WELCOME TO NICARAGUA Nicaragua is still a country to be discovered!! Nicaragua known as “The country of Lakes and Volcanoes” has a lot to offer such as: colonial cities, tropical forests, a variety of fauna and breathtaking landscapes. Surrounded by the two great oceans (Atlantic and Pacific), Nicaragua also possesses volcanic islands, crater lagoons, impressive history, pre-Columbian findings, last but not least its people, customs and its culture.
Nicaragua provides its visitors sunny beaches off the Pacific Ocean and sandy white beaches with crystal clear waters off the Atlantic Ocean. Our National Reserves, National Parks and Cloud forests will be the highlight for the eco-tourist. A hike in many of the country’s volcanoes and mountains will be perfect for the tourist looking for adventure. Finally one of the most important activities will be visiting its colonial towns with preserved architecture and lots of culture.
GENERAL INFORMATION Nicaragua is located in the center of Central American isthmus between Honduras and Costa Rica. It is the largest country in Central America with a land area of over 130,000 sq. km. Nearly 9,500 sq. km of Nicaragua is covered by lakes.
Our country consists of three geographic zones. The Pacific region holds about 90 % of the population and runs along the west coast of the country. The largest cities, trading centers and a chain of 25 volcanoes can also be found in this region. The central zone boasts with beautiful mountain range that host coffee farms, cattle ranches, and rain forests. The Atlantic region (almost half the country’s area) is the wildest part of the country, settled largely by non-Spanish Europeans, and is now populated by Sumo and Miskito Indians.
BRIEF HISTORY During the Pre-Columbian times, several tribes settled in Nicaragua sparsely. On Columbus’ fourth westward voyage he landed on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua (Cabo Gracias a Dios) and claimed the territory for the Spanish crown. A few years later the Spanish conquistador Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba explored further into the interior of Nicaragua and founded the first cities on the mainland: Colonial León and Granada in 1524.
The independence of Nicaragua from Spain in 1821, a dispute erupted between these two colonial cities, bringing times of foreign intervention. The most talked about was when the U.S. soldier of fortune, William Walker, proclaimed himself President and then caused a civil war, which lasted from 1855 to 1857. At the end of the conflict, Managua was established as the capital for its central location.
The US Marines were invited to Nicaragua to provide political and economic stability. At their departure, General Anastasio Somoza was left in power of the military, beginning a dictatorship of more than forty years by the Somoza family. A catastrophic earthquake destroyed Managua in 1972 leaving 10,000 dead and hundreds of thousands homeless. Somoza took the foreign relief funds to make him even wealthier. This was the beginning of the end for the Somoza dynasty as the (FSLN) a student based revolutionary group, the Sandinista National Liberation Front, organized the populace and overthrew Somoza in 1979. The Sandinistas took their name from Augusto Sandino, an anti-imperialist revolutionary who staged an underground resistance to US Marine occupation in the 1920s.
CLIMATE Nicaragua has only two seasons, the dry season from December through late May, and the rainy season from June through November. The coolest and most pleasant months are November through January. The countryside blooms and it’s impossible to count the various shades of green. The hottest and driest months are April and May they come at the end of the dry season. During the rainy season also called the “green season,” showers last an average of one hour in the afternoon. In the Pacific region, the average temperature ranges between 25 and 33 Celsius (80’s-90’s Fahrenheit).
The central highlands average temperature is a bit cooler depending on the altitude, and the Caribbean coast is more humid with some areas reporting up to 5 meters of rainfall annually.