| | Overview (Source: Frommers) |
Managua looks like a bomb hit it. The city is a scattered, disheveled, and disorganized urban sprawl where everything is spread out and there is no center. The truth is a bomb did hit it, in the form of a massive earthquake in 1972. It flattened the city center, and planners decided it was pointless to rebuild on such a shifting tectonic nightmare again. The result is a ghost-downtown surrounded by dispersed, anonymous neighborhoods, pockmarked with craters and crisscrossed with streets that lack character as much as they lack names. It is a frustrating, bewildering place and easily the least accessible, the hardest to negotiate, the toughest to discover capital city in Central America. If the city seems like one big accident, that is precisely because it is. Originally it had always been just a proud little indigenous fishing village on the shores of Lago Xolotlán -- proud enough to beat off the somewhat surprised and vengeful Spanish. But the small village suddenly found itself the country's capital when León and Granada reached a compromise to end their vicious 19th-century rivalry and chose Managua. With hindsight they might have chosen differently. A devastating earthquake in 1931 caused havoc, as did a fire several years later. The city experienced a brief boom in the fifties and sixties and was one of the region's most advanced metropolises. That all changed on December 23, 1972, when another earthquake hit, and 8 sq. km (5 sq. miles) were flattened and 10,000 k
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| How To Get There (Source: Frommers) | Top | The small, modern Augusto C Sandino International Airport ( MGA; tel. 505/233-1624; www.eaai.com.ni), is 11km (7 miles) east of Managua. An airport taxi costs C380 ($20/£10) into the city center, though you can save some money by walking across the roadway in front and hailing an ordinary city cab. Always negotiate before jumping in. Frequent city-bound buses pass in front but again you must cross the busy street to hail one, as none enter the airport grounds. By International Bus Managua has no central bus station, and each international bus company has its own departure points in Barrio Martha Quezada. Tica Bus, 2 blocks east of the Antiguo Cine Doradao (tel. 505/222-6094 or 222-3031; www.ticabus.com), has the most intercity routes and goes as far as Mexico City. The bus to Honduras leaves for Tegucigalpa daily at 5am, takes 8 hours, and costs C570 ($30/£15). The bus to San José in Costa Rica leaves daily at 6am and 7am and noon, takes 9 hours, and costs C266 ($14/£7). Tica Bus also operates a route to San Salvador, leaving at 5am and arriving in San Salvador 12 hours later. The cost is C551 ($29/£15). King Quality/Cruceros del Golfo, opposite Tica Bus (tel. 505/228-1454; www.kingqualitycg.com) has a reputation for being more comfortable, and provides meals. The Honduras bus departs daily at 3:30am and 11:30am, takes 8 hours, and costs C684 ($36/£18). The bus to San José in Costa Rica leaves daily at 1:30am, takes 9 hours, and costs C703 ($37/£1
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| Getting Around (Source: Frommers) | Top | Though Managua's urbano bus system is cheap and frequent, it has a woeful reputation for pickpockets and robberies, and well-dressed foreigners are said to be especially targeted. In general, if you stick to the city center and take buses during daylight hours, though, you should be okay. The buses can also get very overcrowded during rush hour as they are the only form of public city transport. Buses come along every 10 minutes and charge a fare of C4 (25¢/15p). You can only alight at designated bus stops. Following are the most convenient routes. Urbano 109 travels from Plaza de la República to Mercado Roberto Huembes, passing by Plaza Inter. Urbano 110 goes from Mercado Israel Lewites (Boer) to Mercado Mayoreo, passing La UCA, Metrocentro, Rotonda de Centroamérica, Mercado Huembes, and Mercado Iván Montenegro. Urbano 116 starts at the Montoya statue and passes Plaza Inter and Mercado Oriental before ending at Rotonda Bello Horizonte. Urbano 118 goes from Parque Las Piedrecitas to Mercado Mayoreo, passing Mercado Israel Lewites (Bóer), Rotonda El Gueguense, Plaza Inter, and Mercado Oriental. Urbano 119 goes from Lindavista to Mercado Huembes, passing Rotonda El Gueguense and la UCA. By Taxi Don't panic cabs will honk at you before you even see them. Even occupancy won't stop them from stopping, and strangers often share taxis (this is a dangerous practice at night). Taxis are not metered, so it is imperative that you agree on a price before board
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