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| Welcome to Corinto, Nicaragua |
Our stop today was at Corinto in the Central American country of Nicaragua. It is so small that this is their only port.
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| The only harbor in Corinto...the only one in Nicaragua |
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| The only harbor of Nicaragua |
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Structure used for loading
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Islets across from the harbor
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This time of year the weather is hot and humid, and shortly, it will be raining for several months. Even though rain was forecasted for today, it never did fall. Would have felt good if it had.
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| Not too busy today |
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| Warehouses on the pier |
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Tour buses waiting
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Anyway, there were a total of ten tours here today, most of the headed to the colonial town of Leon. That city has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and houses a museum, a basilica, ruins, and geological sites like volcanos. Even though this must be our fourth visit to Corinto, we have never taken the tour to Leon. Maybe someday, but with a smaller group than the HAL crowded bus. Today we think we saw perhaps a Cruise Critic group going on their own bus. Actually, we forgot to check to see if there was a CC group on this particular voyage. The CC guests that organized private tours on the world cruise were very successful we heard.
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| Local dancers |
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| Girls and guys |
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| Doing a good job |
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| Despite the heat |
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| Swing those dresses |
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| This way |
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| And that way |
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| Young girls |
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| Here come the boys |
We did not arrive here until 10am, and we fully expected to see the Coral Princess here. But she was nowhere in sight. We are certain that we did not hear it wrong that they were heading here, but, come to think of it, there is no way this town could have handled any more passengers on tours than one ship at a time. Bet they cruised at about 4 KPH, taking it slow, and will arrive tomorrow.
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| Half the buses in town |
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| Tour groups getting ready to leave |
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| The information desk |
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| Biggest building in town |
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| And here come the people |
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| Local band |
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Walking through the gated pier
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It was unforgivably hot today. We held off until noontime to take a stroll through town. Even though it was the hottest part of the day, we knew that lots of folks had gone on tours, and the town would not be crowded. And we were right. The first thing we noticed was that there were fewer souvenir stands, compared to previous years.
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| Once outside the gates are the bike taxis |
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| Most everyone here rides a bike |
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| There are few cars |
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| Local call center |
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| And shops |
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A few souvenier stalls
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| One other ship on the pier, but not the Coral Princess |
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Back to the ship....it is too hot
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Lunch was two cheeseburgers and a shared caesar salad with lots of ice cold Coke. We wandered back over to town around 4pm, because some sandals looked like a good deal, and so did a woven straw basket, locally made. It was a quick purchase, and because it was still hot outside, we made our way back to the air-conditioned ship. We suspect that the workers are still repairing things onboard, because our room has begun to heat up from 68 degrees to 77 degrees. It is not unbearable yet, but we sure hope it gets fixed soon. Our guess is the work will be completed by the time we reach San Diego.
Sailaway was at 5:30pm at the aft pool with Darlene and the HALcats playing tunes.
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Darlene and the HALcats
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Raymond thinking too hard
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Dropping the ropes
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| Small fishing boat |
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More nets to cast
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More fishing
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Islets across from the pier
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| Boats with traps to set |
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| Slow-moving tractor |
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| Clocktower is center of town |
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| Building art |
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Pier building
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Tugboat
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Leaving the pier
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Lucky for all of us, a strong breeze had cropped up, and we had the treat of the sun setting by 6:02pm. Manny, one of the nicest of the bar servers, chatted with us for some time. He and his fiancee, who normally works at the front desk, but has gone home, plan on getting married next year. They are trying to get permission to do this onboard with Captain Jonathon presiding over the affair. We are glad to see that he has found his true love on a ship, no less. Having known him since 2006, it is nice to see him moving up in the cruise world.
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