San Carlos

The only way to get to Solentiname, an archipelago of 36 islands in Lake Cocibolca (Lake Nicaragua), other than a 12 hour boat ride from Managua, is to fly into San Carlos, a port town of 10,000. It's location has been historically and militarily important at the mouth of the Rio San Juan. San Carlos, as the starting point for a long boat trip down the Rio San Juan to the East Coast of Nicaragua, remains the hub of travel to many destinations in southern and eastern Nicaragua, since there are very few navigable roads through the jungle and rough terrain dividing western and eastern Nicaragua.

Today, San Carlos' potential lies in the tourist trade, but not much has been made of it yet. Nonetheless, San Carlos is a city of transients, from the nascent tourist trade, to field hands on their way to harvests in neighboring Costa Rica, border soldiers in town from remote posts to spend their paychecks, or lake and river merchants. There are 30+ NGO offices in San Carlos, to work with the locals on a wide variety of projects. On our flight into San Carlos, we saw numerous professional types who may have been involved in health care, educational activities or other humanitarian and development projects.

The day we arrived was overcast, and the town looked wet and bedraggled. There was trash in the streets - this is typical of Nicaragua in general - and surprisingly little grass or green space in the city itself. But, we found a mural painted in the typical style of Solentiname primitivism -- it was an advertisement on the wall of a building for a variety store inside! So, beauty is constantly around us; it's just important to keep our eyes open!

This was the first leg of our trip to Solentiname, and I wish we could have spent more time in town to learn more about what is going on there, particularly in education. From our conversations later with individuals on the main island, some children are sent to San Carlos for schooling as boarders in the upper grades. It's an expensive alternative and not many families are able to do this. Other options are week-end high school classes with teachers sent from San Carlos to offer courses. From what I have heard, the Nicaraguan high school baccalaureate is a demanding course of study, so the kids who keep going from these communities have a lot of determination and perseverance!