Today we mostly paddled and loved every minute of it. We left El Castillo this morning after obtaining a "zarpe" from the soldier, and then we were off. We ran the rapids at El Castillo without a hitch and continued downstream. The river here has taken on a much different character- the shores are more mountainous and so the river has constricted a bit, creating a swift current. We encountered 3 or 4 rapids today (CI and CII) that really diversified the experience. Still no luck with the fish although we did have some bites. I do not know what we have been doing wrong. I guess our flies are wrong.
So we paddled all day long, taking a few breaks for lunch, fishing, and swimming. The later stopped once Graham saw a 10 ft. crocodile. Now, the river is really the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua. On the Nicaraguan side, the land belongs to a reserve that extend all the way to the ocean and backs into the interior. On the Costa Rican side, the shore consists of fincas--mostly Nicaraguans working the land for Tico owners. Everyone says hi to us, and wants to kow where we came from, and where we're going.
We saw two sloths today in the trees, and as always, a plethora of howler monkeys, birds, and fish jumping out of the water, not eating our flies...ARGG!! If we had bacon on this trip, I'd sacrifice an entire slab to catch 1 snook.
Last night when we talked with Abner, he told us many useful thing. A few scared the shit out of me.
1. 25 people every year die from snake bites in the river corridor. The hospital in San Carlos is almost always filled with people suffering from a bite from one of the 20 venemous snakes in the area. Crazy.
2. There are tigers living in the region that routinely kill cows.
3. 2 Kids last year got eaten by a crocodile. Dead. Gone. Never to be seen again.
Aside from the scary stuff, Abner told us that we would have no problem finding someone who would allow us to stay on their fincas. He was right; we asked Joel if we could stay here and he didn't hesitate to say yes. His finca overlooks a beautiful bend in the river, where he lives with his two children. We followed Eddy, his son, around earlier as he was checking his shrimp traps. The shrimp here are huge- the size of a lobster. Each shrimp is enough to feed one person. I paddled Eddy's dugout canoe back to the house. It tracks very nicely. All the people here have such beautiful paddle strokes-its very cool to see.
It was nice to have a roof over our head during the rain. It rained soo hard. Staying with these people has been one of the coolest experiences of this trip. The house is very small, probably no bigger than my room at home- and inside fits 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, and a porch, where we are sleeping. The roof is made of thatch, from palm leaves. Joel says, it last for tenty years and only takes a week for 3 people to erect. There is no electricity here and the only luxury they have is a battery-powered radio and a samll pocket of candy, which they offered to us. They cook using a wood stove/oven, similar to the one I saw people use on Lake Titicaca, Peru.
These three are as poor as I have ever seen, but very happy- even though their mother left. The children are playing constantly despite the rain; in and out of the river, swiiming , paddling, and climbing on the roof. We broke out some cards and it was a bitg hit. "WAR" was the most popular. Crazy 8's not so much. Here, they have about 70 cows, most of which they use for makeing cheese. There are some fruit trees and chickens and pigs, too. I did not notice much food in the kitchen. We contributed rice and vegetables for dinner. It was very good.
Eduardo taught Graham how to properly sharpen a machete since ours were hopelessly dull. Now they will cut nicely.
Joel and his family lead a very simple life. With such simplicity, comes a satisfaction that many Americans will never know. Tommorrow we'll pass through Boca San Carlos, Costa Rica in the morning and if we're lucky, be able to stamp out of Nicaragua and stamp back into Costa Rica. The soldier at El Castillo said it would be possible. If that's true, it would be fantastic. Then we wouldn't even have to go to immigration in Limon! More ground to cover tommorrow. I'm very tired now. I'm falling asleep as I write this.
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