In San Juan del Norte -where Río Indio Adventure Lodge is located- "through time, history became legend".

What today is a small village inhabited by gentle, relaxed and hospitable people, was in other times a rich and powerful city with the urban and social characteristics of the picturesque English colonialism of the Antilles. A summary of historical facts of the area is fascinating:

Spanish conquistadors founded it on June 24 (San Juan's Day), 1539 (462 years ago). English buccaneers that traveled the San Juan River and attacked the city of Granada in 1665 invaded it; five years later another invasion took place and in 1707 the English together with the Miskito and Zambo Indians subdued it. Invasions of this type continued until 1847 when the English and their native allies took over the site and settled, changing the appearance and the name of the town to Greytown as tribute to the Governor of Jamaica, Sir Charles Grey. It has been said that Horace Nelson (former Captain of Corbet, later Duke of Trafalgar and famous Admiral), participated in the battles between the Spanish Crown and British Empire for the domain of the San Juan River.

Greytown's era of wealth and prosperity -with national repercussions- began during the construction of an inter-oceanic canal. The San Juan River was used to connect the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea as to form a route of transit between the Eastern United States and California after the 1848 "Gold Rush". Even before the completion of this failed project, tens of thousands of travelers, the majority adventurers, entered and left the well-prepared port of Greytown. Its facilities permitted the arrival of large cargo and transatlantic ships and the export of local products such as wood, copra, indigo, leathers and bars of gold and silver. Greytown became Nicaragua's most important generator of foreign currency during that era.

Enormous dredging machines, locomotives, construction equipment and railroad tracks were to be found everywhere. It was common to see a diversity of ships navigating the San Juan River, among them, steamboats like those found in Mississippi and Missouri.

Luxury mansions adorned the well-traced and illuminated streets of the city. A very English park with its kiosk served as showcase for women to wear the latest styles from Europe and the United States. Well-stocked businesses and shops could be found… there was prosperity and luxury. Vestiges of this golden era can be found in the ruins of the "old city". Even within the limits of the "lodge" there is a 30-kilometer railroad track going into the luxurious jungle.

It is essential to mention in this brief account, the bold and influential North American businessman Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, who with his business The Accessory Transit Company, became one of the most relevant propellers of this prosperous era. With this unique character, ended the dream of the Nicaragua Canal.

The San Juan River's beauty has attracted famous visitors from around the world such as novelist Mark Twain, Swiss archeologist Carl Boballius, the Polar explorer Robert Peary and many others.
Greytown... San Juan del Norte... invaded, pillaged, bombarded, destroyed, was Babylon and Martyr. Its name and its memory have been embedded with fire, gold and blood for posterity in history.