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Nicaragua: Granada

The cathedral in Granada
The cathedral in Granada

Granada, the most popular tourist attraction in Nicaragua, is a very strange place. On the surface it's a picture-perfect colonial town on the shores of Lago de Nicaragua, with cathedrals silhouetted against pure blue skies, horse-drawn carriages plying the streets, and plenty of restaurants and watering holes. As far as tourism is concerned, Granada ticks all the boxes.

Lack of tourism has helped keep both Nicaragua's natural environment and its heritage intact. Nowhere is this more evident than in Granada.

I rather suspect that in today's Granada, the complete opposite is true, as a tide of tourism rolls into the city and encourages a side of Nicaragua that is considerably less appealing than the tourist board would have you believe.

Personality Disorder

Parque Central
Parque Central

Granada is physically attractive, there's no doubt about it. The Parque Central is utterly charming, and is the cleanest and crispest colonial plaza I've seen in the whole region; squint as the sun sets, and you could easily kid yourself that you're in Spain rather than the poorest country in Central America. As with most colonial towns, it's all about the churches and the plazas, and Granada has plenty of options, from the crumbling Iglesia de la Merced (whose tower you can climb for a classic view over the city) to the sparklingly clean white-and-earth tones of the cathedral's new paint job. You can't help clicking your camera every time you turn a corner, and there are lots of corners in this grid-based city.

The view from the horse-drawn carriage tour
The view from the horse-drawn carriage tour
The classic view of Granada from the Iglesia de la Merced
The classic view of Granada from the Iglesia de la Merced
The carriage outside the Convento y Museo San Francisco
The carriage outside the Convento y Museo San Francisco
A typically beautiful island house in Las Isletas
A typically beautiful island house in Las Isletas
A spider monkey on one of the islands
A spider monkey on one of the islands
Lago de Nicaragua
Lago de Nicaragua
Volcán Mombacho
Volcán Mombacho