Pirates of Granada, Nicaragua

1888 ‘Pirates of the Spanish Main’ card game

Wrinkles spread from his eyes, creasing the Welshman's tanned, weathered face as he squinted in the moonlight, hoping to discern any branches or boulders popping above the surface belying significant obstructions that might tip his canoe.

The 30 year-old and his rough looking companions paddled surreptitiously up the San Juan River, fighting the current that flowed into the Caribbean Sea.  The men of diverse skin colors and ethnicities didn't chatter or sing sea shanties as they rowed, understanding silence to be their best ally.

Granada, Nicaragua

As the first light of dawn made noticeable the silhouettes of all six canoes under his command, Henry Morgan pointed toward shore, and soon the pirates' boots splashed in the shallows as they dragged their canoes onto the river bank.  Though exhausted, they took time to carry their flat bottomed boats to the brush where they camouflaged them beneath branches.

The buccaneers spent the day in hiding.  They discreetly foraged for food, repasted and rested in preparation for that night's efforts.  A few days later, they reached La Mar Dulce, the Spanish Sweet Sea as it was called, though this was actually the fresh water lake we now call Lake Nicaragua. 

Plaza in Granada

On its far banks sat the first European city on the American continent, a claim bolstered by official registration with the Crown of Aragon and Kingdom of Castille as founded in 1524, but these pirates were not concerned with historical claims about this city or its Moorish and Andalusian design.  They made the difficult, stealthy approach because La Gran Sultana, as Granada was also known, housed great riches awaiting transatlantic passage to Spain under guard of the powerful Spanish Armada.

Captain Morgan and his men had been legally authorized as Privateers to attack and loot Spanish ships and ports on behalf of the British Crown.  In payment for playing havoc with Spain, which had acquired great wealth through its rapid domination of the New World, the Privateers could keep most of their stolen treasure.

Convento de San Franisco in Granada

The Golden Age of Piracy had begun in the Caribbean 15 years earlier in 1650, but this location deep within what is now Nicaragua was considered more secure than a bank's vault.  Captain Morgan's bold assault caught the Spanish completely by surprise.

The pirates sank all the Spanish ships in port, set fires in the city and then absconded with a treasure of a half million pounds sterling in the 12-foot boats they had previously stolen in their raid on Villahermosa, Mexico.

While loading that much additional weight into such small watercraft undoubtedly strained their capacity and made the canoes difficult to control, Henry Morgan's men nonetheless made their escape up the Coco River, with assistance from the indigenous Miskitu tribe.



Freshly Painted Re-Construction in Granada

Before the Lake Nicaragua boat ride that I wrote about previously, we had been led on a walking tour through Granada.  In many places, the re-constructed city, with most buildings over 100 years old, has an appearance almost like a movie set built in the style of the original architecture, with freshly painted walls making it look even newer than it actually is.

The historic city had been sacked several times by other pirates subsequent to Morgan's raid, and then on December 14, 1856, that Granada was totally destroyed.

The Conquest of Nicaragua by a few hundred mercenaries in 1854 temporarily installed a filibuster (essentially a pirate with more permanent ambitions to rule than pillage) named William Walker as President of Nicaragua.  Walker had eyes on ruling all of Central America.

Why did he think a power base in Nicaragua would give him enough power to fulfill his megalomaniacal dream?

Mambacho Volcano Viewed from the Road

Prior to the Panama Canal's construction, the primary water route from the east coast to California's gold rush came up Nicaragua's San Juan River, as Henry Morgan had, and then by stage coach to the coast.

Control of that route was worth a fortune, and in fact Cornelius Vanderbilt already had expanded his substantial shipping fortune from his efforts to improve the waterway and operate the stage coaches.

To fund his own ambitions, Walker revoked Vanderbilt's exclusive rights, but Cornelius did not retreat to his New York mansion or Newport summer "cottage" muttering that it was good while it lasted.  Instead, Vanderbuilt struck back as a powerful enemy who helped ruin Walker's grand plans by allying with the counter-revolutionaries, providing both money and soldiers to the cause.

Burial Urn at Convento de San Francisco

It was one of Walker's defeated generals who burnt Granada to the ground on his way out, proclaiming in a final note, "Here Was Granada." 

