August 9, 2018

By Kelvin Marshall

I did a little fact checking after seeing the announcement on facebook of a cruise ship scheduled to visit San Juan del Sur (SJdS) later this month.

It looks like the Crystal Cruises; “Crystal Symphony” with a maximum passenger occupancy of 1,010 and a crew of 545 is scheduled to visit SJdS as part of a 21 day cruise from San Francisco, California, USA, through the Panama Canal and up to New York City, USA with nine stops along the way.

The good news for SJdS is that excursions have been limited to local SJdS trips only.  They are offering passengers a “Mountain Zipline Adventure” (US $99), a “Bicycle Discovery & Beach Break” (US $99) as well as a double occupancy car (US $379) or an 8 seat mini-bus (US $929)“ Private Half-Day English-Speaking Guide Within City Limits” (prices are per vehicle).

At this time there is no confirmed information available for the two Princess cruise ships scheduled for October 2018 and I don’t yet have the official EPN (Port Authority) list.

The third ship scheduled for October is the Norwegian Cruise Line; “Norwegian Pearl” on a 14 night cruise from San Diego, California, USA, through the Panama Canal to Tampa, Florida, USA.  She is scheduled to be in port here in SJdS on Saturday 27th of October from 10am until 4pm. Despite this short stay, the cruise brochure is showing on-shore excursions to Granada for a walking tour, Masaya for the volcano and to Catarina for handicrafts as well as a Rivas, Lake Nicaragua panoramic walk.

A total of 27 cruise ships have itineraries that include a stop in San Juan del Sur on the 2018/2019 cruise ship season (Autumn 2018 – Spring 2019). A further 36 cruise ships are scheduled to visit Corinto in the Department of Chinandega on the northwest Pacific coast of Nicaragua during the same season.

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There is no sleeping in in the city of Leon. Even for those nestled, as I am, behind the sheltering walls of a converted convent – walls thicker than anything built in the intervening three centuries – 7am is wake-up time. That is when a loud siren sounds across the town, rousing any sleepyheads and reminding them that it is time to get up and go to work. A second siren sounds at midday, announcing lunchtime. 

It is an odd ritual, redolent of life on a plantation. A local tells me the practice used to be common across Nicaragua. Back when workers were too poor to afford clocks or watches, it ensured everyone got to work on time. Today, the only place it is still practised is in Leon, which seems slightly odd, given that this is Nicaragua’s foremost student city. Perhaps it is the only way they can get students to show up for their morning lectures.

I have never come across a city-wide wake-up call anywhere else in the world, but then, Nicaragua is different. Central America’s poorest country has a lost-in-time feeling, with a laidback pace that has disappeared from most corners of the globe. The country does not feature on many must-visit lists, but it is hoping to change that, aiming to reinvent itself as tourist destination. Given its magnificent natural attractions, from soaring volcanoes and massive lakes to dense jungles and wonderfully preserved colonial cities, it should be an easy sell.

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