Located in the province of Chinandega, Corinto is a sleepy village, a bedroom community for the largest port of Nicaragua. It is the least “touristy” town we have visited, with the exception of some souvenir stands set up in the center of town. These vendors set up tables street-side with the flow of cruise ships when they dock here.
There were 13 shore excursions here, with most taking guests to outlying areas, mostly to see colonial Leon, an ancient city in Nicaragua, and also the old capital. It takes over 80 minutes to drive there, and as much or more to drive back to Corinto. According to the description in the tour book, it is not recommended for folks with mobility problems, a the narrow streets are full of cobblestones and uneven surfaces. However, if you wish to visit museums, a cathedral, a botanic garden, or see a folkloric show, you will find it all here. There’s even a shore excursion where you can see bubbling mud pots.
Closer to Corinto, is El Viejo and Chinandega, small towns with more modern shopping. Or you can visit a rum distillery, or go to banana plantation, or see a horse show. We have done these tours on past visits, mostly due to the fact they were only 4 hours long.
The Amsterdam arrived to the port right on time at 8am. It was going to be a very hot and humid day, since the temperature at 8am was already 80 degrees and rising. Before we went to breakfast, we went to check out the dock, and glad we did. There was a welcome group the likes we never saw on the entire world cruise. Many locals turned out to put on a show with colorfully-costumed dancing young ladies and boys, drummers, older dancing teens, a marimba band, and some trumpeters. This entire group played from 8am to 9:30am nonstop. No need to pay for a folkloric performance on a tour, since the best was here.
The last time we stopped here was in 2017, and we did notice some changes. There used to be a conveyer system for loading ships with grain, we suspect. It has since been removed. Also there were double the storage buildings across from the ship. These were removed, making more room for containers. There was a large tent set up with many tables of souvenirs, convenient for the people that would have problems walking out of the gate to town.
We made sure that all of the buses were gone, and most of the band groups were taking a break before we left the ship. The main reason for that was we did not want to get caught up with some guests being pulled into the groups that were dancing. The gangway was currently set up on A deck, but during the course of the day, the tides caused the gangway to change two more times.
There is a mode of transportation that we have only seen in this town…they are bikes that can seat up to four passengers under a covered roof. Even before we got to the gate, we were propositioned over and over to take a one hour ride for $5 each. That’s probably enough time to ride down every street twice, because it is that compact. When a ship comes to town, the locals close some of the streets for car traffic, making it easier to drive many bikes up and down the main roads. It was not uncommon to see local ladies with little kids using these bikes to be driven from place to place, then back home. Kind of like Ubers.
As for us, we walked slowly, checking out the craft tables along the way. Across from the main square, produce vendors were selling their fruit and veggies. Our waiter, Slam, had mentioned this morning that one of his friends had gotten really sick eating fresh fruit here last December. So he did not recommend eating anything here. We would keep this in mind today. Should we, or shouldn’t we? Well, we’ll see…..
Actually, it was surprising to see so many vendors set up in town, since we are at the end of the season for ships to stop here. Rainy season is soon to start, and believe us, today would have been a good one to rain. It may have cooled things off, as it was what we call oppressive heat. You could not walk a block without being soaked through and through.
Making it from one end of town to the other, we headed towards the only restaurant that was recommended on the port guide map. It was called Costa Azul, and was located near the water down an alleyway. The only problem was we had left the ship too early, and it was not even noontime yet. Even too early for beer, so we just took some photos, and continued back to town to do some shopping.
On past trips, we have purchased a few nice wooden products such as trivets, salad bowls, and even a tiered earring holder. So today, we purchased a wooden sunflower to match a small one we have at home. Also bought a small patchwork leather purse, suitable to use for dinner on the ship. We were back to the ship by noontime. And liking the air conditioning too.
This would be the perfect day to finally enjoy a burger and a hotdog from the Dive In grill. Actually the first ones of the whole cruise. And besides, the dining room was closed for lunch today. Getting to the grill before some of tours got back was the best idea. Placing the order, the food was wrapped to go within 10 minutes. Then we dined in our room, where it was nice and cool.
All aboard was 4:30pm, and even though it was not advertised as a sail away, we went to the Seaview Pool to watch the lines dropped after 5pm. We were headed out of the harbor, and on our way towards Guatemala. Watching the skyline, we were treated to a lightning storm for an hour, then we had a sunset, which turned the upper and opposite clouds a crimson color, even though the actual sunset was blocked by solid clouds. Ended up staying out back for two hours, while the majority of people headed inside to eat dinner.
Speaking of dinner, we had reservations once again in the Pinnacle Grill. With some specialty dinners coming up, we wanted to go there while it was a regular menu. So it had to be back-to-back. This gave us a chance to try a few new items like the wedge salad (no gorgonzola). Really liked it. The new rolls are so good, it is difficult to limit one per person. They told us the cheese in the center is seasoned mozzarella, which is melted into the rolls in the oven. One of us tried the new short rib entrée, which was good, but still cannot compare to the filet or the lamb chops. Dessert was one scoop of strawberry ice cream and one crème brulee. We had not finished the chocolate candies, so our waiter kindly wrapped them up for us to take home. Just in case we get hungry later.
Finished by 9:30pm, we were too early to see the show The Runaround Kids, who have been on the ship for a month now. Bet we already saw this act on the world cruise.
We will be in Puerto Quetzal tomorrow around 7am.
Bill & Mary Ann
