Isla de Ometepe

Ometepe is an island located in Lake Nicaragua, the largest lake in Central America. The island is made of two nearby volcanoes, one still active, raising up through the lake. Lava floating down from the volcanoes united them into a single island.

Ometepe is one of the main tourist attractions in Nicaragua but being a very small tourist country, most places Nicaraguans are proud over are maybe not that unique or attractive in an international perspective. Ometepe is nice and marvellous as a nature wonder, but the various places you can visit on the island is quite sh*t. There is for example a volcanic lagoon with water they claim to be healthy, but it is cold water and a swim in it is not worth the entrance fee. There is also a waterfall remotely located and the long climb (and entrance fee!) is not worth what you see.

Ometepe is beautiful and is best enjoyed through free hikes along the shore or bicycle rides through the fields; and definitely not through low-class "attractions".

Granada

Granada is the most touristy of all Nicaraguan cities. This does not mean that it is incredibly touristy because Nicaragua is a very small tourist destination, although it is considerably safer than both Honduras and Costa Rica.

Nicaragua has tried to expand the tourist industry and tried to encourage foreigners to buy houses and lands in the country. Due to the political stability, it is however much safer to invest in the nearby Costa Rica and therefore Nicaragua has yet seen little success outside the colonial Granada.

Nicaragua is a fairly cheap country but Granada suffers from overprising and is crowded with upscale eateries, which does not cater for the local population with limited economic funds. Backpackers may enjoy Granada's spirit and atmosphere for a couple of days but may choose to look for other places if the main objective is to live on a tight budget.

Overall, Granada is pleasant, quiet, safe, beautiful and tranquil.

William Walker

One of the reasons Central America is so fascinating is its unlikely history, which I find many times more intriguing than the European equivalence. I try to not fill the blog with too much history however, as you probably wouldn't be bothered to read it, but some of the oddities I am sure you appreciate. This is one of them; the story about Nicaragua and William Walker.

Background
In Nicaragua there were in the colonial times two centres; Granada (dominated by conservatives) and Leon (dominated by liberals). Granada was the rich city of trade and Leon, although very poor, the seat of the political power. This inbalance led to conflicts between the two cities as Leon thought it should have more of the wealth and Granada thought it should have more power. After independence, there was even a civil war (1850s) between Leon and Granada. This finally led to the relocation of the capital to Managua (still the capital city) which then was a little bigger than a standard fishing village. Managua was only chosen because it was located between Leon and Granada.

The merits of William Walker
Mr Walker was an american citizen, obsessed with taking over Central American land. In 1853 he led a group to attack Mexico and after arriving, he declared himself president of the Mexican part of lower California. Mexico later drove him out when he became too irritating.

Walker arrives to Nicaragua
In the middle of the conflict, the liberals of Leon asked William Walker to help them seaze power from Granada. He happily arrived with an invading party to Granada and succeded. He had his own plan however: he rigged elections and had himself elected president. He ruled the country from Granada, changed the official language to English, instituted slavery and adapted the "five or none"-strategy, which set out his ambition to also take over the remaining Central American countries. This caused worries amongst the neighbours and they united in order to attack Granada and managed to drive him out in 1957. He avoided capture by surrending himself to the US Navy and he was sent back to the US.

Why did he not learn his lesson? This was not the last time Walker was in action however. He arrived six months later with another invading party, only to be arrested and deported by the US Navy again. He changed his tactics and landed in 1860 in Honduras, with yet a new invasion. This time he was captured by the British Navy, which turned him over to the local authorities. They showed no mercy and made the process short; he was shot shortly after and is today buries in Trujilly, Honduras.

Nicaragua after Walker
With the record of having invited William Walker to Nicaragua, the Liberals of Leon failed to regain any power for the next 36 years. Walker is also one of reasons to why the capital was moved to Managua.

Celebrations in Tegucigalpa

I happened to arrive to Tegucigalpa (capital of Honduras) the day after the Honduras football team had managed to win a game so there was some kind of drumming and celebrations going on downtown. The hope for the 2010 world cup is apparently still alive. I had earlier in the week watched Honduras play Canada in a bar in West End, but no matter how hard I tried, it was difficult working up some sympathies for the Honduran team. It was different when I watched Guatemala play the United States with the family in Antigua. So I ended up supporting Canada anyway and I didn’t pay too much attention to the ongoing celebrations.
Anyway, Tegucigalpa is a quite dull place. So are also the other Honduran cities I visited (La Ceiba and San Pedro Sula). I don’t even know why I bother writing about it. Bye bye Honduras.

Roatán

So what is Mattias doing on a Caribbean island in the middle of the hurricane season? There is no need to worry however because both hurricanes Hanna and Ike passed by on a safe distance through Haiti to the north. Roatán is famous for being the cheapest place in the world to dive, so I passed by here to obtain a diving certificate. I found out, however, that the prices quoted in my guide were nowhere close to the actual prices on the island so it has apparently recently got much more expensive. But as it was off the peak tourist season, I got to do my course with two instructors on my own, which speeded things up compared to being in a class. It took only three days to do four dives, four confined water sessions, theory, swimming tests and final exam.

