Every Sunday in November is another opportunity to see traditional dance in Masaya, Nicaragua. Dances are performed all day long, up and down the city streets, and in houses belonging to those who requested a personal visit from the dancers. Anyone can enter the houses to watch the performances. Check out these videos of El Baile de Los Diablitos and a tiny dancer in the making.
One of the many things I love about life in Nicaragua is the immediate access to food in the neighborhoods. Besides the pulperías on every other corner selling juice, water, snacks and other goodies, real food comes to your door. Here is my host mom buying tortillas for our lunch.
And every street vendor has their own special way of calling attention to their goods. You can hear the tortilla man from around the corner calling out “Tortillahey.”
¡Un Buen Viaje! was recently featured in International Lifestyle Magazine, a publication that focuses on positive lifestyle choices from around the globe. The two-page spread speaks to the ‘vacation’ and how leaving your everyday life behind for a brief moment in time can stimulate your physical and emotional well-being resulting in a greater appreciation for what waits for you back home. ¡Un Buen Viaje! tours will ignite inspiration deep in the heart of Nicaragua.
I’m not a fan of the zoo, this one—the national zoo in Nicaragua—or any other, but I’m pretty sure the quality of life of a sloth (aka perezoso) is the same on the inside as it is on the outside.
This was the first perezoso I had ever seen in the flesh, or fur as it were. Although they exist in the wild in Nicaragua they are elusive to say the least, and while on numerous occasions I’ve had Nicaraguans protest that these fur balls do indeed adorn the tree tops above, not one slow poke has ever moved so much as a toe while I was around, giving away his whereabouts. But I’ll continue to keep my head up, my mouth closed, and my eyes open.
THAT is what is called a Pica Caballo (horse biter) in Nicaragua. It’s either a kind of Tarantula or simply Tarantula-like. I have yet to learn its true identity so if anyone can shed some light on this leggy creature, please do.
I grew up in Minnesota with a spider phobia ten times the size of this hairy beast but three months in Nicaragua, six years ago, cured it. Our ability to overcome and adapt in foreign lands never ceases to amaze me. I have encountered this formidable arachnid in numerous locales while traveling Nica’s tropical landscape. Oddly enough never in the ‘wild’.
I was recently interviewed by Joan Rojas from the Rojas Spanish Language empire. (Joan – You know I jest.) What started out as personalized language instruction has turned into a Spanish language dynasty including an online Spanish language video program and interactive magazine, travel blogs and podcasts. If you want to learn Spanish, this is how you do it.
Joan wanted to know why I choose Nicaragua and what ¡Un Buen Viaje! has to offer our clients. I’ll send you from my blog to her blog for the complete interview. Read: Viája a Nicaragua con Jessica
Managua’s (unofficial) Patron Saint, Saint Dominic (Santo Domingo) de Guzmán, is celebrated every August for ten days. The festivities include the rhythmic procession of Minguito (a common nickname for Domingo) from Las Sierritas Parish Church on Managua’s south side to Santo Domingo Church in the old city center of Managua, and back again; Palo Lucio – a prize for anyone who reaches the top of a 5-meter high greased pole; an hípica (horse parade); and of course, random dancing, singing and imbibing.
Below are two videos with excellent imagery showing the celebration nearly 20 years ago, and today.
These are words we live by when traveling in areas where we encounter children begging in the streets. These are words we ask our tour participants to live by when traveling with us. Slow down – you’re on vacation after all – and engage.
Smile. Share a joke. Share a riddle. Magic tricks can hurdle any language barrier. Ask their name. Their age. What they think about this. What they think about that. Children are children the whole world ’round. Ask a child for his/her opinion and you may as well have asked them to star in their very own circus.
There’s probably no way to quantify just how meaningful or significant this approach may be, but ask yourself this, how does it make you feel when someone wants to know what YOU think?
Now, if you simply cannot resist the urge to give ’stuff’, give it to a local, recognized organization working to protect, educate, and empower the children in their own country.
