Travel Guide San Carlos

The first Spanish first appeared in 1524 (tour by Martin de Estete) or in 1525 (trip by Ruy Díaz). Its situation at the entrance to the river is sufficient to interest the first settlers who established the town of Nueva Jaén in 1526.The village was subsequently abandoned before being rebuilt under the name San Carlos in the th century. A new fortress was built to accommodate those in violation of Royal Orders (for example, to cultivate certain products, so as not to compete with businesses in the metropolis). Pirates destroyed her in 1670. During his passage in 1866, Mark Twain doesn't mention any city, and simply talks about the fort. It was here that the Sandinista guerrillas won its first victory on the ground against the somocista regime in the 1970 s. A base of the Sandinista administration was installed there after the revolution of 1979, especially to combat the «Contras» trained in Costa Rica.The seaside was burned in 1984 and has since been abandoned. In fact, San Carlos is a strange village at the end of the world, without any apparent beauty and yet beholder beholder travellers, who often keep their memories. Don't expect a small green village: It's noisy, animated, dirty, a cowboy town, actually. But the atmosphere is true and the people welcoming.Today, the authorities in place seem to want to develop tourism in the region: the fort has been restored, as is the central square. Projects exist to renovate the seashore, which would be a lesser evil. In any case, taking into account the many sights of tourist interest in the vicinity and proximity of Costa Rica (whose north is currently in development), San Carlos could well become a hub for tourism in the coming years… and even the ecotourism capital of the country, why not!