by David Seiter

Granada’s unique charm owes much to the city’s uncanny ability to hang on to its colonial beauty while its neighbors to the north —especially Managua, but even Masaya and León— have suffered the devastating effects of the earthquakes, hurricanes, and fires that are about as common in Nicaragua as lakes and volcanoes. This fact isn’t lost on city officials. If the conservative Granadan government is divided over the desirability of gringos in their town, at least they’re in accord over the preservation of its rich architectural heritage. If you’re considering purchasing a home for personal or investment purposes, you’d better be familiar with the ins-and-outs of local home renovation.

by Al Burton

Rumor has it that in the 1980s pop star Bono of the Irish band U2 visited Managua. After roaming the streets of this town, he was inspired to write the song sharing the title of this piece.

U2´s song may be the one good thing that has resulted from the quaint manner in which people in Managua issue an address. What could be simpler? Most English-to-Spanish dictionaries present the definition of address as dirección. Directions are what you ask for and directions are what you get.

by Mitch Sanders

Ever daydream of throwing off the nine-to-five rat race yolk, finding an exotic, sunny clime, and opening a bar or restaurant where the palm trees sway and the snow never falls? Listen to the story of someone who did.

“The first six months were a nightmare. We had tiles falling off the roof onto cars in the street, we had to get permission to do everything-even to put trim around the doors. It took six months to get our cargo containers through customs when it should have taken two,“ said Ellen and Marco Snoek, a Dutch couple from near Amsterdam.

What could have been done to prevent the nightmare? “Nothing.”  Would they do it all over again? “Absolutely.”

by Zac Clemens

Hey eco-tourists seeking Nicaragua’s native flora and fauna, there’s a way to hedge your bet and be sure to see the country’s rarer wildlife: go to the National Zoo. The nature minded, and anyone looking for a way to spend a pleasant afternoon, can see not only a variety of indigenous wildlife, but plant life as well.

Six species of big cats can be found in the zoo’s collection, four of which —the margay, ocelot, puma and jaguar— are indigenous to Nicaragua’s northern rainforests.

The orange and black spotted jaguar is the king predator of Central America, inhabiting terrain from rainforest treetops to grassland savannas and preying on everything from cattle and horses to deer and caiman. Their taste for livestock —and the trafficking of their hides— has made them hunted to near extinction.

by James Spencer

As the oldest city in the Americas, Granada has got more old, spooky houses than you can shake a witch’s wand at, so you would expect it to have more than its fair share of haunted houses.

The Ghost Of The Mass Graves

There’s no question that terrible things have happened in Granada. In 1979, when the Sandinista revolution was in progress, thousands of National Guardsmen were herded into the country near Puerto Assese and murdered.  The bodies were unceremoniously dumped into unmarked mass graves. At one site about a kilometer from the Diamante turn-off, at a gravesite called “Panama,” there is a boulder. Locals tell of an old lady who sits on the rock imploring passersby to “Take me to the cemetery.” Eyewitnesses to the mass graves say that the site was the killing ground for Somoza supporters, their wives, and children as young as 15 years old. Beware walking at night along the dark and winding Diamante road.

by Cheryl Serra

The students in Louisa Amanda Sanchez’s class at Escuela Victor Manuel are using their imaginations more since the San Juan del Sur Biblioteca Movil mobile book project arrived at the school, bringing books to many students who previously had none.  “These students especially like the picture books,” Sanchez says, “because they are able to create elaborate stories based on the pictures.”

Sanchez has taught at the school, located in San Juan del Sur, for the past seven years. Prior to the arrival of the library’s mobile book project, there were no books for students in Ms. Sanchez’s class. Students would copy everything they learned from the notes she wrote on the blackboard.

by Sandy Driver

Nicaragua has hardly been synonymous with golf. Look up the Nicaraguan Golf Association on the internet and you’ll find it’s based out of Miami. But there is one fine 18-hole golf course in the land of lakes and volcanoes, at Nejapa Country Club, with a full range of amenities including swimming pool, tennis courts, bar and restaurant.

Nejapa Country Club was founded in 1940 near Nejapa Lagoon in what is now urban Managua. Urban sprawl and political upheavals resulted in its closing and eventual relocation. The new facility was opened in 1997. 

Set on rolling terrain in the southeast outskirts of Managua, the course offers panoramic views of the Masaya Volcano and Lake Nicaragua. Nejapa is well groomed and the holes are lined with a variety of tropical trees and shrubs. Being a newer course, the foliage is still of relatively modest size and, as of yet, seldom presents major obstacles.

by  P. Hukov

Among the artisans of San Juan del Oriente is Marcell Navarro Ruiz, the creator of multicolor dream images rendered on ceramic plates. Navarro’s abstract images tell tales of adventures, sirens of the sea, mysteries of the night, the romance of Nicaragua, and meteorites in the cosmos in a carnival of colors.

Marcell Navarro Ruiz has been portraying these dreams in acrylic paint on clay for 12 years. He works in the back of his simple home, his wood stove smoking nearby, a 15-inch clay plate cradled under his arm, and a tray with dozens of hues at his elbow.

Navarro, 31, taught himself by studying the works of great artists, especially his favorite artist, Picasso. The visions he renders on ceramic begin as thoughts and feelings. He sketches abstract forms with a pencil on paper, then transfers the outline in pencil to a concave red pottery plate after a background coat of black or white paint has been applied. He paints quickly with swift strokes —he was definitely a kid who stayed inside the lines in his coloring book.