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Rio Dulce
Got a bus at 8.30am from Santa Elena to Rio Dulce. Lonely Planet said journey would take 4.5 hours; however 3 hours into the journey our destination was announced so we scrambled off the bus in a mad panic. The first hotel we went to was awful so we went to see another one which turned out to be even worse and more expensive. We saw an advertisement for a hotel that was only accessible by boat and completely surrounded by inhospitable jungle and river, but not too expensive. We had 20 minutes to wait for our boat so we went to get a coffee, but the staff were so slow we had already left by the time they had come to take our order. The hotel was like a 2 storey log cabin with a palapa roof (made from palm leaves) with an outdoor riverside decking area. Had a private room with a small balcony, i.e. a hole in the wall that looked deep into the jungle. We also shared our room with a colony of bats, but thanks to their nocturnal activities they only disturbed us during the day. Our room was above the bar, which was good for staring between the floorboards at people, but bad due to the noise of overexcited germans at 3am! The next morning we awoke at our usual 6am and were ready to leave on the boat before any of the staff were awake! We got the the mainland and went to an internet café, where we were mistakenly undercharged (33p for two hours instead of 1.50 - might not sound like a lot, but it´s the same as a nights accommodation - seriously!) Frequented a scabby (but nice) café for breakfast. Wandered across a really long bridge with giant lorries (cows) going past us really slowly due to the incline. We then took a leisurely 3km walk to a castle originally built to deter pirates. However, it had to be rebuilt because the pirates quickly overcame it. As you can see from the pictures there are very few harsh defensive structures - looks like a toy castle. Oh the Spaniards (ever looking for style over function!) Anyway, it was a lovely place to wander around and laugh at groups of American tourists being incredibly thick and obnoxious. Far too overwhelmed at a castle older than their country! Walked back to Rio Dulce and had dinner at a commodore (hideous café thing) and planned our onward trip to Antigua. Took the boat back to our hotel after Lisa encountered a disappointingly watery and cold chai tea. The next morning we left early and had to awaken the Swiss kulak sleeping on the sofa to take us back to the mainland in the boat to catch the bus, which was an hour late. And quite an interesting journey! But that’s for next time.
Final thoughts: Nice accommodation, but we felt trapped as you had to get a boat if you wanted to get anywhere (it was built on a wooden platform in the jungle). Rio Dulce town was a bit rough (but we like that sort of thing). If it wasn’t for the castle day trip, there would have been nothing to do.
Mark out of 10: 3.75
Next time… Antigua.
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