What are /r/Nicaragua's favorite Products & Services?

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Generally you're advised against any highway travel after dark for a whole host of reasons (animals in the road, drunk drivers, generally unpredictable road conditions exacerbated in the dark...). You probably have the option of killing 4 hours or so at the airport and then catching a taxi to a bus station (or directly to Leon).

The Best Western is across the street from the airport, it's your best bet if you want a hotel. I haven't stayed there but it's often been recommended to me.

Here's a nice guide for bussing it. If you taxi to a bus station, know the name of the station and how to pronounce it (UCA is You-ka, BTW).

I spent last summer in Leon, so if you're looking for other input hit me up.

Edit: Way better bus guide.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g580113-d2197390-Reviews-Eleda_Transporte-Granada_Granada_Department.html

I now the driver, Bosco, personally. Very reliable person, send them an E-Mail and if they are not booked for anything else that night he will be there and take you to Granada safely!

Yeah, highly doubtful it isn’t there. Central America and the Caribbean had almost no cases a week ago. Now look. Can’t imagine it just magically skipped Nicaragua.

Slightly off topic - but when North American friends ask me for more info about the history of US involvement in Nicaragua last century - I usually direct them to:

Blood of Brothers - by Stephen Kinzer

It is easily purchased on Amazon, and well worth the $$. His other books are excellent as well.

https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Brothers-Nicaragua-Afterword-American/dp/0674025938

https://www.amazon.com/Lizano-Chilero-Hot-Sauce-Pack/dp/B000BWUEBM/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=lizano+chile&qid=1600808299&sr=8-1

Your risk of these diseases is based mostly in where you will be staying. Most hotels and hostels will be perfectly safe. If you're camping or doing homestays in rural areas, your risk is higher.

Chagas can be a very serious disease in you're one of the unlucky folks that get the irreversible GI and heart problems from it. I had my own scare last summer after being bitten by a kissing bug while staying in the highlands. Thankfully, tests for the parasite came back negative. I'd rather catch dengue, malaria, and chikungunya over chagas, cause at least those are curable.

For kissing bugs, specifically, anything with DEET will help, but also take care to avoid staying in homes or buildings with thatched roofs or adobe walls. Don't sleep under palm trees if you're camping. If you want to be really safe, you can try to double up on your protection at night by using a hanging mosquito net over your bed and also sleeping inside a smaller pop-up net like this.

I agree with the sentiment of not doing San Juan del Sur - expensive and packed with folks. the surfing beach, Playa maderas, also tends to be packed and is very tourist oriented - expensive. I'd consider one of the beaches off of Tola ( playa gigante is my favorite) its pretty remote, has great surfing, and whenever I'm there I feel like I own the entire coastline.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Playa_Gigante

for your yoga needs there's a number of yoga-oriented places on ometepe. the town of santa cruz pretty much cartels to the yoga-organic-capoeira-crowd. its also beautiful.

also there are some very nice surf camps west of Managua - I can't remember the names of them, one's owned by some brazilians and the other is owned by a really a nice English couple.

There's no need to spend a ton in Managua. Los ranchos is sort of expensive, but not bad.

Go to "el eskimo' for breakfast awesome food. they also make great club sandwiches, also they are the people who make ice cream so they make all kinds of ice cream, milk shakes, etc.

For local fare go to la cocina de doña haydee - really good nicaraguan food, not too expensive.

for fried chicken you have pollo tip-top, or pollo campero

If you want to have a few drinks to live music and have some tipical nica food, etc go to el garabato

if you want some good coffee go to casa del cafe, they have a few locations in managua

if you've never been to nicaragua before you have to try:

quesillos (tortilla with cheese inside) really good

nacatamales - nicaraguan tamales

fritanga - homemade food to go. there is a really famous fritanga place in los robles not too far from the pharaoh casino

When my girlfriend's family visited a few years ago we stayed at Pelican Eyes in SJDS. They're pretty well traveled and said it was the best accommodations they'd experienced.

AirBnB has quite a few Nicaragua listings to choose from. You'll get gringo priced unless you haggle though.

Cheapest I could find is $625 USD. If you go in March or April, it's more like $500 USD. Check google flights. Here is the link to where I found that price

I don’t know of any but, I’ve been reading this book Shipwrecked Identities which gives a solid explanation on the contrasts. It mostly focuses on the East Coast. Alternatively, when the pandemic is over, you’re more than welcome to attend one of my family parties. You’ll get plenty exposure to culture 😊

Edit: Using Apollo and it didn’t link the book.

Shipwrecked Identities: Navigating Race on Nicaragua's Mosquito Coast https://www.amazon.com/dp/0813538149/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_dEMJt5MvCreUH

Sounds like using a phone for turn by turn navigation is adequate in Nicaragua. I will pursue that route.

Does this cell phone (dual sim GSM) seem like it would do the job? ~~https://www.amazon.com/BLU-Advance-5-0-Unlocked-Smartphone/dp/B018IZ0SWI/ref=sr_1_1?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1466391701&sr=1-1&keywords=blu+cell+phone~~ Updated: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/blu-vivo-xl-4g-lte-with-16gb-memory-cell-phone-unlocked-solid-gold/4934002.p?id=bb4934002&skuId=4934002

The crossed out phone had bad reviews in terms of onboard drive space. Not really enough for maps. The new phone has good reviews.

Thanks to /u/dhcanada and /u/el_nica !!

Looking forward to the trip!