Nicaragua Travel: Namaste

The following are excerpts from a larger story on my Adobe Spark page. Start here and finish the experience by clicking the bottom photo below.

For decades, Nicaragua was synonymous with poverty, death and corruption. Most Americans would’ve never been caught dead traveling here.

Three decades later Nicaragua welcomes savvy American travelers with open arms.

The Nicaragua from my childhood was a country suffocating from oppression and violence. I didn’t know much about politics in the 80s. However, I knew enough from my father’s daily commentary, a uniquely Caribbean perspective, that the Central American nation was deep in the excrement of a zero sum game with the United States.

Nicaragua is a country of contrasts.

You never know what you’re going to get when you travel to Nicaragua during the rainy season. I had my fair share of rain storms last time I visited the Solentiname Archipelago.

You can not experience its’  beautiful natural landscapes without the level of rain it gets.

The rain can last several minutes or a few hours. I visited during a storm system that textured the skies with cumulus clouds and shadows.

Luxury travel in Nicaragua

As with any country, seaside property is a hot commodity. Nicaragua is no different.

Luxury resorts and manicured communities dot the picturesque Emerald coastline.

There’s a bit of guilt that runs through you when you’re sitting in an air-conditioned vehicle barreling past impoverished communities on the way to an oceanfront resort. I couldn’t help but think about common life in the area as I peered at shacks, barefoot children, stray dogs, clothes lines, muddied pigs and countless adults lingering about seemingly not working on a Friday morning.

Click the photo below to read more of my Nicaragua travel story, complete with the sounds of Nicaragua.