Discover Managua, Capital of Nicaragua!Managua, capital of Nicaragua. A City litterly distroyed by an earthquake December 23, 1972. The third time in less then 45 years. Leveling a great part of the city and taking over 10,000 lives. A City containing over 20% of the countries population. A City, leading commerce, government and religion in a country of 5 million. In addition to an overwhelming large community of Spanish-speaking Mestizos, the City also has large communities of Catalonians, Germans, French and Asian. The Asians are almost entirely Japanese and Chinese. They have been a thriving and driving economic force in developing the "New Managua". 
For many visitors this City can be very confusing. It is a City without an addressing system as most of us are accustom to. You see there are extremely few street signs. All directions are given relative to landmarks. It reminds me of a time when I was younger in Canada. While traveling in the countryside, again where there were no road signs, and you stopped and asked directions to a long lost relative, you might get the following answer. "Well, ya know, ya go down the road for abit. Until you see the old barn with no roof. Well if you see it, ya gone to far. Come back a bit. To the old slew. Ya will probably see Betsy stop'd fur a swalla, caz its pretty warm dez daz. Anyway ya turn right, go 1/2 mile and dare on the left yo'll see the broken gate. Turn in and dey be just over da hill" You may think it is funny but here in this City it is true. For example: the address for IBW the main ISP provider here in Nicaragua. Their address is Semaforos ENITEL Vill Fontana, 200 vara al lago, No.278 Managua, Nicaragua. Translated crudely, as my Spanish is bad, At the traffic lights beside the ENITEL building, in the barrio (district) of Villa Fontana, 200 varas (vara is a little shorter then a yard or a meter if you are not from the US) towards the lake you will find building No. 287. To assist you is finding your way around this new City at the bottom of the page. Or find the best deal, compare prices and read what other travelers have to say about hotels in Managua Capital of Nicaragua is as a modern a City as you will find anywhere. Yes some products and services are in limited supply but generally you will find everything you need here. A very vibrant and growing city, with all the excitement together with all of the problems. To give you a better understanding of what the local Nicaraguans think of their growing City here is an interesting article. Managua, Pretty Managua I have never cared for the large cities. Perhaps because I was born in a small town. Managua is no exception. I passed almost five years of my life in this city as a university student. At that time Managua was a more chaotic city than it is today. I really never understood how the cabdrivers could take me to an exact location without there to being an addressing system in the city. But in fact they did it. Nowadays the city is seen so different. I lived in Managua a time when the City just began to rise... I speak of the middle of the nineties, after the earthquake and after the war... Now the capital is at the crossroad of changes... Changes that are so visible... There is a lot of new infrastructure.  But there are more children in the street. More luxury hotels. Just behind these... are marginal settlements. There are many new universities. But few have any possibility to attend them... There is a park of the peace... but peace is lacking in Managua. Yes there are the good residential areas. But juvenile delinquency is on the rise. What our government says seems contradictory. Although, compared with the other capitals of Latin America, Managua is the safest capital... This I can say is a half-truth when you include the areas less favored of the city... There is new freeways, but the service of public transportation continues being so depressing. There are new and luxurious supermarkets. But near the beach of the Lago de Managua (Lake of Managua), many children seek, between vultures and filth, what could be their only food of the day... There is a new cathedral, but each day there is less people with faith. The new Managua is so full contrasts of that there is no doubt. It is not that it was better then ten or fifteen years ago. It's now, I see a city that little by little appears to be losing its identity while being impregnated of the culture McDonalds and TGI Fridays.  Managua at night... a city seems me, very dynamic with its multicolored lights, with hundreds of things to do. The “zona rosa” (electric zone) itself full of university youths in search of record stores, movies, bars and restaurants. I cannot avoid the obvious... near the zona rosa can be seen dozens of youths in search of “the best postor” to rent its body and its youth (the place for the young to be and be seen as those in the know - the statements "I am somebody. Look at me" come to mind)... The fact is, it is not all the color of rose in that place. The poverty contrasts in another record store. Where boys and girls of the different social strata entertain paying an admission of almost ten American dollars per person, in a country where almost the 40% of the population manages to survive with barely two dollars a day. When you visit Managua and Nicaragua, in general, you will know how we live. While in principle it may look like poverty, it's different from everything that you know. Possibly, likewise that of the misery of other poorer, more distant countries. But this is only my personal opinion.  For the Spanish version click here. Discover the Comunidad Nicaragua - Her Great Locations and People!
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