Masaya and Managua

We spent two nights in Masaya, the town between Granada and Managua, mostly known for its artesanía market, the ideal place for buying souvenirs. On Thursday night, we saw a performance of folk dances from all over Nicaragua. The spectacle was colourful, with live music and good local ambiance.


Masaya is also the name of a nearby volcano, still active. The National Park Volcán Masaya has another volcano, Nindirí. Both volcanoes together comprise 5 craters.
After a one-hour hike uphill, you arrive at Plaza de Oviedo, from where you have an excellent view over the active crater of Nindirí.

On Saturday, Michele Lombardini, a friend from Brussels who has been living in Managua for a while, came to pick up us in Masaya and we visited the capital with him. Managua was destroyed in 1972 by a devastating earthquake, which very few buildings survived. It has never really been rebuilt properly, and looks like a disorganised suburb. So the few places worth seeing can be visited by car in a couple of hours. We had an excellent dinner with Michele and his friends, and went to an open-air bar with very good live music afterwards.

Michele: Thanks for this pleasant weekend and for your hospitality, including the hot shower, which was the first one in a long time for us!!!