Nicaragua

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Nicaragua is a country in Central America. It has coastlines on both the Caribbean Sea, in the east, and the North Pacific Ocean, in the west, and has Costa Rica to the southeast and Honduras to the northwest.

Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America and contains the largest freshwater body in Central America, Lago de Nicaragua.

nicaragua Travel Guide : 1 Regions 2 Cities 2.1 Ports and harbors 3 Other destinations 4 Understand 4.1 Climate 4.2 Terrain 4.3 History 5 Get in 5.1 By plane 5.2 By train 5.3 By car 5.4 By bus 5.5 By boat 6 Get around 6.1 Distances 6.2 By bus 6.3 By Plane 6.4 By boat 6.5 By taxi 6.6 Hitchhiking 7 Talk 8 Buy 9 Eat 10 Drink 11 Sleep 12 Learn 13 Work 14 Stay safe 15 Stay healthy 16 Respect 17 Contact

Regions

There are 15 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento):

• Boaco
• Carazo
• Chinandega
• Chontales
• Esteli
• Granada
• Jinotega
• Leon
• Madriz
• Managua
• Masaya
• Matagalpa
• Nueva Segovia
• Rio San Juan
• Rivas

And 2 autonomous regions (regiones autonomistas, singular - region autonomista):

• Atlantico Norte
• Atlantico Sur

Cities

• Managua - Capital
• León
• Granada
• Esteli
• Matagalpa
• Jinotega

Ports and harbors

• Bluefields
• Corinto
• El Bluff
• Puerto Cabezas
• Puerto Sandino
• Rama
• San Juan del Sur

Other destinations

Understand

Climate

Tropical in lowlands, cooler in highlands. The weather during the dry months can be very hot in the Pacific lowlands. The Atlantic coast sees an occasional hurricane each season. In the past, these hurricanes have inflicted a lot of damage.

Terrain

Extensive Atlantic coastal plains rising to central interior mountains; narrow Pacific coastal plain interrupted by volcanoes making for some majestic landscapes. Nicaragua is dotted by several lakes of volcanic origin. The largest, Lago Nicaragua, is home to the only fresh water sharks in the world. Managua, the capital, sits on the shores of the polluted Lago Managua.

Natural hazards : destructive earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides.

Highest point 

Mogoton 2,438 m

History

The Pacific Coast of Nicaragua was settled as a Spanish colony in the early 16th century. The oldest city, Granada, is one of the oldest cities in the American continent. During the colonial period, Nicaragua was part of the Capitania General based in Guatemala.

Independence 

15 September 1821 (from Spain)

National holiday 

Independence Day, 15 September (1821)

Independence from Spain was declared in 1821 and the country became an independent republic in 1838. Britain occupied the Caribbean Coast in the first half of the 19th century, but gradually ceded control of the region in subsequent decades.

One of the most colorful personalities of Nicaraguan history is William Walker. Walker, a US southerner, came to Nicaragua as an opportunist. Nicaragua was on the verge of a civil war; Walker sided with one of the factions and was able to gain control of the country, hoping that the US would annex Nicaragua as a southern slave state. With designs on conquering the rest of Central America, Walker and his filibustero army marched on Costa Rica before he was turned back at the battle of Santa Rosa. Eventually Walker left Nicaraguaand was executed when he landed in Honduras at a later date.

The twentieth century was characterized by the rise and fall of the Somoza dynasty. Anastacio Somoza Garcia came to power as the head of the National Guard. Educated in the US and trained by the US Army, he was adept managing his relations with the United States. After being assasinated, he was succeded by his sons, Luis and Anastacio Jr ("Tachito"). By 1978, opposition to governmental manipulation and corruption spread to all classes and resulted in a short-lived civil war that led to the fall of Somoza in July, 1979. The armed part of the insurgence was named the Sandinistas; though not evident at the time, the leadership of the Sandinistas had close ties to Fidel Castro in Cuba. Nicaraguan aid to leftist rebels in El Salvador caused the US to sponsor anti-Sandinista contra guerrillas through much of the 1980s. Peace was brokered in 1987 by Oscar Arias, which led to elections in 1990. In a stunning development, Violeta Chammoro of the UNO coalition surprisingly beat out the incumbent leader Daniel Ortega.

Constitution 

9 January 1987, with reforms in 1995 and 2000

Elections in 1996, and again in 2001 saw the Sandinistas defeated by the Liberal party. The country has slowly rebuilt its economy during the 1990s, but was hard hit by Hurricane Mitch in 1998.

