Puerto Sandino

And it only gets hotter....36, humid, sunny, and no breeze. I was told that there were several marina police boats with automatic weapons mounted on the bow that accompanied us into the harbour. One of the tours had to be cancelled due to warnings of political unrest in the area. As you got off the ship there was a small downtown area of shops with very little merchandise and outdoor restaurants with no wifi. The street was lined with market stalls while other sellers carrying their items for sale, mostly pottery and trinkets, roamed amongst the tourists. They were very, very persistent in your face and followed us down the street despite me repeatedly saying politely, “No gracias”. Although I would have liked to support the people, there was nothing of interest for me to purchase. The area cordoned off for tourists was only 3 blocks long and patrolled at each end by the local police. From the little we saw and reports from others who took tours, this is an extremely impoverished country. Within an hour we were back on board the ship. When we departed there was again an armed marina police boat accompanying us out to open waters.Read more