"Nicaragua today is a safe and peaceful country. It's people welcome with open arms travelers from North America, Europe or other parts of the world."
Nicaragua's political history, along with the many natural disasters
that have struck this land, made it a newsworthy country for many
years. Unfortunately, positive news about Central America’s
largest country rarely were heard, making you wonder if anything
has changed within the course of time. Is it worth a visit?
The answer is a resounding yes. In its second decade as a stable,
democratic society, Nicaragua is demonstrating to the world precisely
why Oscar Arias deserved the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987. Following
the Costa Rican example, its neighbor to the south, Nicaragua
gives hope to other developing nations that democracy, combined
with less investment in military and more investment in education
and health, are the key success factors to development. And your
visit will only help reinforce the commitment of this country's
bold efforts at reinventing its role as a leader of cultural,
economic and civil society in the region--a role it relinquished
for part of the last century but that is well within its reach
during the next.
Nicaragua is a developing nation. There are two faces of such
a developing nation, and it is your choice how to view the experience.
A blessing of its not being fully “developed” as an
economy is the largely untouched natural splendor that first attracted
Christopher Columbus to the region 500 years ago. There is also
much less evidence of wealth as most North Americans and Europeans
are accustomed to seeing in their own parts of the world. Viewed
as an opportunity to learn about differences, we believe that
the developing nation status of Nicaragua is a plus.
Nonetheless, if evidence of poverty makes you uncomfortable,
you may need to think further about whether this is the place
for you. One assurance we can make is that the poverty is not
as ugly as you first might see it. Nicaraguans, who have less
in their personal possession on average than other people in the
Western Hemisphere, are somehow the most generous. People who
appear to have nothing in this country will still find a way to
offer you something. That is an experience we can all learn from.
Is it safe? If you look at the country profiles for all the countries
south of the border of the United States of America, as documented
by the United States Department of State, all the way to Argentina
and Chile, you will probably conclude that Nicaragua is the safest
country of all. Safety, in the modern world, can only be assessed
in relative terms. And here, thankfully, Nicaragua has been blessed
by relatively low levels of crime. And what crime there is has
been “local” to the very remote northern parts of
the country, and never directed at tourists.
The property where Morgan’s Rock Hacienda and Ecolodge
is a private nature reserve. There are nature guardians stationed
along the beach to ensure the security of the sea turtles and
to discourage illegal hunting.
NICARAGUA SAFETY
Is Nicaragua's Negative Image Justified?
