A gay Border’s Café in the Nicaraguan jungle?

El Castillo, an old Spanish fort above the Rio San Juan, Nicaragua

We took a boat up the Rio San Juan to El Castillo, which is both an old Spanish fort and an appealing small town with many of its houses built out over the river. The first thing we saw when we disembarked was a sign that said “Borders Coffee” with an arrow pointing up a wooden staircase to an open-air space with tables and chairs and rows of potted plants.

The café belongs to Jamil, featured in the last Lonely Planet Nicaragua under the heading, “El Castillo’s Shame.” Jamil is openly gay, and he has been harassed by the townspeople, the police, and the army, but has stood his ground and now has a thriving business with an enviable location and the only espresso machine in town.

Born in El Castillo, Jamil went away to school in San Jose, Costa Rica, but came home because this is where his family is. “Nicaraguans says,” Jamil told me, “that all Ticos are faggots (‘maricones’). But it’s just that they’re more open about it.”

Borders Coffee in El Castillo, Nicaragua

Jamil is very well-spoken, self-possessed, and I can only imagine the reserves of strength he has had to draw on being the only out gay man in a small remote riverside town in a part of the world not known for its enlightened views towards gays.

Jamil, at his Border's Cafe in El Castillo, Nicaragua

Another long-term resident of the area put a slightly different spin on Jamil’s saga. “It sounds like his biggest crime was that he was a good businessman,” this person speculated. “He was probably affecting other people’s businesses, so they used the excuse of his sexuality to harass him.”

Whatever the explanation, I enjoyed talking to Jamil and hope that he and his cafe continue to thrive.

All photos by David W. Smith.