The keys to eating well here are: avoid walls, seek corn, and bow down to the finest white creams and cheeses you are likely to find. They use cabbage frequently and well and they are not afraid of sour tastes. Fried chicken is a treat and they sprinkle white cheese on top of that and on your french fries. It is an under-mined cuisine.
Horse and donkey carts have not disappeared. Few people speak English. Many women carry baskets on their heads to transport goods. I stayed in what is arguably the country's nicest hotel and my room was $100 a night. The place was empty.
Nicaragua is wealthier than Honduras but much poorer than El Salvador or Panama. Here is a garbage dump in Managua, La Chureca. The economy is likely to shrink two percent this year. On the bright side, the drug trade doesn't (yet?) have so much of a hold. The lower income classes seem to do better in terms of social services than in many other countries of comparable wealth.
Leon has one of the best Latin American town squares for cute children, street musicians, balloons and ringing bells, and flirtatious teenage social life. The Sandinista murals are maintained. There are few international chain stores of any kind outside of Managua and even most of Managua is under-chained. People will insist of getting you back the change you are due, even when you tell them to keep it because you don't want to wait for them to get it from their uncle across the street.
Appreciating the country boils down to how much you can enjoy a very direct feeling of genuineness all around; Nicaragua is a hidden jewel, at least for tourist visitors.
I did not see anyone smoke, not once.
Was there no one smoking cigars either? Nicaragua makes some of the finest cigars around, it would kind of surprise me if no one was a fan of tobacco in some form or another there, although maybe you have to get outside of the city to see any of that.
I enjoyed your trip report, would love to be able to check out Central and South America some time before I expire. Nicaragua has been on my list of future travel destinations for some time, this just makes me want to go even more.
Lovely summary.
“how much you can enjoy a very direct feeling of genuineness all around…..”?
True of a lot of nations of low GDP and not-so-low GHP.
I don’t understand the “avoid walls” part
“the finest white creams and cheeses you are likely to find” – whither France?
By “avoid walls” does he mean that you’re better off buying food from street carts or other vendors outside of a traditional sit down/indoor restaurants?
I love Nicaragua and its people. They are friendly, easy-going, and generally happy despite difficult economic conditions. People in Managua often work and work hard for wages of $5 to $10 a day or less(for 12 hours days and 6 day weeks–Sunday off.
Nicaraguans are generally happy and it seems due to the strong sense of family, connectedness with friends, church and religion, and culture—beautiful music and poetry. People and families get together, party, talk, listen to music, and make and share wonderful food and stories.
I asked a young friend why it was that drug-related maras had not taken hold in his country and he said he thought it was due to the strong bonds and communication between mothers and their sons in Nicaragua. Recently a young man was beaten as part of a gang initiation and his mother immediately went to the police and fingered the culprits. You don’t mess around with a Nica mom.
Yes the food is wonderful…the nacatamales, the dulce frijoles, fried guapote, the chicken, the fruits (nisporo, nancite, papaya, etc.). It is a country with great cigars, fantastic coffee and smooth, delicious rums. And the beers ain’t bad either…Tona for me. There are fun places like Ruta Maya, the Casa de los Mejia Godoy, and Los Idolos (Bello Horizonte–mariachi band land) in Managua to eat and listen to music. You can pop over the beaches on the Pacific side and eat fresh lobster and fish. If you know how to surf….wow..
You get away from “the walls” when you go to Ometepe Island in Lake Nicaragua. Last week I hiked up to the waterfall inside the Maderas Volcano on the south end of Ometepe and it was a spectacular site to behold and cool and refreshing to sit under for a few minutes.
http://www.7is7.com/otto/travel/photos/20030630/ometepewaterfall.jpg
Nicaragua has produced some great poets—most notably Ruben Dario and Alfonso Cortes.
http://www.nicaraguaphoto.com/essays/update_nicaraguaJune2004.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Nicaraguan_poets
I hope for better times in Nicaragua on many fronts—the younger population has tremendous potential and perhaps they can learn from nearby countries the best way to manage growth and maintain nature. For a sense of what it is like to live in Nicaragua the following site can be useful:
http://www.nicaliving.com/
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