Rivas, Nicaragua
This morning we arrived to the Port of San Juan del Sur in the Republic of Nicaragua, a quaint and picturesque village of colorful tropical Victorian houses and thatched roof buildings. Having undergone many economic and political hardships for decades Nicaragua seems to finally be getting back on its feet and tourism is a growing industry. The locals were really excited to have us visiting their city. We were received like true foreign dignitaries by a lively band and the curious looks of everyone on the streets.
From San Juan del Sur we proceeded to the city of Rivas only fifteen minutes away by bus. We visited a small city museum located in an old Spanish colonial house where we were able to appreciate some pre-Hispanic stone and pottery artifacts found in the region. In the courtyard of the house we enjoyed the entertainment offered to us by a group of school and pre-school children dancing regional dances of the country. In the end as we should have expected, we were asked by our hosts to dance along and some of us did. Who knows if we would have won a dance prize but who cares, we had fun and most important the children did too.
Having shopped for some souvenirs we left the museum and boarded about twenty “pepanos” a local type of taxi service consisting of modified bicycles with a seat for two passengers in front of the driver. Having visited the two main churches in town we boarded our buses once again for another short ride which took us to the Hacienda Amayo a beautiful ranch off the coast of Lake Nicaragua where we could enjoy the lush gardens of our gracious hostess Maria Marta de Barrios and her family, the view of Omotepe Island with its two perfectly cone-shaped volcanoes and a splendid lunch which was followed by a baseball game between the local children’s team and our young brave ones. The score we prefer to keep to ourselves. By mid-afternoon we returned to the ship and sailed back to Costa Rica.
This morning we arrived to the Port of San Juan del Sur in the Republic of Nicaragua, a quaint and picturesque village of colorful tropical Victorian houses and thatched roof buildings. Having undergone many economic and political hardships for decades Nicaragua seems to finally be getting back on its feet and tourism is a growing industry. The locals were really excited to have us visiting their city. We were received like true foreign dignitaries by a lively band and the curious looks of everyone on the streets.
From San Juan del Sur we proceeded to the city of Rivas only fifteen minutes away by bus. We visited a small city museum located in an old Spanish colonial house where we were able to appreciate some pre-Hispanic stone and pottery artifacts found in the region. In the courtyard of the house we enjoyed the entertainment offered to us by a group of school and pre-school children dancing regional dances of the country. In the end as we should have expected, we were asked by our hosts to dance along and some of us did. Who knows if we would have won a dance prize but who cares, we had fun and most important the children did too.
Having shopped for some souvenirs we left the museum and boarded about twenty “pepanos” a local type of taxi service consisting of modified bicycles with a seat for two passengers in front of the driver. Having visited the two main churches in town we boarded our buses once again for another short ride which took us to the Hacienda Amayo a beautiful ranch off the coast of Lake Nicaragua where we could enjoy the lush gardens of our gracious hostess Maria Marta de Barrios and her family, the view of Omotepe Island with its two perfectly cone-shaped volcanoes and a splendid lunch which was followed by a baseball game between the local children’s team and our young brave ones. The score we prefer to keep to ourselves. By mid-afternoon we returned to the ship and sailed back to Costa Rica.