The West Village on Roátan is an idyllic (but relatively expensive) place. It is formed of one street only running parallel to the sea. Here are numerous restaurants, dive shops and hotels located next to each other, catering for diving tourists only. If you don’t dive, there is little point in going here.

A football war?

There have long been tensions between Honduras and El Salvador as overpopulation and economic difficulties forced many Salvadorians to Honduras. It didn’t become better of the civil war in El Salvador, which forced a further flow of refugees across the border. Whenever there are some disagreements between the two countries, a popular action from the Honduran side is to arrest a bunch of exile-Salvadorians and deport them back to their country. In 1969, when El Salvador played Honduras in the qualifications for the football world cup, the Salvadorians decided to take revenge from a recent deportation of 500 Salvadorians and thereby attacked the visiting fans from Honduras. This led to thousands more evictions and a severe political crisis, which was followed by El Salvador invading Honduran territory and bombing their airports. The military conflict is today referred to as the football war. Sometimes these people are just soo stupid.

Copán

Time to visit Ruins again. I went to the only site of class in Honduras, called Copan Ruinas. It is an old abandoned Maya city which is still being explored and excavated. Copan doesn’t contain much of other Maya features such as the architectural brilliance of Chichén Itzá or tall temples of Tikal; instead it is famous for its sculptures. The buildings were decorated with sculptures unique for the Mayan world.

As I prefer to watch impressive structures or climb tall towers, looking at some serpents carved in stone wasn’t quite that exciting compared to other ruins. For this reason I found the site highly overpriced. And the experience didn’t become better of struggling to make the walk around the site as a result of stomach cramps (had eaten some bad foods the days before).

Altar with sculptures

Something else with sculptures

The banana republic

Anyone ever wondered what exactly a banana republic is? The answer is Honduras – the mother of all banana republics.
In the late 19th century, several US banana companies looked across the ocean to the fertile earths of Honduras, which has the perfect climate for growing bananas. The Honduran government quickly jumped on the train and encouraged foreign companies to buy lands. The banana industry soon boomed and what stood for only 11% of the country’s exports in 1892 had only 20 years later grown to 66%.
When the larger companies had bought up all the smaller ones, three major rivalling US banana companies remained in Honduras and they played a key role in the country’s economy. To gain further favours and power, the three companies allied with three different political parties and the US banana companies thereby controlled Honduran politics for a long time after.

Honduras' Flag

Maximón

Across the lake from Panajachel, in a lagoon squeezed in by volcanoes, lies Santiago Atitlán. Santiago is famous for its market, traditional lifestyle, clothing and ... Maximón!
The Spanish knew him as San Simón, the ladinos named him Maximón and the Maya knew him as Ry Laj Man. It is a worshipped God figure, assumed to be a combination of Mayan Gods and the biblical Judas amongst other weird things. Guatemalans make offerings and ask for blessings in front of Maximón.
In Santiago, the villagers know Maximón as a wooden figure draped in coloured scarfs and smoking a fat cigar. He resides in the house of a town elder and each year Maximón is moved to a new house. During Easter week, he is even paraded on the streets. His favourite gifts are Payaso cigarettes and Venado Rum, but he often has to settle for cheaper brands. As I can´t imagine that a wooden figure can smoke a huge amount of cigarettes every year (and probably can´t absorb too much rum either) I am curious to what actually happens to the offerings but the story doesn’t cover this detail.
Local children take you to the house of Maximón for a small tip.

The village Santiago as you arrive with the boat








ALL women and girls in this village wear traditional clothes if they walk outside their house. The clothes are incredibly beautiful with many patterns and details. As Guatemalans are a bit funny with photographs, I decided it was best to not try to catch close-up pictures of the local Maya but I got this view from a tiny market.



Maximón has an even bigger tie collection than me, and he wears them all at the same time.

Gringotenango

Gringotenango is the nickname of Panajachel, by far the largest and most visited (and also most accessible) town on the shore of Lago Atitlán. Gringo means foreigner (in particular a foreigner from USA) and the ”place of the foreigners” is Guatemala’s oldest tourist hangouts. People in a semi-permanent exile have lingered here since the 1950s (with a drop down period during the civil war in the 1970s and 1980s, which made Guatemala quite dangerous).

Foreigners and ladinos (Guatemalans with Spanish descend) control the tourism sector in the area and make the big money while the indigenous Maya (as always) are downgraded to the handicraft sector and market trade, trying to make a living from selling souvenirs to wealthy tourists. Tourists are often incredibly stingy and bargain hard for their pennies, which brings profits down to almost nothing and puts the Maya in a very difficult economic position.

Panajachel offers nothing exciting as a town but it’s enough walking down to the lakeside to understand why so many tourists flock here. Boats take people across the lake to other villages.