Panama Canal Cruise: Nicaragua
Port of call here is San Juan Del Sur. A small fishing village and now cruise ship port of call on Nicaragua's Pacific Coast. It's a kickoff point for visiting Granada, Managua, Lake Nicaragua and other developing attractions. Tender only as there are no docking facilities.
Our tour today was to Granada and the Isletas (tiny islands) in Lake Nicaragua. Bus trip was nearly an hour each way but made good with the never ending (and interesting) commentary by our History Teacher / Guide, Jorge. He covered history, ecology, politics, and everything else.
The route was inland towards the shores of Lake Nicaragua where we could see part of the two volcanoes in the lake, and then north to Granada. We would have a much better unobstructed view of one of the volcanoes in our return.
We slowly navigated the streets of Granada (narrow and busy) to the marina where we boarded small flat bottomed boats for an hour on the lake. The Isletas are tiny islands formed when a mountain of volcanic ricks collapsed into the lake sometime in the past. Some are just rock outcroppings, and some are large enough to have a home or hotel on. Within the area birds were common along with occasional glimpses of turtles, spider monkeys and other wildlife.
Next stop was the St Franciscan Convent (now a museum) - nice facade and interior courtyard, but not much of a museum. Back into town and a half hour to explore the colourful main square with vender stalls, shops, cafes and a public school performance going on. Then onto a typical Nicaraguan lunch at a local hotel.
On the way back the bus driver spotted at stopped for a few howler monkeys up in a tree. Then one more passing stop at a bridge that spans a narrow river that will be part of the new Nicaragua Canal should it ever be built (it attained government approval 2 years ago but so far no work has commenced).
