by Eric Sabo and Darrell Williams

In a nation starved for golf and with only two recognized courses, things look like they are about to change in a big way, with five new courses in the works including one designed by Jack Nicklaus. At the Hacienda Iguana Golf & Beach Club near San Juan del Sur, the first of these new courses is now open for play.
The nine-hole course was designed by Neal Oldenburg, a champion amateur golfer who is part owner of the surrounding property which consists of several condominium complexes and several more luxurious family homes scattered around the links and nestled alongside some of the country’s best surfing waves. Oldenburg was influenced by British courses and the tropical Iguana one, his first design project, has a similar wide-open look with maturing greens that can only be attacked using the traditional bump-and-run style shot. Oldenburg has created a layout carved from the natural habitat that has a maturity way beyond what one might expect of a course in its infancy. (more…)

by H. Henkel Smith III
Helping people understand how they can own real estate in Nicaragua is a very rewarding experience. As president of Water’s Edge International Realty I have been doing this for the past four years. The first step in this process is educating my clients on some key differences between buying real estate here and in the United States or Canada. I then explain the various areas along the Pacific coast, the opportunities for real estate ownership in each, and which ones have the most promising future and why. Between the Waves magazine has asked me to share this information with its readers. Here we go.

by Nick Cooke
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Well, if it’s a Nicaraguan woodchuck, it would be quite a bit given this country’s relative abundance of tropical forests and all the varieties of trees in them. This is still so, despite rampant deforestation over the last half century.
But forget about just chucking wood: do something with it. And that is exactly what the people at Simplemente Madera (Simply Wood) are about. Setting an example for taking advantage of the potential offered by Nicaragua’s forests, they combine it with a business attitude that is respectful of the environment and the local communities that live in them.
Furniture manufacture and processing lumber for building materials is an obvious way to go in this country. In recent years, fresh investments are being made in an industry that is a natural.
Between the Waves talked with Matthew Falkiner, a principal partner in the company called Simplemente Madera. This company is setting an example for others in terms of creating synergies and in using Nicaragua’s renewable resource of wood wealth in a sustainable way.

by Pat Werner
A while ago, I was invited by the city fathers of Diriamba, my hometown in Nicaragua, to give a talk about the pre-colonial heritage of Diriamba. About 40 km from Managua in the southern tablelands, it is the coolest and windiest of the towns on the meseta de los pueblos. About 2000 feet above sea level, it has a cool and enjoyable climate.
The city fathers wanted the scoop on the Indians of Diriamba and so I gave it to them. The town was quite small when the Spaniards came in the 1520s and in the first census of 1548, it only had a few puny encomiendas (estates run by Spaniards with the right to tax the locals).
Ethnically, the Indians of Diriamba were Chorotegas and they spoke the language that linguists would later call Oto Mangue. It was completely unrelated to Nahuatl but was closely related to Chiapaneco, spoken in southern Mexico. In the 1581 census, the town appears with the name Diriamborí. There are various ceramic pots in private collections from Diriamba and some petroglyphs are found scattered around the area. The pots usually date from the period of 1000 AD to 1500 AD, with a few dating back to 300-800 AD. This is nothing new and is typical of the pottery found throughout the southern highlands.

by Alex Egerton
Buried treasure, hidden tunnels, and a grand swindle involving the original plans – ask any resident of León about their cathedral and they are sure to have a tale to tell.
With its domed roof, thick walls, and short bell towers, the Basilica Catedral de la Asunción, as the cathedral is known officially, is one of the best-known buildings in the country. It is also the largest church in Central America and the third largest cathedral in all of Latin America after structures in Mexico and Peru.
Over one hundred years in the making, the cathedral contains elements of three distinct architectural styles: Colonial, Neo-classical and Central American Baroque.
So what is such a majestic structure doing in such a small city? The history of the cathedral is closely linked to the story of the León itself and demonstrates the important position that it once held in the region.
The Basilica is in fact the fourth cathedral to occupy the western side of the central park. The first structure was an improvised design erected in 1610 shortly after the city was moved from León Viejo after the Momotombo Volcano erupted, making life at that site impossible. This structure was demolished to make way for a more permanent monument in 1621.

