Most of the events I will
relate to happened last week but we have been busy and unable to blog. So on Tues 26 Nov we arrived in Corinto
around 10am. Most of you know we do NOT
do tours but this one was arranged privately.
There were only 9 people in the van and it cost only $30/person. So not knowing anything about Nicaragua, we
went touring.
Our first location was Chinadega
which is the 2nd largest city in Nicaragua. Our guide escorted us through the huge market
and it was wonderful. The products
ranged from kid’s hand painted toys to live chickens. The whole family is present in the vender
booth. The baby sits on the bananas, the
young children shyly stare and the grandmas sell their wares. The people were wonderfully friendly without
being intrusive or pushy. The market was
a kaleidoscope of color, sound and ordor.
After traversing about 1 mile through the market we walked over to the
park with public bathrooms. School
seemed to be over for the day and kids were playing and romping in the
park. B noticed some boys about the age
of 13 plying on 1 kid. There were all
laughing and leaping onto the pile. B
went over to join them, but they wouldn’t let him play… A local old lady observed the whole situation
and laughed and cackled for about 2 minutes – she was literally lhao!!
HA!
Next we were allowed in
this gorgeous Catholic Church and sat for a few minutes, resting, cooling off
and taking photos. Our tour continued
with a stop at a local cookie production house.
4 ladies were making cookies by hand: rolling and shaping them like mini-pretzels. Then the man took them and put them in a huge
fire oven similar to a stone pizza oven.
B went back to see what kind of pizza there was, but alas, only cookies… lol!
On our return trip the
driver took us along the coastal route and we stopped for photos and a bit of bird
watching. We saw an egret, a stork and a
spoon something, that is somewhat pink in color and is the state bird…very
pretty.
There was supposed to be a
meal stop, but we asked to be let out at the ship and the other folks went on with
Miguel for a beer on the seaside.
Corinto was one of the few ports this trip that we docked near
town. So B & I walked a bit more and
shopped – of course! He bought beer and
chocolate for the crew and I found a box for my collection and a piece of art
to hang on my travel wall. All in all it
was a good day and private tours are definitely the way to travel.
Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala
On the Wed before
Thanksgiving, we arrived in Guatemala at a port that is way out in the
boonies. About an hour and a half away
is the World Heritage UNESCO city of Antigua.
Everything I read about it said it is a must see in spite of the travel
time. HAL tours offered a DIY Antigua tour
which was essentially a shuttle and we opted to go this route so we would not
be late getting back to the ship (but if we were, the ship would HAVE to wait
as it was an “official” tour. The bus
ride was long but the scenery was lush and panoramic. We saw sugarcane growing/being harvested and volcanoes
burping smoke. Unfortunately we had a
VERY enthusiastic guide who felt he should talk all about Guatemala the whole
trip! UGH! I guess most people thought
he was interesting but we just thought he was annoying and he kept interrupting
my nap…lol!
However Antigua was a
wonderful city. It is a walled city with
very narrow streets that are paved with cobblestones, but not smoothly – almost
a hodgepodge of stones with no mortar in between. One had to walk with great care and head down
so you didn’t trip. We walked about 3
miles that day and explored the whole town.
Of course we went to the market and I bought a few souvenirs, then we
wandered down some back streets and came to the main square. It is a wonderful plaza full of greenery and
locals enjoying the park. The natives
are Mayan and wear very colorful clothing.
They are friendly but shy and don’t like to have their photo taken as
they fear “losing a piece of their soul”…
B found a huge grocery
store but when he took his purchases up to the register they did not take
dollars so he was unable to buy them. We
never did exchange dollars for quetzals as all the other shops took US
currency. We finally started the long
trek back to the bus only to arrive about ½ an hour early. Just across the street was a pizza place so we
had lunch Italian style (sort of-it was a Hawaiian pizza)in Guatemala! I only had about 2 slices but it sure tasted
good to me… As we boarded the bus to
return to the port I tried to sit in the front seat but these folks are crazy
and insisted it was THEIR seat – cause that was where they had sat on the way
to Antigua… I am such a rebel! Lol! Once
again Erwin, our guide insisted on talking the whole way back but I just
allowed the drone to pass over me and managed to rest a bit.
I think it is safe to say
that we enjoyed both ports but would not hurry back to visit them again. Nicaragua was more my style: friendlier but a
bit dirtier. While Guatemala is architecturally
beautiful overall it was pricier.
Today we are in
Manzanillo, Mexico and tomorrow in Puerto Vallarta. I will blog again then and try to post some
photos too…
Vaya con Dios