Get in

By plane

You will fly into the international airport in Managua, most likely from Houston or Miami, if you come from the US. It costs 7 dollars to enter the country (prices change so make sure you have twenty dollars cash on hand). Tourist visas are three months for US citizens as well as for people from the EU. There will be taxis right outside, these are abnormally expensive, walk out to the road and try to flag down a regular cab. All the hostels are located in the Barrio Marta quezada. The taxi drivers try to rip you off, usually they start with 10 US dollars, but a price around 5 to 6 US/90 to 100 Cordobas is appropriate.

You can also fly into the tiny Granada airstrip from San Jose (Costa Rica).

By train

By car

There are two border crossings to Costa Rica, Pena Blanca west of Lago Nicaragua and Los Chiles east of it.

There are three major border crossings to Honduras. Las Manos is on the shortest route to Tegucigalpa, the others ones are on the Panamericana Highway and on north of Leon.

By bus

By boat

Get around

Distances

	M A N A G U A	B L U E F I E L D S	B O A C A	C H I N A N D E G A	E S T E L Í	G R A N A D A	J I N O T E G A	J I N O T E P E	J U I G A L P A	L E Ó N	M A S A Y A	M A T A G A L P A	O C O T A L	P T . C A B E Z A S	R I V A S	S A N C A R L O S	S O M O T O
MANAGUA	0	383	88	132	148	45	162	46	139	93	29	130	226	557	111	300	216
BLUEFIELDS	383	0	322	510	462	402	476	422	243	476	386	444	540	842	461	351	530
BOACA	88	322	0	220	157	107	181	127	79	181	91	149	425	517	166	240	235
CHINANDEGA	132	510	220	0	161	177	194	177	271	37	161	181	238	591	243	43	229
ESTELÍ	148	462	157	161	0	166	103	185	219	141	151	71	78	498	226	383	68
GRANADA	45	402	107	177	166	0	180	41	184	138	16	148	244	576	68	318	234
JINOTEGA	162	476	181	194	103	180	0	202	232	175	165	32	181	459	240	377	171
JINOTEPE	46	422	127	177	185	41	202	0	171	122	37	170	266	603	65	346	256
JUIGALPA	139	243	79	271	219	184	232	202	0	229	141	198	296	599	208	160	297
LEÓN	90	476	181	37	141	138	175	122	229	0	122	143	219	650	187	394	209
MASAYA	29	386	91	161	151	16	165	37	141	122	0	130	229	558	73	301	219
MATAGALPA	130	444	149	181	71	148	32	170	198	130	130	0	428	297	297	343	139
OCOTAL	226	540	425	238	78	244	181	266	296	229	229	149	0	576	304	455	29
PT. CABEZAS	557	842	517	591	498	576	459	603	599	558	558	428	576	0	625	760	566
RIVAS	111	461	166	243	226	68	240	65	208	73	73	297	304	625	0	318	244
SAN CARLOS	300	351	240	43	383	318	377	346	160	301	301	343	455	760	318	0	447
SOMOTO	216	530	235	229	68	234	171	256	297	219	219	139	29	566	447	447	0

By bus

Bus is definitely the main mode of travel in Nicaragua. If you're a younger American, Nicaragua may give you flashbacks to your elementary school days. Most of the buses are old decomissioned yellow US school buses. Expect these buses to be packed full. You'd better be quick or you may be standing most of the trip.

By Plane

At the international airport there are two offices right to the right of the main terminal, these offices house the domestic airlines. These are great if you want to get to the atlantic coast. I will not give prices as they change but it take 1.5 hours to get to the corn islands as opposed to 2 days by overland route. If you are trying to save time than this is the best way to get to the corn islands or anywhere on the atlantic coast.

By boat

Boat is the only way to get to the island of Ometepe or to the Solentinames. Be aware that high winds or other bad weather can cancel ferry trips leaving you stranded. That might not be such a bad thing, though.

Boat is also a cool way to get to the corn islands. Take a bus to Rama at the end of the road, be aware that this trip can be very rough and long. Then ask around and see if you can get onto the weekly ship to the corn islands, there are bunk beds on the ship. Or you can get on a speedboat to bluefield or El Bluff and catch the boat from there, or take a flight out of Bluefields. They are mush faster and more expensive, the large cargop boat takes two days from the islands to rama with an overnight in El Bluff to take on cargo.

