Travelling in Nicaragua

 

The impressive scenery of Nicaragua’s Pacific basin and the rich colonial architecture of its two historic cities Granada and León, are a perfect compliment to neighbouring Costa Rica.

Here fine stuccoed churches and impressive colonial cathedrals look onto wide tree-shaded plazas, where schoolchildren chatter, office workers take their lunch, and old men ponder their newspapers. Colonial houses with pan-tiled roofs line cobbled streets where horse-drawn carriages and carts vie with cars, trucks and bicycles. Ornate iron grills frame tall street front windows, with tantalising glimpses of inner courtyards.

A chain of mighty volcanoes runs parallel to the Pacific coast. Two perfect cones rise from Lake Nicaragua to form Ometepe, a beautiful island steeped in legend that is on many visitors’ ‘must-see’ list.

The capital, Managua, still bears scars from the 1972 earthquake which destroyed its downtown area. The misuse of relief money eventually brought on the 1978-79 Sandinista revolution which overthrew the dictator General Somoza whose corrupt dynasty had accumulated over half the country’s wealth. The Sandinistas won elections in 1984 but were opposed by the US-backed Contras. US policy collapsed when the Contras were found to be covertly funded by US sales of arms to Iran, allowing a peace agreement to be reached. The subsequent 1990 elections were won by a woman, Doña Violeta Chamorro, whose sons had fought on opposite sides. She consolidated the peace, and brought together her country and her family too.

Now ranked as one of the safest countries in Central and South America, Nicaragua is today a peaceful, democratic and welcoming country. Nicaraguans have worked hard to rebuild their economy, but much remains to be done. A proportion of international aid has been directed to the restoration of Nicaragua’s rich colonial heritage and to encourage tourism, which is now the nation’s second largest revenue earner. The warmth of the welcome from the Nicaraguan people is remarkable.

We have very much enjoyed our time in Nicaragua, and would recommend it warmly.  Clients have been pleased and impressed with their own visits there.  We hope to offer our usual full in-depth travel service to cover the whole country some day.  For the time being we focus on just one region - the Pacific basin.  This is the most developed part of the country, has the most to see, and is easily reached from Costa Rica, or by international flights to Managua.

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