by Rex Schmetterling

It’s no secret that real estate investment is a hot ticket in Nicaragua. Land prices are a bargain compared to the global market and investors are buying up large tracts of it, building houses, roads and factories.  Development is economic progress, but it can come at the expense of habitat loss and degradation of the environment. But there are people doing something besides buying land to bulldoze flat and put a building on. Some investors are buying land to preserve or even enhance the natural world, to create sustainable, evolving land uses.

Vince Ventre is perhaps the last guy you’d think would start a nature center. A commercial roofer (local 30) from Philadelphia, he would seem to be the guy passionately discussing Harley Davidson motorcycles and football scores. Instead, its wild flowers, birds, and as his many tattoos would suggest, butterflies. While traveling the world adding to his butterfly collection, including seven weeks in the jungles of New Guinea, he came to Nicaragua and decided to stay.  He bought 16.5 acres north of San Juan del Sur one kilometer from the ocean, “because of potential for growth and less expensive land,” Vince said.

by Jason Beck

Vampire bats occur only in South and Central America; Nicaragua is no exception. Masaya Volcano National Park’s Cueva de Murcielago is home to a colony of at least 2,000; they are common where ever caves or forests with hollowed out trees provide habitat.

 This article is not intended to incite fear, but to shed light on a most unusual animal. The truth about vampire bats is confused in myths and legends that originated in Europe (where there are no vampire bats). In some cases, the vampire myth from Europe was added to the description of the real animal, in other cases the life history of the bats was added to a vampire myth from Europe. May I introduce you to the Vampire Bat?

by Sean Wayne

Some forts are built to defend against or take refuge from outside aggressors; others as permanent military bases that may serve as instruments of internal control. A commonality among fortifications is that they are situated on high ground to provide a commanding field of fire to control as much of the surrounding area as possible. But now, happily, what once were places of bloodshed or oppression are quiet places to learn about history; what were once fields of fire are now great views; battlements are now viewing platforms. Bring your camera, binoculars and perhaps your imagination along and take a tour of Nicaragua’s forts.

by  Penny  Hurlbuck

As part of Nicaragua’s ongoing efforts to make tourism a cornerstone of the national economy, a new tax incentive driven tourism investment bill will be presented to the national legislature in the fall session. Patterned on tax incentive financing (TIF) laws common in the United States, the bill allows investors to finance 70% of tourism-based projects by the sale of bonds which are in turn repaid over time by money that would otherwise have been paid to the government as taxes. The other 30% must be funded by the project investor. The new law is called the Tourism Investment Bond program (BIT).

The bill specifies the use of undeveloped land which now has no existing infrastructure and therefore no tax base. The diverted tax money would be the 15% central government IGV sales tax and Rental Tax (IR); applicable local taxes would still be paid.

by  Mary Helen Espinosa

During one week of commuting up and down the La Concha roadway, I jotted down 16 different names proudly emblazoned on the rear windows of the express vans (inter-urbanos)  running between cities.   From the humble, “Un Regalo de Dios” (a gift from God),  to the arrogant, “El Malo” (the bad one),  the vans often take on personalities of their drivers or of their transportation cooperatives.  Some are obviously statements of identity like “Un Chanchunchito Mas” and “Ojitos Bellos,” while others leave doubt “El Intelectual,” “El Astuto,” “Golden Boy,” and  “El Angelito.”  My favorites express vans, of course, are those from which you should wisely keep at a safe distance: “El Titánico (El Camino al Cielo),””El Fugitivo,” “Tu Peor Pesadillo,” (your worst nightmare) and my all-time favorite “El Ciego”(the blind).

by Professor Carlos Schmid

Anyone who spends time speaking with rural folks soon finds that the people of the land have some arcane ideas about unworldly things. One of the most prevalent beliefs is that the countryside is populated by elves, called duendes. A glance at the topographical maps of northern Nicaragua discloses that there are several caves with the name of, “the cave of the elf”, or la cueva del duende. And these little people can be downright nasty. One young matron explains that elves are responsible for the disappearance of small children, who are stolen from mothers who do not adequately watch their children. Another informant explains that elves love to scare people in the middle of the night just for fun.

by Eric Weisenberger & Shelley Morrison

The organization La Esperanza Granada (LEG), in Granada Nicaragua, has been providing opportunities and resources for the long-term educational advancement and community development of four Nicaraguan pueblos: La Prusia, Elba Zamora, La Epifania and Las Camelias; in hopes of brightening the future of the children and empowering the pueblos to improve their current living conditions.  Through the concern and the vision of several caring individuals, there is enough hope to help these pueblos in a time of need.