La Esquina- a little corner of? maybe paradise but not quite

5PM- La Esquina del Lago (The corner of the lake)

   A gentle rain has just freshened the air and the smell of pork chops frying is making me feel hungry. It is not for me however, but rather for a group of Canadians who just arrived at the lodge.

  The place is a collection of 5 hotels rooms, a common lounge, an outside dining area and kitchen and a boat dock, all on piles at the edge of a mangrove swamp. Situated at the edge of a nature reserve it fronts onto the Rio Frio and looks across at the junction of Rio San Juan and Lago Cocibolca. The rooms are all screened with windows that can be folded back, like shutters. There is also no TV or internet, no air conditioning and no ceiling fans. A mosquito net dangles from the ceiling but staff tells me I wont need it.

 I arrived here by launch shortly before 11am and spent the better part of the day just relaxing and admiring the scenery.

  After a decent lunch of chicken, spaghetti and salad with fresh papaya juice to drink, I went out onto the river with one of the staff. We paddled upstream on the Frio for a good hour, stopping to take pictures of birds, monkeys, orchids and just general scenery. We even ventured off the river at some points, ploughing through the mangroves to get a closer look at some of the wildlife. To say that it was an amazing experience would be an understatement. The highlight of the trip was watching a group of about 12 spider monkeys moving in sequence from one tree to the next using the same dangling set of vines. It took about 5 minutes for them to complete the manoeuvre, some of the younger ones needing some coaxing before they made the crossing.

  At one point the sky opened up with a massive downpour so we simply paddled under the cover of a sizeable tree and a cluster of tall bamboo and waited for the rain to quit.

  Twice more on the way back we caught some shorter downbursts but just covered up the camera and kept going.

 Relaxing on the deck while I type this, the only connection with the outside world is the low rumble of the occasional outboard motor followed by the bounce of the wake slapping the underside of the decking. The gentle buzz of conversation and the chirping of birds provide some background music.

  Over the lake birds seem to arc and dive as they search for something for dinner.

 With the sun about to set, they seem somewhat hyperactive, a brief burst of energy before they settle for the night.

8pm The darkness around us is only broken by the lights from San Carlos reflecting off the river. Due to the number of guests the generators have been fired up to give some support to the solar system. Sadly this hampers the sounds of nature trying to break through, so hopefully it will be turned off soon.

 In the darkness frequent flashes of movement indicate that bats are taking care of some of the local mosquito population.