By taxi

The taxi drivers in Managua are agrresive and there are loads so it is easy to find a fare that suits you. You can also split the cost of taxi to get to destinations that are close to Managua by like Masaya, if you should prefer to travel with modicum of comfort. Taxi's in all the cities are generally fair and well mannered and a nice way to see local scenery. Take care in bargaining, the general fare is per person, not per taxi.

Hitchhiking

Easy and Comfortable. Finding a bus to the right suburb in managua is tricky.

Talk

Languages 

Spanish (official)
note:

Nicaraguans tend to leave out the s at the end of words. "Vos" is used rather than the more formal "usted".

English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast

Buy

Nicaragua is not famous for its handicrafts like Guatemala. But, if you are going to take one thing home it should be a hammock. Nicaraguan hammocks are among the best made and most comfortable ever. The really good ones are made in Masaya, ask a taxi to take you to the fabrica de hammacas. These are family run and operated stores and have become comercialized, so hammocks can be quite expensive. I do not know what the prices are right now but it should be under 15 for a simple one person hammock. Hammocks are also sold in the Huembres market by the bus terminal in Managua NIcaragua can also produce some really good and cheap rum. Those aged more than 20 years are a great buy for the money

Eat

Food is very cheap, though a lot of the food is fried in oil (vegetable or lard). Very easy to be vegetarian as the most common dish is gallo pinto, which is red beans and rice. If you like meat try the Naca Tamale which is a pork tamale. The typical dish will consist of a meat, rice, beans, salada and some fried plantain, costing under 3 dollars US.

Plantains are a big part of the Nicaraguan diet. You will find it prepared in a variety of forms: fried, baked, boiled, with cream or cheese, as chips for a dip, smushed into a "patacon".

Nicaraguan tortillas are made from corn flour and are thick, almost resembling a pita. One common dish is quesillo: a string of mozzarella-type cheese with pickled onion, a watery sour cream, and a little salt all wrapped in a thick tortilla. You will also find the tortillas are used to make shredded beef tacos.

One alternative to the fried offering in the typical menu is baho. This is a combination of beef, yucca, sweet potato, potato and other ingredients steamed in plantain leaves for several hours.

One typical dessert is Tres Leches which is a soft spongy cake that combines three varieties of milk (condensed, evaporated and fresh) for a sweet conoction.

Drink

Rum is the liquor of choice, though you will find some whiskey and vodka as well. The local brand of Rum is Flor de Caña and is available in several varieties: Light, Extra Dry, Black Label (aged 7 years), Centenario (aged 12 years) and a new top-of-the line 18 year old aged rum. There is also a cheaper rum called Ron Plata.

One local beer is Victoria, another one "Toña". It's pretty cheap to drink in Nicaragua.

In the non-alcoholic arena you will find the usual soft drinks (Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola). Some local drinks include pinolillo, a thick cacao based drink.

Sleep

Look for pensiones or huespedes or hospedajes as these are the cheapest sleeps costing under 5 dollars US. They are usually family owned and youll be hanging out with mostly locals. Make sure you know when they lock their doors if you are going to party. Hotels have more amenities but are more expensive. There are some backpacker hostels in Granada, San Jaun del Sur, Ometepe, Masaya, Managua, and in Leon otherwise it's pensiones all the way.

• Real InterContinental Metrocentro Nicaragua, 1 (http://www.icmanagua.gruporeal.com/). 157 elegant guest rooms and suites.

Learn

Nicaragua doesn't have as many language schools as can be found in Guatemala or Costa Rica, but a few have sprouted up in the last few years, particularly in colonial Granada.

Work

Stay safe

Homosexuality is illegal and is punished by up to three years in jail.

The majority of NIcaraguan cities are quite safe to walk in at night (not Managau) but as with anywhere it is better to stay in groups or take taxis from one destination to another. Crime is not as big a problem in Nicaragua as in other central american countries. It is dangerous in Granada by the water front at night so be careful at the bars. Managua always has an element of danger so be really careful walking around.

Stay healthy

Avoid drinking tap water.

Given its tropical latitude, there are plenty of bugs flying about. Be sure to wear bug repellent, particularly if you head to more remote areas (Ometepe, San Juan river region).

Respect

Nicaraguans are among the nicest people on earth. They are quick to give advice and help the needy traveller. They are unfortuneatly overwhelmingly macho and if you are a woman than you will hear constant catcalls, the best policy is to ignore them.

Contact

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