InsideOut Travel—Nicaragua 101 for the Educated Traveler

by Suzanne Wopperer

While replete with descriptions of the wild places, colonial architecture and investment opportunities, travelogues that I have read of Nicaragua offer only token mentions of its people. Yet, I find Nicaragüenses themselves, or Nicas, among the country’s most powerful attractions. I keep going back because I can’t resist the warm invitation, the generous hospitality, the ready and bright smiles, the spontaneous and spirited polemic and the universal sense of humor––all these, despite excessive poverty, successively poor governing authorities and a tragic and relatively recent civil war.

I have worked in the disciplines of war, peace and international business so I count among my friends and colleagues some well-traveled folks. Yet, a rather surprising majority of my “war-peace-biz” colleagues over the years have asked “Nicaragua? Isn’t it dangerous?”

	JUST THE FACTS: NICARAGUA
	Nicaragua 101 for the Educated Traveler
	by Suzanne Wopperer While replete with descriptions of the wild places, colonial architecture and investment opportunities, travelogues that I have read of Nicaragua offer only token mentions of its people. Yet, I find Nicaragüenses themselves, or Nicas, among the country’s most powerful attractions. I keep going back because I can’t resist the warm invitation, the generous hospitality, the ready and bright smiles, the spontaneous and spirited polemic and the universal sense of humor––all these, despite excessive poverty, successively poor governing authorities and a tragic and relatively recent civil war. I have worked in the disciplines of war, peace and international business so I count among my friends and colleagues some well-traveled folks. Yet, a rather surprising majority of my “war-peace-biz” colleagues over the years have asked “Nicaragua? Isn’t it dangerous?”				However, travelers can feel in good hands in Nicaragua—road condition and signs not being what they could be, Nicas are always ready with directions, and even the very young often know which bus to take, or are acquainted with a cab driver willing to deliver you some distance outside of town if needed. They are nearly universally ready with a smile, a bit of curiosity, some assistance or thought for good measure, and/or a blessing. Although robbing is popular by the politicians, a street or market vendor will call after you to give you your change if you’ve overpaid even by one or two cordobas ($1 USD = 16.5 NIO). I’ve had cab rides with taxi drivers who’ve made the trip free and shoe shine boys who’ve refused a tip––solely for having enjoyed the conversation. So dangerous is not the word that comes to mind when I think of Nicaragua. "Family and brotherhood were easy to recoup because they had always remained." It would seem then that the war there appears to linger, but only among those who haven’t seen Nicaragua for a while, if they’ve ever seen it at all. It fell off the US national radar after a battering civil war—from 1974 to 1979 or to 1989, depending on where you might, as a sociologist or a casual observer, upgrade social unrest to an insurgency, to a revolution or to a foreign-assisted civil war. more >> << home << discuss article >>
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JUST THE FACTS: NICARAGUA

by Suzanne Wopperer