Nicaragua - Solentiname

In the end, we don't take the boat to cross the border from Costa Rica to Nicaragua, but we walk. Well, arriving in Tablillas - a new border crossing - we get the stamp to get out of Costa Rica and walk some steps to get a new stamp to get into Nicaragua. Then we hop on a bus to San Carlos.

The border crossing...

Just got the stamp! This is the backdoor of the office...

There we are in Nicaragua, waiting for the bus...

These lovely birds received us in San Carlos - love 'em!!!

There we get to know the true promise of a boat ride: 1 1/2 hours to the Archipel Solentiname to the island San Fernando. This Archipel is a forgotten paradise of Nicaragua. Forgotten means we are the only tourists of the whole Archipel! Friendly locals receive us warmly. There's just one "restaurant" where "big mamma" cooks and you have to pre-order the meals.

Our Hostel with a nice Tarantula to recive us ;-¦

Our daily typical local breakfast...

The next day we take a tour with the local Don Silvio around the San Fernando island. We see lots of birds, turtles and frogs. Don Silvio is a very kind oldish man and it's really fun to discuss life with him. We talk about the plans of the Nicaragua canal, the Civil War and life on the islands.

We get to know Paula, a tourist from Spain who just arrived at San Fernando. The next day we decide to go together on a tour to visit the other islands of the Archipel. Again with Don Silvio :) 

See for yourself what we experience...

The local simple and precious church...

The church from the inside...

Locals work a lot in traditional handcraft: craving balsa...

and primitivist painting. This is the master pionieer of the primitivist painting of Solentiname Rodolfo Arellano.