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Ometepe Island

Chris Moss, Travel Journalist highlights emerging Nicaragua, a land of volcanoes, lakes and a blissful Caribbean coast, where the descendants of British pirates inhabit white-sand islands.

Sandinista guerrillas kept the fight for freedom alive in the 70s, seizing power in 1979 and ruling until 1990 (despite the best efforts of Ronald Reagan to have them overthrown). Puppet dictators aside, Nicaragua became an independent republic in1838, though the British claimed the Mosquito Coast until 1850.

Top five attractions

  • Colonial Granada, on Lake Nicaragua, built as a showpiece city in 1524 and lovely to explore by horse and carriage.
  • Erupting out of the lake are the twin volcanic peaks of the Isla de Ometepe, which create an hourglass shape in the lake with beaches on the isthmus.
  • San Juan del Sur, hemmed in by cliffs, has undeveloped beaches and great surfing breaks.
  • The Mombacho cloud forest reserve, at the top of a volcano, where orchids, bromeliads and the rare quetzal bird hide in the canopy.
  • The two tiny Corn Islands, great for snorkelling coral reefs, eating lobster and shooting the breeze with the largely black population, which is of Jamaican descent.

Best city
Colonial León has volcano views, a huge cathedral, thick-walled buildings and many churches and museums, including the Museum of Legends and Traditions, and a grieving lion guarding the tomb of the poet-philosopher Rubén Darío.

Souvenir to buy
Sandinista T-shirt.

Quirky Nicaragua
Lake Nicaragua has the world's only freshwater sharks.

Read
‘The Jaguar Smile’ by Salman Rushdie, who was invited to Nicaragua by the Sandinistas. Even those who don't like Rushdie's fiction should enjoy this lively volume of reportage.

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  • Heloise
    Heloise Buxton - Travel Expert

    Heloise started her Latin American journey as an exchange student in Santiago, Chile. With extended summer holidays this was the perfect opportunity to backpack through Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and Brazil.

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    Lina Fuller - Travel Expert

    Lina's passion for the continent where she was born really took off when she moved to Córdoba (Argentina) to study, spending the holidays travelling between Argentina and her native Colombia.

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    Juliet Ellwood - Travel Expert

    After graduating with a degree in Anthropology and History and having been fascinated by Latin America since childhood by the book featuring photos of Nazca, Juliet first visited the region in 2003. Since then, Juliet has visited the majority of countries in Latin America but has particularly extensive experience with Peru, a country she loves for many reasons but not least, its incredible archaeological richness and delicious food!

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    Ben Line - Travel Expert

    Ben fell in love with Latin America on a six month backpacking trip from Colombia to Mexico in 1995. Since then he has explored most of South America, including living in Peru for a year. He is now Head of Sales.

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    Millie Davies - Travel Expert

    Having caught the travel bug as a child, Millie has travelled all over Latin America before making her home in Buenos Aires for 3 years.

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    Chris Rendell-Dunn - Travel Expert

    Anglo-Peruvian Chris grew up in Lima and spent much of his adult life in between London and Cusco as a tour leader, before settling permanently in our London-based Tailor-made and Group Tours sales team.

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