PUERTO CORINTO and LEON, NICARAGUA

Corinto, Nicaragua is a small town of under 20,000 residence located on the northwest Pacific coast of Nicaragua.  It is Nicaragua’s largest port, founded in 1863, and sits on an island connected to the mainland by bridges.  Although a peaceful city, I would not consider it a prosperous one. 

The Norwegian Pearl docked in Corinto at 9:02am but a lengthy wait ensued as passengers waited patiently for the Nicaraguan customs agents to clear the ship.  It was 45 minutes later that the announcement was made releasing passengers to go ashore.  Disembarkation was to be from deck 4.  I found myself on deck 7 with some fellow passengers.  We quickly made our way to the mid-ship stairway and began our decent to deck 4.  At deck 6 however, we found ourselves in the back of the line waited to disembark.  By the time we finally stepped off of the ship the time was 10:10am. 

There is only one gate (gate 3) used to exit the Corinto dock.  It was easy to follow the marked path and our tour guide “Miguel” from Julio Tours was waiting for us at the exit gate.  Our little group ended up being the last ones to board the bus, making us now a group of 26.  Our bus left the port at 10:20am.

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Our drive to Leon took us north to the town of Chichigalpa   where we headed east to Leon.  The ride to Leon took just about an hour and took us past San Cristobal volcano, the largest and most active volcano in Nicaragua.  Standing at 5,755 feet, San Cristobal has recorded eruptions dating back to 1685 with the last one being in 2012.   There are actually 19 active volcanoes in Nicaragua.  

San Cristobol Volcano

As we drove through the countryside it was obvious that Nicaragua was a very poor country. Haiti is the only listed Central American country poorer than Nicaragua.  Besides mostly old cars, many people were using small motorcycles, bicycles, pedicabs, horse drawn carts, horses and their own legs for transportation.  Public transportation consisted of old looking school buses, called “chicken buses”, because people can, and do, bring anything and everything on the bus.  We also saw lots of flatbed trucks with metal framework crowded with people hanging on.  The average salary in Nicaragua is $100 a month with some middle class making $400 or $500 a month. 

León was founded by the Spanish as Santiago de los Caballeros de León.  It is located in western Nicaragua and is the second largest city after Managua.  As of 2016, León had a population of 206,264   León is also an important industrial, agricultural, and commercial center for Nicaragua, exporting sugar cane, cattle, peanuts, plantains, and sorghum. 

Arrival in Leon was at 11:30am and our bus dropped us in the main square.  Here we were introduced to "The Lady of Grace Cathedral", aka "Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary", the "Real and Renowned Basilica Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary", and the "Cathedral    Basilica of the Assumption”.  This is a typical colonial baroque building built between 1747 and 1814. 

Memorial at Heroes and Martyrs Prk

The Leon Cathedral is the largest cathedral in Central America and in 2011 was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

 

We were given ample time to visit the church and stroll through the main square before we proceeded to the open market. 

The market seemed quite chaotic with stands selling everything imaginable and people everywhere.  The sanitary standards were not good by our standards but it was a very interesting experience walking through in the market.  Mot people were friendly but several seemed to simply tolerate our presence. 

 

After exiting the market we made our way to Via Via Restaurant. This was our scheduled lunch stop.  We arrived at 1pm.   

Some of our group

Our menu choices were chicken or beef fajitas.  They also offered a vegetarian option consisting of rice piled high with veggies.   My choice was the chicken fajita.  When the plate arrived it included beans, rice and a shaved zucchini and carrot salad.  They also served a side container of warm flour tortillas along with our choice of light or dark beer, soda or water. 

Leaving the restaurant at 2pm and drove to the Museo de Arte Fundación Ortiz-Gurdian. Formerly a Presidential Palace, the museum is now The Ortiz Foundation Art Center, the largest art center in Central America.  With over 400 works, the collection includes oil paintings, silkscreens, lithographs, etchings, engravings, sculptures in bronze, wood and stone.  

Housed in four restored colonial buildings, the non-profit organization was founded in 1996 by local philanthropists Patricia Gurdián de Ortiz and Ramiro Ortiz Mayorga.

In the main building, the “Norberto Ramírez House”, you can view a collection titled “From Western to Nicaraguan Art,” which displays artworks from the 15th century through to the 21st century.  You can also see pre-Columbian art and ceramics from the Nicaraguan village of San Juan de Oriente. The collection includes works by Picasso,  Chagall,  Miró and a number of noted Nicaraguan artists. 

The “Delgadillo House” stores reproduction petroglyphs by Nicaraguan artists Orlando Sobalvarro and Alejandro Aróstegui. 

The “Derbyshire House”, which was opened to the public in 2002, houses Latin American art and temporary exhibits.

The “Deshon Building” houses contemporary artworks from Nicaragua and Central America.

You can find the Center open Tuesday through Saturday from 10am to 6pm and on Sunday from 8am to 4pm.  Admission is minimum at $1USD. It was included with our tour. 

We left Leon at 2:30pm, making a photo stop along the way and arriving back at the port at approximately 3:40pm.  Then just  a short walk back to the ship and I was back in my cabin by 3:50pm. 

Our bus was clean and air conditioned but I was a little disappointed that we did not have water provided onboard and because of our late departure had to cut the 45 minute free time in Leon.  The tour cost was $60USD.