Rivas, Granada, Masaya, and Managua, Nicaragua

This morning we landed in the Nicaraguan port of San Juan del Sur where our buses and the Municipal band awaited us. From there, we proceeded to the town of Rivas and took a short tour riding on some 30 “pepanos,” which are the local taxis used by the natives on a daily basis. These vehicles are modified bicycles with a seat for two passengers in the front and the driver pedaling in the back. We visited the church and then continued on the buses to the city Granada, which was the commercial center of Central America during colonial times. In spite of having been attacked several times by pirates and been almost burnt to the ground by William Walker in 1856, Granada still maintains the splendor of its past. The nineteenth-century tile roof houses are well kept and painted in lively colors. One has the impression of being in a colonial town, however the architecture is mostly neoclassical.

After a stroll though the park and a visit to the city museum, we went on with our journey through the country and stopped at the Masaya crafts market where some of us did some shopping. A traditional Nicaraguan lunch known as “Caballo Bayo” awaited us in the Masaya restaurant called “El Filete” allowed us to taste many different local dishes. After lunch we visited the Masaya Volcano which the Spanish priests referred to as the “Boca del infierno” that is, “the entrance to hell,” and indeed that is the impression you get as you stand on the edge of the crater and gaze into the deep fumaroles. We then drove to the capital city of Managua, and from the mount of Tizacapa (where former dictator Somoza lived in his fortified bunker until 1979 when he was ousted by the Sandinista Revolutionaries) we had a spectacular overview of the capital city below us, particularly what used to be the center of Managua before it was destroyed in 1972 by an earthquake. The Nicaraguan Bureau of tourism and the City Hall of Managua honored us with a plaque and other gifts that expressed their gratitude to Lindblad Expeditions for having been the pioneers of tourism in post-war Nicaragua. After a short tour through the historical center of the city we came back onboard the Sea Voyager.