As we walked around the bustling city square, our guide told us about the city, but we could only hear fragments of what he said due to the ambient noise.  Previously on the 2 hour bus ride, this former school teacher proved himself to be an expert on his home country, hanging up a map and passing around other visual aids to accompany his descriptions of the area and its history, so I wish we could have heard him better in town. 

When we reached the quiet of Convento de San Francisco in Granada, our guide provided a wonderful narrative about its museum's art, including the pre-Columbian statues found at nearby Zapatera Island. 



Monkeys in Nicaragua

A decent luncheon buffet of local foods completed our Granada visit before continuing to Lake Nicaragua, which left all of us content to rest on the bus ride back to the port in San Juan Del Sur, but we had an unexpected treat: monkeys in trees by the side of the road to bid us farewell.

Lake Nicaragua's Las Islitas

The world's only freshwater sharks live in Lake Nicaragua, but as we boarded the third small boat excursion of our Panama Canal cruise, I had doubts we'd see anything but herons, ducks and other assorted water fowl among Las Isletas, 365 palm-covered mini-islands near the shore.  Nicaragua pleasantly surprised us.

First, the flora, with orchids and water lilies, proved to be much more colorful than the mangroves outside Cartagena or the leafy jungle we personally saw in Costa Rica.  The birds themselves seemed somehow more naturally graceful and serene, despite the fact that many of the islets housed private estates worthy of wealthy investors on House Hunters International.  Then again, wealthier investors have greater financial motives as well as means for protecting or even enhancing the beauty of the environment where they live versus indigenous natives who naturally see their world primarily from a more immediately practical perspective as a source of food and other elements necessary for day-to-day survival.

Our youthful but experienced skipper navigated among the tiny islands, knowing instinctively where to idle to allow his passengers to soak in the sights and snap away with cameras. 

He read our appreciation of the luxurious estates as well as the pristine lagoons perfectly, and we all enjoyed every minute of our boat ride.  Without question, arrival at "monkey island" brought the most oohs and aahs from his appreciative audience.  Our guide not only knew of monkeys but seemed to have built a friendship with Ponchito and the other monkey residents.  During our ride, the skipper never built monkey island up as the grand finale or even mentioned it.  He just positioned the boat perfectly and waited for monkeys to come out of hiding in the trees to put on a self-directed show.  

No other boats competed with us for the attention of the apes, and we spent about fifteen or twenty minutes bobbing gently in the water, laughing at their antics.  We stayed so long, in fact, that by the time we headed into the harbor, the rest of the boats in our group had already returned, and there didn't seem to be a mooring left for our boat. 

Our skipper took some verbal flak from shore for arriving late, and the motor stalling out a couple of times as he tried to find a place to park didn't help.  Nonetheless, when we returned to the bus, his passengers were all jabbering like howler monkeys, singing praises of our great boat ride on this beautiful sunny day.

Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge

Upon awakening in La Fortuna, we walked over to the restaurant for an excellent buffet breakfast.

The combination of American standards like cereals, pastries, pancakes, scrambled eggs and toast are complemented by local entrees, including the always available beans and rice, plus on this particular morning carne asada, made with that delicious lean, grass-fed beef that Costa Rica should be famous for. 

The dining room's glass walls allow wildlife viewing.  Many tropical birds fluttered around while we ate.

I can't say I had paid particularly close attention to our itinerary for our two-night stay in La Fortuna in advance. 

During the river rafting trip on our first day in Costa Rica, one of the young ladies raved about their visit to La Fortuna, where they had seen so many animals.

Wild hogs grazed along our hotel's road.

Rather than spending our one full day in La Fortuna focusing on the immediate area, we would soon board the bus for a two-hour ride to Rio Frio in the Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge.  In retrospect, I can't help wondering why we went so far rather than just focusing on nearby Arenal National Park right from the outset.

In fact, if Julie and I would have been on our own rather than with a group, I believe we would have only had one stop on the road to La Fortuna, so that we could have begun exploring the park the prior afternoon.

However, as Wayne Dyer used to say, "you can't woulda-coulda-shoulda." We live in the present moment.

