The next day I went on a tour to the Nacional Park. We went by boat and then walked in the jungle. The guide was good and told us a few interesting things about the local plants.

Photo:  El Castillo, Nicaragua → Not a very long ride to the entrance to the park. I am glad we didn't flip the boat going through the rapids.

Photo:  El Castillo, Nicaragua → The Rio San Juan is bewteen Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Costa Rica is on the right, and Nicaragua on the left. The Costarican side has a road now following the river, and lots of trees are cut down. The Nicaraguans are quite proud to point out that Nicaragua made this whole are protected and left wild. But according to them, Tikas (Costa Ricans), cross the river and illegaly hunt in the Nicaraguan forest.

Photo:  El Castillo, Nicaragua → Elikonia - quite common Nicaraguan flowers, at the entrance to the park.

Photo:  El Castillo, Nicaragua → I've seen two different types of poisoneus frogs. One red, and this one green and black. Unfortunately, the Canon G12 which I bought for this trip is unreliable in taking quick sharp photos, so all I have is this blurry photo.

Photo:  El Castillo, Nicaragua → We've seen howler monkey. Quite common here. They are one of my favorites. I've seen them in almost any other Central American country. In Costa Rica, I was even communicating with them - I'd make a howling noise, similar to what they do, and they would answer! It was a great experince. There was also that one howler monkey family, which would pass in the trees right by my hotel, every morning.

Photo:  El Castillo, Nicaragua → We passed by submerged trees, with basiliscs jumping off them and doing their miraculous run on the water surface. This miraculous stunt gives them the name 'Jesus lizard'. Unfortunately my D300 autofocus is not working, so I wasn't able to capture any of this. Is there any reliable camera out there? I am loosing all hope.

Photo:  El Castillo, Nicaragua → Further on the way back to the entrance of the park.

Photo:  El Castillo, Nicaragua → The last animal to see was this cayman basking on the bank of the river. It jumped into the water as soon as we came closer. That's OK. We have no control over nature. Unfortunately, I also have little cantrol over my cameras, or rather zero control over the quality of cameras produced by Nikon and Canon, so again, not the best shot. Very frustrating. A camera should be an extencion to the photographer's imagination, not limiting it by not working properly. To me, photography is about capturing a moment, and a camera should be quick and precise to be able to accomplish this.

Photo:  El Castillo, Nicaragua → Leaving the Park - that's the entrance/exit.

The trip to the Nacional park was alright, but I wouldn't call it a great one. Maybe because I have been on other similar tours before? I think what would really impress me is seeing hundreds or thousands of wild animals, or something very very special. On such place I am sure would be Africa. I hope to get there in the future.

More - Continued here.