I struggled a lot of time if Nicaragua is safe to travel when I visited this destination in July. The country

Not much is known about this country and yet Nicaragua has long been considered to be one of the safest countries in Central America. While the northern neighboring countries, such as Honduras or El Salvador, have been long avoided due to horror warnings, Nicaragua was considered as a haven of peace in between and impressed visitors with its volcanoes, inland lakes and beautiful colonial towns over the past view decades.

Even expatriates came to this country, co-working spaces emerged and after a normal working day, the waves of the Pacific attracted the numerous digital nomads, who were also able to live far better and more affordable in Nicaragua than in neighboring Costa Rica.

But what will become of this beautiful and warm country? Is Nicaragua safe to travel now?

The country’s most iconic volcano Concepcion, located on Isla Ometepe in the middle of Lake Nicaragua, can almost symbolize the country and its current status quo: it’s always bubbling away and you never know when it’s outbreak comes.

The reason for this situation is the current uprising between the civilian population and government troops. A reform in the pension system led to pensioners taking to the streets with a peaceful demonstration in April of this year.

Pensions were to be cut by up to 5%, civil resistance spread in the civilian population, but the government launched raiders on people.

The situation escalated increasingly and made it very hard for me to know, where and if I can travel through the country.

There is a lack of information and this was clearly the biggest risk on my trip through Nicaragua.

Germany’s Foreign Office warns against unnecessary travels through the country.

Those words seem to remind me a lot of the safety instructions of a second Syria.

But is that really the case?

Sure it is, it will not be the country it was. The number of casualties by responsible government troops has now been confirmed with 300 fatalities. Since the 1970s, there have been no such major uprisings than now in Nicaragua.

Is a trip through the country worthwhile at the present time? Is Nicaragua a safe place to travel in 2018?

Here I would like to clarify with you whether it is appropriate to travel to Nicaragua at the moment.

So lonely in the hostel in Granada

I had no desire to cross the mainland passage from Costa Rica to Southern Mexico via plane.

For only just 1500 kilometers as the crow flies, the low-carrier flight connections cost a lot and I’m generally not that enthusiastic about promoting climate change unnecessarily, if not absolutely necessary.

I had the time and the necessary budget to check out some highlights between Costa Rica and Mexico on the way, while I was also able to travel to new countries.

I focused on Nicaragua and El Salvador.

But what do these two countries have in common?

They are both cheap, worth seeing, authentic and are also considered to be relatively dangerous places.

Instead of El Salvador, this assessment of Nicaragua was relatively uncommon.

Still, until the end of the first quarter of this year, Nicaragua was considered to be one of the most easygoing destinations in the entire region. But things have changed since the beginning of the rebellions of April 2018 in Central America’s poorest state.

It led to a state of anarchy, with hardly any children playing in the streets, and gray bricks piled up in street barricades. If that were not enough for a strange picture in a country with such a young population, you can add a punch here: the president couple Ortega Murillo shoots at the people with government troops!

All of a sudden, I became a witness to Revolution for a short time, as I only knew it from history books before.

Nicaragua has always been one of those countries that interested me because of its exuberant peace and relaxation. But the turning point came in the gears of the time, the uprising this year brought my travel planning to shaky.

And yes, it was actually only a very, very short time that I spent in the country.

How would you feel about staying in Granada while surrounded by closed hostels, hotels, shops and restaurants?

For safety reasons, you book at first for one night in a hostel, because far and wide there are no other accommodated travelers?

In fact, I was lucky not to be alone on the spot. An English woman shared the hostel room with me, but far and wide no one else.

Then she replied to my rather queasy feeling:

“It’s so nice here, but somehow I do not feel safe. What happens when the civilian population suddenly comes up with the idea of storming the hostel? There are two security guys in front of the hostel to protect us. Can they withstand the revolt? Certainly not! They would kill them and us. It’s so nice here, but tomorrow I’m out of here”.

 

I recognized that the hostel had to terminate the contracts of nearly all employees who worked there.

The other hostels were, as mentioned, already closed. Only Google Maps gave an idea of where the other accommodations were.

My time in Nicaragua was bizarre. Again, I came across street barricades or traces of graffiti. On holy Mary statues or run-down house walls, you understand the message really clear: The people struggle at the moment. They claimed a free Nicaragua, but elsewhere also the overthrow of the president.