Our driver Luis often stopped to get a better look at wildlife.

Besides, we were scheduled to hike in Arenal National Park the next morning.

It is just a fact that to get the economies of group travel, we accept compromises, including making extra restroom stops or trying something we wouldn't have considered trying.

As an aside, I will add that in looking at Globus Journeys, which is a pricier tour company with more options included, they focus more on La Fortuna during their full day allotted on a similar trip.  My best guess is that Gate 1 found a cost advantage in taking a bus ride using a driver and bus already included, even if it did burn some gas.

So, rather than a 20-minute drive to Arenal National Park, we left at 7:45 AM for Los Chiles, which is on the border with Nicaragua.

Leo didn't mention this tidbit of history, but in the 1980's, what had been a sleepy fishing region became a major supply route for Contra rebels as they fought to overthrow the Sandinistas in Nicaragua.

Adapting to the times, the area now hosts Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge catering to tourists.

Arriving on schedule at 10:00 AM, I think the restroom break took a little longer than planned, but we used the time to stretch our legs and take photos of the sign for Los Chiles near the river where we would board our boat.

The boat safari on Rio Frio started out slowly.

Leo said there were nine mammals within sight and challenged us to find them.  We all noticed two humans in the distance, but it took a while for us to figure out that black spots on a tree were bats.

Bats are black on the bottom side of the main trunk.

We spotted some birds and worried this might be the extent of wildlife viewing.

Then some howler monkeys called out and appeared, if rather obscured by leaves, in trees.

It was spider monkeys swinging on vines from tree to tree that got our group excited.

By starting slowly, knowing we had to look carefully, we appreciated what we were able to discern fully.

Animals camouflage into their surroundings as natural protection from predators, so finding them was frequently a challenge, despite everyone else pointing at the hidden prey. 

While our photos aren't particularly vivid, they're pretty good for playing a variation of "Where's Waldo?"  Can you find the animals in our photos?

Now you're getting the hang of the game!

We don't have big zoom lenses like a couple of folks on our tour, and it was not a movie where a director could focus our sights on exactly what we should look at.

As such, our photos rarely did a good job capturing what we experienced, but Julie and I were both very much engaged in the moment, as were the others in our boat.

We finally came to a much-anticipated Jesus Christ Lizard, which gets his name because of large feet that allow him to scamper short distances across the river like he is walking on water.  We saw him perform the trick a few times.

Look close to see the green lizard in the brown twigs.

A large caiman/crocodile showed up around the same time nearby.

It's hard to spot the Crocodile unless you know it is there.

Playful white-faced monkeys were in the trees at the same time.

A drama played out where monkeys watched the Jesus Christ Lizard looking for the perfect time to strike, while the crocodile looked up hoping either the lizard or the monkey would fall in the water as a meal for him.

One of the monkeys became distracted by our boatload of people, jumping onto the boat and making a few attempts at grabbing smartphones.

That half hour of high drama and hijinks was the highlight of the trip for all of us.  Julie and I were so busy watching and laughing that we failed to get any good photos.

The 2-hour river boat safari had been a success.

We walked back to the restaurant where we had stopped to use the restrooms to eat lunch.  I don't recall it being a very impressive menu.  It seemed to take longer to hit the road than it should have, probably because Julie and I wanted to get back to La Fortuna in time to take a taxi to Arenal National Park to take the waterfall hike before closing time of 5 PM.

Most of our group had signed up for the optional evening at Eco Termales Hot Springs with much-touted buffet dinner.

Traffic on the way back slowed us more, but we arrived about on schedule.  However, we second guessed our plan and decided to just walk around the small town before riding with the group back to our hotel.

Julie and I enjoyed our free time on the property.  With most of our group gone, we had the hotel grounds to ourselves.  We hiked up to a little treehouse behind our cabana to take in the views.

Dinner at the hotel's restaurant was again excellent.

I had fresh fish and Julie selected chicken with rice. We split a nice bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.

We had enjoyed champagne and pizza on our actual anniversary back home, but this night out was a good time for a romantic meal.

Regardless of our hindsight second guessing, it had been a great day.

We looked forward to a "brisk hike" through Arenal National Park in the morning.