by Richard Leonardi
Doña Rosa’s knees began to bleed. She did not notice. The ground-in wounds from walking on her knees, the brilliant sun, and dizzying heat inside a breathless church made Doña Rosa’s head spin and her knees numb, immune to all but her goal.
When she reached the altar, stained black with the smoke of candles, Doña Rosa began to weep, her sobs punctuating the prayer she has recited for more than half a century. Doña Rosa raised her head and gazed through a fog of tears at the image of the Virgin. She was not alone.
Nicaragua’s devotion to the Virgin Mary or la Virgen María is historic, profound, and very much alive. It could be said that the Virgin Mary holds more emotional and spiritual importance in Nicaragua than in any other country in the world. Nicaragua has several unique celebrations to the Virgin and two of them in December commemorate María’s Immaculate Conception of Jesus Christ. The most renowned is La Purísima or Gritería, a centuries-old tradition that’s uniquely Nicaraguan.

by Mark N. Spencer    

It was 3:30 a.m. and I had just made it through an evening at the Del Rey Hotel in San José, Costa Rica with the contents of my wallet still intact.
Off to the bus station for a seven hour trip to Granada, Nicaragua. My body was desperately yearning for a few hours sleep but my mind was still racing. The silicon palace I’d just frequented wasn’t the kind of place you’d likely forget in a hurry. First things first… one foot in front of the other Mark, one foot in front of the other.
I got to the bus just as it was about to pull away and dragged myself and my belongings aboard.

King Juan Carlos of Spain stormed out of a recent Latin American summit meeting in Chile while Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega was complaining vocally about the Spanish multinational, Union Fenosa, which has had the privatization contract for Nicaraguan electricity distribution since 2001. Ortega was on one of his rolls, enjoying the rush that comes from speaking on an international stage. He then denounced Spanish interference in the elections last year. It was all too much for the King considering what had happened only moments before.
Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero had been addressing the gathering and made reference to what Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez had spoken about earlier when he did not couch his words and called a former prime minister of Spain a “fascist.” When Zapatero made reference to that insult, Chávez interrupted in what is basically a pissing match between Spain and Venezuela.  The King of Spain lost whatever cool he had been trained into and butted in to shout at Chávez irately, “Why don’t you just shut up!?”
As luck would have it, next up to the podium was Nicaragua’s own Daniel Ortega, voicing his criticisms of some things Spanish. Rather than resorting to un-royal remarks during Ortega’s speechifying, the monarch opted for the walkout.
The Nicaraguan president’s comments once again displayed what has come to be called his “bi-polarism.” He denounces the Spanish multinational Union Fenosa while his government recently cut a deal with them for increases in the rates charged for electricity. He accuses the Spanish foreign service of having interfered in last year’s elections while welcoming Spanish foreign aid. He rails against international capitalism one day and meets the next with international capitalists interested in investing in the country.
At least he can’t be called a fence-sitter. To all appearances, he stands firmly on both sides of it.

Not long ago, around about the turn of the century, Nicaragua’s financial system was collapsing. Several private banks failed and depositor confidence was at an all-time low. That was when Arnoldo Alemán presided over the country. The country’s coffers were flush from aid pouring in after Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and many were grasping to get their share by hook or by crook. It was almost like the watchword in the government and unscrupulous private business was “corruption, the more the merrier.” Several private banks were basically looted. (more…)

Things are getting notably cheaper for European visitors. Nicaragua’s córdoba is pegged to the US dollar with a sliding scale of gradual devaluations with the current rate being just under 19 to one. If you are from “euro land,” your currency will go almost 50% further. At the present rate, even those on a strict vacation allowance can travel like a prince. But given the recent spat involving the King of Spain on one side and President Daniel Ortega and Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez on the other, you might want to avoid references to royalty.