February 2, 2006

PORT OF CALLING

Located on the Pacific West coast of Nicaragua, the port of San Juan Del Sur is Nicaragua’s southern most seaport of entry/exit.

Historically, the harbour has been in use for hundreds, if not thousands of years. The native Indians would have been amongst the earliest inhabitants to enjoy the rich waters of Bahia San Juan for farming, fishing and clamming.

In the early 1500’s Andres Nino and his pilot Gil Gonzales Davila landed on the shores of San Juan Del Sur during an expedition of conquest along the west coast of Central America. The conquistador’s encountered three indigenous native tribes; the Chontal, the Nicaindios and the Chorotegano. The tribes were often at war against each other and never united to ward off the Spaniards encroachment.

San Juan Del Sur became an important port because it provided a link between the east and west coasts of the Americas. Spanish blood blended with the local native Indians giving birth to Nicaragua’s Mestizo culture which spread throughout Central America.

 The route across Panama was inaugurated in 1855

Years later, during the California Gold Rush of the 1850’s, men seeking to strike it rich and tired of fighting Indians on the Great Plains, needed a safer route from New York to the west coast. The result was the building of a railway across Panama by the Kansas City Rail Company. The route across Panama was inaugurated in 1855 and became the world’s first transcontinental railroad. Prospectors took steamships from the eastern seaboard to the port of Colon on the Atlantic coast of Panama. From Colon, they rode the rail service to Balboa on the pacific side. Steamships heading north carried the passengers to California.

Cornelius Vanderbilt, a shipping tycoon of the era, won a contract to establish a passenger service across Nicaragua. Ferries were used to shuttle travelers 140 miles up the Rio San Juan, then across Lake Nicaragua to La Virgen and finally to San Juan Del Sur by stage coach. This new route shaved off over 1200 miles from Panama’s transcontinental service.

In its hay day, tens of thousands of passengers traveled across Nicaragua. The route connecting the isthmus terminated all together in 1869 when the transcontinental railway in the United States opened linking the great western prairies to the cosmopolitan eastern seaboard.

 A boom in construction and foreign investment is visible

San Juan Del Sur has long since been an active port with fishing and trade as its principle mainstays. Today tourism is quickly becoming the regions fastest growing commodity. A boom in construction and foreign investment is visible on all points of the compass.

Amongst the most noticeable ventures is the 12 million dollar expansion of the port facility being co-sponsored by the Japanese Government, Nicaragua’s Ministry of Fishing and Agriculture and E.N.P. (Empresa Nicaragua Porturia). The building contract was awarded to WAKACHICU Construction Co. LTD of Japan. Labor is being provided by Nicaragua’s work force.

Construction is well under way. The first phase of the project is the removal of several thousands of tons of overburden. Rock is being separated from rubble and will be used to fill in a small cove at the southern end of the bay. The new port facility will include a modern state-of-the-art fish processing and ice plant. There will be a work yard and travel lift capable of lifting vessels up to 50 tons. An embarcadero will offer cruise ship shuttle boats better access to the port.

Restaurants and souvenir shops are also incorporated in the blueprints. Japanese engineers are meticulously keeping to schedule with an inauguration date planned for February 2007. Long range plans include a break wall and recreational marina.

In the past, San Juan Del Sur has always been on the map. Today, its future is on the radar screen.

Eric Blackburn