Day 8 - Nicaragua

Yesterday, when we returned to the ship, we weren't quite sure what we were going to do in Nicaragua today.  None of the ship tours really intrigued us.  But when we went to dinner, we shared a table with a couple of women who started telling us about their plans to get off the ship.  They reminded us that we would be at sea for 3 days.  That was enough to persuade us to book a trip.

We  ended up with an 8 hour tour from San Juan del Sur, our tendered port, to Granada, an historic town along the west shore of Lake Nicarua, also known as La Mar Dulce (The Sweet Lake).  It is the 18th largest fresh water lake in the world and has two volcanoes located in the lake.

There's alot of fairly recent violent history in this country - civil wars, and as recent as the 1980's, the Sandanistas attempted to overtake the government.  Initially the US supported them, but then changed position and supported the Contras.  But the people in power now are former Sandanistas - Ortega.  So with that being said, we never felt in danger.  Tony quickly befriended the bus driver and tour guide, and the bottom line is we all want the same thing - peace and prosperity.  One last cruise ship port trivia, Nicaragua is the poorest country in Central America.

After a two hour bus ride we boarded small outboard boats to tour La Isletas, The Little Islands.  There are 365 islands formed by the extinct volcano, Mombacho.   For years the islands have been inhabited by fishing families.  But recently some of the larger islands are being purchased and developed as vacation homes.  Check out the posted pics.  It was pretty cool.  The children of the island row their wooden boats  (chalupas) to school.  Only one island has electricity - until last week.  Now there are two!  The other 363 island have either solar power or nothing!

After our boat ride, we headed to the heart of Granada and toured a convent/museum and then headed to the town square for the obligatory shopping hour.  Tony & I headed to the Hotel on the square and had some local beer.  The town of Granada is very clean and colonial.  And no new buildings can be build unless they are colonial style.

We also had lunch at a local restaurant and then headed back to the bus for our 2 hour ride back to the ship.  On the way our bus stopped at a point where we could view both volcanoes in the lake.  And just  a few miles from port we were treated to a group of howler monkeys feeding in the trees along the roadside.

We're back on the ship, heading for Cabo San Lucas.  But first we have  three days at sea.  This will be the ultimate test to see if we are truly cruisers.

Here are today's pics:

Nicaragua