| CARNIVAL in Bluefields |
City
Guides || Corn Islands || Ecology
|| Econ Devel || Travel
Guides || Marketplace
Carnival in Bluefields Nicargua is a fascinating mix of ethnic groups
who unite once a year in May to celebrate their Carnaval. Every
night is party night during May in Bluefields. The Maypole festival
includes costumed dancers, steel drums, salsa and reggae music with plenty
of loudspeakers. The Maypole tradition is a Spring tradition and its
introduction to Bluefields is said to have come from Jamaica and there is
considerable Afro-Caribbean influence here including what Bob Marley
called "positive vibrations."
Ballet Costena directed by Lizzy Nelson is the standout Carnival group whose annual creations are discussed by everyone.
Nicaraguan rum: “Flor
de cana” or Flower of the sugar cane. One of the best and a great deal
at only US$ 3-4 for a big bottle.
May
Days or Spring Pagan Style by about.com
It is celebrated as a time of love and fertility, with many weddings. It
is also a celebration of the reawakening of the world after the cold sleep
of winter. Feasts, dancing, drumming and, of course, the maypole
How to Dance the Maypole by about.com
Make
a MaypoleMother's
day by carnaval.com
Our guide to a holiday we all hold near and dear especially in Bluefields
Pandemonium
in Panama
the King of San Francisco
Carnaval 2000 James J. Sowers visits Panama in 1996 on his Trans-American
Motorcycle adventure five years before he shares his throne with Queen
Elisa from Bluefields
City Guides || TOP ||
The City of Bluefields is the metro center for the Mosquito Coast and is famous for its beautiful lagoon. It was named after Captain Blauenveldt, a 17th-century Dutch pirate who used the bay as his base. The city's 45,000 inhabitants have ambitions dreams to attract international tourism and a greater opportunity since the unemployment rate is high. The Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua was never colonized: it remained a British Protectorate until 1862, English remains the principal language here and the Protestant religion is still dominant.
The area of Bluefields is located in the state of Zelaya which covers nearly a third of the countries land mass but contains less than 5% of the country's people pf 4,3000,000. Most of the area is undeveloped and was not effected by the political unrest while the Sandinistas were in power. Still the people retained a relaxed slow way of life similar to many islands in the Caribbean.
Ecological
Wonderland || TOP
||
Located 178 miles (315 km) from Managua, the surrounding tropical forests
contain a great variety of birds including eagles, turkeys, toucans,
parakeets and macaws. Animal life in the area includes several different
species of monkeys, ant-eaters, white-tailed deer and tapirs who also
enjoy the many wide rivers and small jungle canals.. You can get to
Bluefields by air (1 hour) with 2 daily flights operated by Nica and La
Consteña (small aircraft) or by land driving 6 hours to El Rama and from
there by river boats cruising the Escondido river for 3 more hours.
Economic
Development || TOP
||
More recently, the location has
been cited as the best Atlantic port for a "Dry
canal" across Nicaragua which could compete with the backed
up Panama Canal and longer rail runs across the continent in the USA.
- Habitat
for Humanity in Bluefields
"One doesn't see a mixture of working-class and middle-class people -- there isn't much of a middle class in Bluefields. But there is a coming together of Spanish speakers and Creoles, of black, mestizo, and white, of Catholics and Protestants. As at the university where I taught, there was a cementing of the disparate groups of the Mosquito Coast. Doctrine, race, and language may divide; service unites!"
Walter Hipple Board Member, HfHCC (since 1988, Habitat has built 500 houses in Bluefields)
CORN
ISLANDS || TOP
||
From Bluefields you one can get a boat or short flight to the beautiful,
coral-fringed Corn Islands
(Islas del Maiz), the largest is well developed and popular with
Nicaraguans and other Central Americans as a holiday resort. There
is a perfection to the bathing, surfing, fishing and snorkeling. Coral
reefs just minutes off shore surrounding the island 10 to 12 feet deep,
visibility 80 to 100 meters. Beautiful and unspoiled beaches, some of them
totally deserted with white sand and turquoise waters. The Corn Islands
offer excellent seafood as well as plentiful lobster and other shell fish.
Besides the amazing coral the old pirate's hideout has numerous dive sites
including the the wreck of a Spanish galleon in 72 feet of water.
Located in the Caribbean Ocean 53 miles (90 km) from Bluefields there are regular daily flights from Managua with small aircraft operated by Nica and La Costeña. The big Corn Island is 11 square km and the Little Corn Island is 2 square km and has a nice mountain to climb. Pristine Corn Island has been described as "four square miles of paradise."
Corn
Island by nicamigo.com || bobstemm@nicamigo.com
"This is not Cancun. It’s better. Nothing artificial here!"
Lonely
Planet Reader Advisory
"The hotel Parismo is pure luxury! It's got 5
"semi-detached" villas with patios with hammocks. Inside they
are large with en-suite massive shower and bathroom"
