were fortunate, not only did we find Poison Dart Frogs, we spotted Spider Monkeys with their young.

Spider Monkey, Reserva Biologica Indio-Maiz, Nicaragua

We also had a rare but exciting sighting of a Collared Peccary. As we approached the end of our trek our guide suddenly stopped and told us to stay still and quiet. Moments later we heard something coming through the undergrowth. Suddenly three Collared Peccaries, one only a few feet away from us, emerged out of the undergrowth. They then spotted us and charged across the trail in front of and behind us and disappeared into the forest again.

Collared Peccary, Reserva Biologica Indio-Maiz, Nicaragua

We finished the trip with a swim in a small and cold river that is a tributary of the Rio San Juan. The fact that the water is cold is important – alligators don’t like the cold so its safe to swim. At least thats what we were told. After the heat of the forest it was wonderful to cool off in the river, and as we floated there a troupe of Spider Monkeys made an appearance in the trees above us.

Swimming river, Reserva Biologica Indio-Maiz, Nicaragua

Spider Monkey, Reserva Biologica Indio-Maiz, Nicaragua

It is a memory I’ll treasure. Swimming in a river in the middle of a tropical rain forest while Spider Monkeys ran through the trees above us…it really doesn’t get better than that, and it was the perfect end to our stay in wonderful Nicaragua. As we motored back towards the Rio San Juan we could still hear Howler Monkeys, but we didn’t see a single one.

Tags: adventure, Alligator, Central America, Collared Peccary, El Castillo, Golden Orb Spider, Green Basilisk, Latin America, Nicaragua, Photography, Poison Dart Frog, Reserva Biologica Indio-Maiz, Rio San Juan, Spider Monkey, travel, Tropical Rain Forest

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Categories El Castillo, Nicaragua, Reserva Biologica Indio-Maiz, Rio San Juan

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This is my blog. The thoughts on these pages are my personal views and opinions. They’re not representative of anyone else’s opinion, nor should they be ascribed to any organizations with which I’m associated. Except when intentional, nothing written here is intended to offend. I consider the things I’ve written to be accurate, but making mistakes is part of the human condition and I’m human. It is not my intention to do harm. Nor is it my intention to libel, defame or malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company or individual, especially those that have the resources and desire to pursue a grievance. I accept no responsibility for any harm or good that comes from following any suggestions made in these pages.

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notesfromcamelidcountry

Getting high in Bogota

Guinea Pig gambling, the most fun anyone can have in downtown Bogota without alcohol

Weird and wonderful Bogota, a walking tour

Bogota, a city breaking free of its past

Isla Taboga, an unforgettable panorama of Panama City

The great inter-oceanic railroad, from the Pacific to the Caribbean on the Panama Railway

A walk through coffee country

Boquete, wake up and smell the coffee

Barack Obama owes me breakfast…from Nicaragua to Panama

Reserva Biologica Indio-Maiz, where death by frog is a possibility

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Why camelids?

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