Any Travels

Nicaragua is a small country in Central America. In the North it borders on Honduras and El Salvador , in the South on Costa Rica. The country is not really on the tourist's most wanted list. This has mainly to do with the the politcal turmoil it went through in recent times; not with a lack of interesting things to see and do.

Nicaragua is pretty stable now and for the traveler who is willing to go the extra mile to find the unexpected it is a great destination.

The capital city of Managua is the right in the center of the country. Many of the sights can be seen as a daytrip from there.

For real adventure head out to Bluefields the old pirates' nest on the Mosquito Coast. The atmosphere is Carribean there, with reggae and rum as central ingredients for a good time.

Spend time in the homes or visitors' cabins on the beautiful Miraflor Nature Reserve, near Esteli. Walk, ride, relax, swim in pools, look for quetzals and orchids; learn about fairtrade and organic coffee from the co-operative of small coffee producers and farmers, UCA Miraflor, which has an office in Esteli (website miraflor-uca.com). This is true community eco-tourism; young local guides have been learning English so you have a great visit even if your Spanish isn't up to much.

THROUGHOUT ITS HISTORY Nicaragua has suffered from political instability, civil war, poverty, foreign intervention, and natural disasters. Governments since colonial times have been unable to bring stability and sustainable economic growth. Personal and foreign special interests have generally prevailed over the national interests and foreign intervention in Nicaraguan political and economic affairs, especially by the United States, has resulted in various forms of populist and nationalist reactions. The legacy of the past can be seen today in the attitudes toward foreign influence. Although the upper and middle classes tend to emulate North American life-styles and be supportive of United States policies, the Nicaraguan poor are highly suspicious of the culture and political intentions of the United States.

Since precolonial times Nicaragua's fertile Pacific coast has attracted settlers, thus concentrating most of the population in the western part of the country. The Caribbean coast, because of its proximity to the West Indies, has historically been the site of foreign intervention and non-Hispanic immigration from black and indigenous groups from the Caribbean and from British settlers and pirates. The resulting diverse ethnic groups that today inhabit the Caribbean coast have for centuries resisted Hispanic Nicaraguan governments and demanded political autonomy.

During most of the twentieth century Nicaragua has suffered under dictatorial regimes. From the mid-1930s until 1979 the Somoza family controlled the government, the military, and an ever expanding sector of the Nicaraguan economy. On July 19, 1979 Somoza rule came to an end after the triumph of an insurrection movement led by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (Frente Sandinista de Liberacion Nacional--FSLN). However the predominance of the FSLN led to the development of a different kind of authoritarian regime that lasted for more than a decade.

During the 1980s Nicaragua was the center of Cold War confrontation in the Western Hemisphere with the former Soviet Union and Cuba, providing assistance to the Sandinista government and the United States supporting anti-government forces. A regional peace initiative brought an end to civil war in the late 1980s. The Sandinistas lost in the 1990 elections and a new government headed by President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro was installed in April 1990.

Earthquakes and war have obliterated much tangible evidence of Nicaragua's cultural heritage, especially its colonial architecture - although Leon retains many fine old buildings. Poetry is one of Nicaragua's most beloved arts, and no other Central American country can match its literary output. Ruben Dario (1867-1916) is known as the 'Prince of Spanish-American literature,' and recent work by Nicaraguan poets, fiction writers and essayists can be found in most bookshops. Bluefields, the largely English-speaking town on the Caribbean coast, is a center for reggae music. The Archipielago de Solentiname in Lago de Nicaragua is famous as a haven for artists, poets and craftspeople. Sandinista street art in the form of modernist murals is especially prominent in the university town of Leon.

Spanish is the language of Nicaragua, but English and a number of indigenous languages are spoken on the Caribbean coast. The main religion is Catholicism, although there are a number of Protestant sects such as the Pentecostals and the Baptists. The Moravian church, introduced by British missionaries, is important on the Caribbean coast.

A typical meal in Nicaragua consists of eggs or meat, beans and rice, salad (cabbage and tomatoes), tortillas and fruit in season. Most common of all Nicaraguan foods is gallo pinto, a blend of rice and beans, with cooking water from the beans added to color the rice. Other traditional dishes include bajo, a mix of beef, green and ripe plantains and yucca (cassava), and vigoron, yucca served with fried pork skins and coleslaw. Street vendors sell interesting drinks such as tiste, made from cacao and corn, and posol con leche, a corn-and-milk drink. Nicaragua boasts the best beer and rum in Central America.

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