No nice prospects for the future…

No one knows anything, and that is irritating

In fact, I did not dare to go to every corner of this beautiful colonial city. Only a few meters separate the paved, magnificent Plaza de Cathedral from the surrounding markets. On these markets, you can feel the difference.

Nobody can buy more, just a few guys still want to haggle. The mood is currently bad.

And what should I present in between?

I did not want to be unnecessarily in the firing line and trusted my gut feeling. This told me: “Avoid this corner at the present time!”

I think you should also listen to your feeling before traveling to this country in these days.

This ultimately decides what is better for you.

For a long time I had to think about whether I would pass Nicaragua or not.

However, this ragging did not occur until people asked me at the airport in Germany.

The reason for this was as follows: When the airport personnel demanded me to show my onward ticket out of Costa Rica, I showed my bus ticket to Nicaragua.

The guys just meant “good luck”.

But what do they meant with good luck? Shouldn’t you rather have more fun?

A Dutchman, who accidentally took notice of my travel plan, just meant that I hopefully know what to expect?

Worried, I took the time to do some research to find out what was going on in Nicaragua.

I have to say that I take advices regarding safety from the Foreign Office consistently very serious.

However, I did not notice anything in the relevant news portals about the current situation in Nicaragua.

Therefore I focused not the information about the status quo in Nicaragua, since I just wanted to traverse this country from Costa Rica with the typical highlights on the way – nothing more and nothing less.

However, the researched photographs were shocking, while I did not feel the right mood to travel to Nicaragua.

Would the security officers at the Immigration counter of San Jose Airport even accept my onward ticket in this manner?

Yes, they did and haven’t asked further. Apparently, they did not care that I continue my trip to a potential civil war country. Their main function was just to make sure, that I do not stay illegally in their country beyond the three given months.

On the spot, I tried to ask people in Costa Rica about the current state in Nicaragua.

One guy told me that he knew someone who was currently in transit over there, and whose passport and valuables were stolen due to the tumults. The majority of the other guys just warned to visit the country at the moment. True to the motto “I do not care what I do not know”, I only heard “Don’t travel, it’s dangerous there”.

Noticeable are the many Nicaraguan immigrants, who now sought protection in Costa Rica.

There were public rallies and they expressed their displeasure perfectly. It was probably not the most ideal conditions for Nicaragua at the moment and I was pretty sure, that this place is definitely really risky.

Someone else, I met in the hostel, was on the way to the border. However, he did not want to set foot into Nicaragua but only pass on the passport of the person there. But what happened to the passport? The passport of the Australian, who was well in the midst of the shady and tumultuous lands and cities of Nicaragua, was robbed at an unknown location. Among other things, her passport was lost, and the travel junkie from the hostel intended to travel there to bring her the required documents to leave Nicaragua soon. In her name, he seemed to be really busy in San Jose and made some bureaucratic trivialities to help her out.

After all, nobody had nice words, but no one was right there. And strangely enough, the flow of information was still inadequate, and yet it was precisely that this left me in doubt.

Finally, I bought a bus ticket to the Civil War country

I’ve been in Costa Rica for three weeks and had actually targeted the next station in Southeast Asia. I researched for cheap flights.

The cheapest airport for these trans-Pacific flights from Central America was Mexico City during my research.

San Jose would have been an option, but at this time for scarce 200 euros more???

To stay longer in Costa Rica, which hit me really hard on the wallet?

That was not my favorite idea and I felt I would rather invest these 200 Euros to get me through Central America to travel to countries I did not know yet.

If you look on the map, you will recognize that Nicaragua borders as a neighboring country in the North. Should I really skim the country??

After all, the flight from Costa Rica to El Salvador cost almost as much as the flight from Mexico to Asia. The Honduras flight would have been even more expensive.

Yes, Central America is not cheap to travel, if you only chose by plane.

Before I finally headed to Nicaragua, the situation did not change, but I had reservations about passing through. I asked again in the hostel and always had this expectation of hope that they know something different to let me feel more comfortable with the decision.

I set myself a point where I wanted to make a decision.

After all, it was the first time ever that I had any doubts about traveling to a country.

