We spent a very brief day in San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua.  Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America.  There is an estimated population of around 5.8 million.  According to the people we came across in Costa Rica, Nicaraguans often cross the border as illegal immigrants to do cash work as things are so difficult and wages so low in Nicaragua.

We were about an hour or so late getting into Nicaragua as we stopped to check up on a dingy that was floating many miles off shore.  We turned around to check on them as a couple of years ago, this same ship, and this same captain left a distressed fishing vessel in a similar area, and only one of the four passengers survived, and a PR nightmare ensued for the Star Princess and the Captain.  I for one am very pleased that they turned around and checked in on the fishermen, who made it clear that they were happy, and had just caught a very large marlin.

So we finally got into port about and hour or more late, and then we had to tender in on the Cruise Ships tender boats.   We held back to let the people with tours go ahead of us, and got off the boat a couple of hours after the first tender left, but we were still in a large queue as we were all at the mercy of a single point to dock and unload, so having heaps of boats in the water to move people, really didn’t turn out to be much help.

Here is a pic of us arriving on land after the tender out.

Once we got on shore, I found an ATM and got a few hundred Cardoba (about 23.5 Cardoba to one USD) so we could buy a few things.  We got some ice creams, and they were exceptionally cheap, then we got some cold drinks in a beachfront bar for ourselves and the kids, and they were also very cheap.

There was a lethargic looking monkey tied up and sitting on one of those taxi bikes that bring tourists around.  The children of course noticed the monkey, and said: “ What a cute monkey!”  And I interrupted and said; “Probably not a happy monkey.  He’s may be cute but he’s a poor monkey should be in the jungle and not tied to a leash.”  The American woman who was pedaling pictures with the monkey yelled at me and said: “He’s actually a rich monkey!”  To which I responded, “Maybe he makes his owner rich.”  And that pissed her off even more.  Apparently the monkey was a rescue monkey.  That’s all well and good, but there are animals being exploited for tourist dollars all over the world, and I for one will not raise my children to be a part of this tragedy.

They are very kid friendly where we were.  There was a jungle gym play set and a lovely hammock for the kids to play on at the bar we stopped at.

We also bought a haul of local bootie to bring home and distribute to friends an family when we get back.

It was a relaxing and comfortable (though short) trip.  The highlights being the kid friendly bar and the huge statue of Jesus that greeted us and shone bright white one moment and ominous grey the next, depending on the light and the cloud cover.  I thought that was very cool.

So that was Nicaragua.

I’m interested to know more about this country.