Day 124, Corinto, Nicaragua

Around 10 am we arrived in Corinto, Nicaragua, and moored alongside the wharf in the container port.   None of the tours looked interesting so we chose to stay close and walk around Corinto.

Since the Amsterdam wouldn’t be leaving until 7pm, we weren’t in any rush to go ashore and left the ship around 2:30. There isn’t any terminal or any other type of structure on the wharf to handle cruise ship passengers. Once off the ship we headed toward the port gate, which was about ¼ mile away, but hidden behind some buildings and stacked containers.

Along the way we passed a small band playing some type of xylophones for tips. There weren’t any vendors or anyone selling anything on the wharf near the ship.

After we left the port area, there were a few pedicab style bicycles offering rides into town, which was only another ¼ mile away so we decided to walk. At first I thought these pedicabs were only for tourists, but as we continued our walk, we saw dozens of these pedicabs, and didn’t see any carry tourists – only locals. It was a little strange but we didn’t see any taxis, or for that matter, many cars of motorcycles period. Now it was a Sunday, so maybe most people were at home, but it seemed odd that the streets were almost completely empty of any motorized traffic.

There was a street market toward the center of town that was selling local crafts: woven and decorated textiles and other trinkets.   We didn’t see anyone selling postcards or key chains and only one store selling T shirts. We didn’t buy anything and kept walking toward the other side of town and the public beach. All the structures in this part of town were single story and quite run down. Many of them used scraps of corrugated steel plates to patch holes or fashion makeshift walls.

It was about ¾ of a mile across the town to the beach on the other side. Much like the beach at Puntarenas, it was a dirty brown sand and not very inviting. There was a restaurant on the coast under some green tents but we didn’t go inside.

We decided to loop back to the ship along some different streets, but everything looked pretty much the same as the first street. There was a woman walking down the middle of the street with a basket on her head full of small items that you may find in a convenience store. As she approached houses she would announce her presence with a description of what she was selling. We didn’t see anyone buy anything she was selling and she turned around at the end of the street and headed back.

As we got closer to the port area, we spotted a father with 2 young boys playing a game of basketball using a portable hoop set up along the side of the street.

We were only gone about 1 hour and if I were to return, I would take a tour or a taxi to Leon as there is nothing much to see in this town. If you don’t want to see Leon, then stay on the ship and make this port into a sea day.

Back on the ship, we grabbed some food from the Dive-In and headed back to our cabin where we relaxed in until dinner. We were tired and didn’t go to the SailAway which was just after sunset.

We were joined by two people from another table this evening so we are now full with 8 people. Our new tablemates are Sally and Iris from Scotland and England. We had a pleasant time discussing our days and enjoying another wonderful meal.

Virtuoso Pianist Juan Pablo Subirana provided the entertainment this evening. In addition to playing the piano he did a little soft shoe, danced with a full size female doll and sang a song. Quite a variety and more than we were expecting from a classical pianist. For one number, he ‘played’ a manual typewriter with his right hand to create an interesting sound along with his piano.

We will be in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala tomorrow and plan to take the HAL bus to visit Antigua.

• Juan Pablo Subirana