My feeling was that even Pakistan or North Korea would be easier to travel than Nicaragua at this time. There you expect difficulties for decades, but in the places like Costa Rica and beyond really nobody took care about anything regarding the lonely country in the North.

No response or always just the same phrase, “Everything dangerous, everything evil”. I had doubt if it is Nicaragua safe to travel in these upcoming months.

Really, this scaremongering about danger, dead and bad guys in Central America is really an immense problem.

I chose to seek advice from people who are best placed to face Nicaragua daily, and not just those guys who sit on relaxed chairs talking about the evil world.

The easiest option that I had in mind was to ask the several bus companies that are heading to the country.

Finally, I had never been sent a warning even while booking the onward ticket to Nicaragua (before entering CR), although allegedly the borders were temporally closed.

The city’s terminals were out of the center, looking like abandoned barns.

I found somebody from the working staff and asked. What about Nicaragua?

Factually the guy explained that the buses continue with trips to Nicaragua and there are no problems at all to travel this country.

He meant that it is still a bit tricky and the problems cannot be ignored, but it’s mainly fine.

So I made it short and booked a bus ticket. I left Costa Rica the same evening and headed to the north.

There I experienced the complete opposite of what was previously said.

Is Nicaragua safe to travel?

I trusted in the factual opinion of a bus salesman and was not disappointed. Finally, I can say that my trip to Nicaragua wasn’t an amazing experience, but it was good that it confirmed my own feelings.

Of course, you can always be far away and declare everything as dangerous place or manner.

I prefer to try it out, even if it is risky.

Nicaragua was not an amazing experience, because it is easy to see that the country is currently in a serious crisis. The most important source of income, the tourism, is currently dying.

The friendly Nicaraguans are happy about the arrival of foreigner’s, but they are confronted with so many other problems at the moment: High unemployment, no income, and no expected chance for improvement.

Nicaragua changed into a state of resignation and therefore it was not such a good time for me to stay longer.

That’s why I cannot recommend Nicaragua at this moment, but hopefully soon again. The country has too much to offer that you cannot skip it.

Of course, I hope for the soonest possible improvement and that I can soon come back with a much better conscience: With flourishing optimism for such a beautiful country.

Reasons to give Nicaragua a try

There are so many different reasons for Nicaragua that I have enjoyed in spite of a very short time in the country. I would like to give you reasons why you need to travel there once at least.

My stay was lasting and in many ways it was even memorable. Why? It was an unexpected experience against all prejudice.

Reasons for this are the following:

• In no other Central American country you can travel as cheaply as in Nicaragua. You have a large diverse country to discover and you can take advantage of two different coastlines around the Pacific and the Caribbean side. There you have tourist hotspots like the Corn Islands or San Juan del Sur. Each coast of the inland thus offers something with its own charm.

• The best traditional breakfast in Central America can be probably found in Nicaragua. Mostly typical in this part of the world is a plate of rice and beans for breakfast, additionally with fried eggs. Nicaragua has a surprisingly more Mediterranean touch for me and the ingredients are always peppered with freshly ripened cheese. Additionally, you get a glass of pineapple juice or, optionally, a cup of coffee. In Nicaragua, you still rely on the natural sweetness instead of artificial sugar. This makes the country an authentic foodie experience. In a good cafe/bistro, you usually pay $ 3-5 for a generous, good breakfast.

In this regard, once again: Nicaragua is an exception for breakfast buffet in Central America and is due to the freshness and diversity the clear number one.

So if you like to travel from a culinary point of view, you will come with Nicaragua fully at your expense.

• The most beautiful colonial cities are all bundled in this country. Forget the horror of San Jose in Costa Rica, the relaxed city of Antigua in Guatemala or Oaxaca. In Nicaragua, you do not have to travel hundreds of miles to get to another thriving colonial city, in this destination you’ll experience great cities like Managua, Granada, and Leon in the immediate vicinity. Even Managua with its two Million inhabitants offers beautiful churches and squares.

Who wants to experience the architectural heritage of colonialism and old Latin American charm again, should consider this country.

Afterward, I would like to mention that personally, I did not experience any kind of danger. Both Managua and Granada are remembered as peaceful places. Nevertheless, one feels the great outcry.

There is always the question when one of the numerous volcanoes breaks out again…

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