Thewesternprovinceblog

Hola todos. After a slow few days In La Unión it has finally rolled round – The day we cross the Gulf of Fonseca into Nicaragua. Now I had read about this route some months before the trip as fairly recently Honduras made it that Brits now need a visa to enter and getting hold of one was basically a non-starter for me as would have been quite expensive and would have had to go to London to do it in person with a possible over night stay depending on the time; so I looked at ways around Honduras and this ferry route presented itself.

While I was in Santa Ana I made contact with Captain Mario who runs this whole tour company. Through him I am able to both book the ferry and onward transfer to León.

Morning comes and we are up and out at 0530 to get out stuff together for the 0700 meetup at the immigration office by port. Hadn’t slept well as the AC cut out through the night and the fan didn’t work too well. To top this off water was switched off and so going to be crusty today!

There’s quite a few people in immigration looking knackered as they had just come on the night shuttle from El Tunco by San Salvador. After about an hour our passports are stamped and we are on way.The boat is a small ferry same size as the boats on Lake Atitlan and it can get bumpy. That said it was a lovely morning and the sea was a millpond leaving port. As you go out there are some nice views of the Islands and volcanos around. As we got closer to Nicaragua it got little rough and quite a few of the guys at the back of the boat got soaked. That said they’ll dry off quickly when we dock.

Speaking of docking there wasn’t a proper dock at Potosí so instead he beached the boat and out we come. Next was Nicaraguan customs and immigration. We line up they ask us to open up our bags and they have a little nose inside but they don’t make you completely take everything out TSA style. It’s a pretty easy going affair really.

Then immigration. About a 2 minute walk from the beach is the office. A man comes out and we all give him our passports and he takes them in. We have about an hour waiting round like this while the shuttle for León is already there waiting. Potosí isn’t much to see. Just the beach, the office and a barn. If you need the loo here your going in the woods.

Anyways out they come with our passports stamped and piece of paper in hand. We then quickly board and are on way. The shuttle ride is uneventful and I’m quicky in León. I’m only here for one night but did get to see a bit in my short stay, but that is for the next installment. Ciao ciao!