Most of the guidebooks I’ve read have treated the capital city, Managua, as a place to fly into, but then leave as fast as possible to get to your final destination. Other than a few business trips to edge of Managua, we had pretty much avoided it, despite being less than an hour away. We decided to give it a try our last free Saturday at La Mariposa.
At the recommendation of a college friend of mine, Derek Charles, we agreed to meet him and his family at an Aquatic Park in northern Managua. Derek and his wife Rebekah have been serving with MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) as country representatives in Managua since 2015. Their kids Lia (8), Silas (6), and Miriam (2) were close in age to our three children, and I was eager to give our kids a chance to rub shoulders with “Third Culture Kids” and see part of their life in Nicaragua.
Not sure what to expect, I was pleasantly surprised by the Aquatic park. The water park was only two years old and rivaled many parks you can find back home. One big difference, adults weren’t allowed on slides and larger equipment, everything was for kids. (Water slides aren’t very well regulated, and “crashes” are common. So less adults might actually be safer). Our kids were initially shy, but quickly overcame that and made new friends with the Charles kids. The older kids soon could navigate the larger structures and slides together without us. This gave parents time to chat, while we tailed Cheyenne and Miriam in the kiddy pool area.
After a pizza and chicken lunch, we said goodbye to Rebekah and Miriam and sent them off for naps. The rest of us explored the rest of Xolotlan park. They have an impressive display of scale models of cathedrals found throughout Nicaragua. It was cool seeing the variety of architecture side by side.
Following that we walked through a scale model of “downtown” Managua as it looked in the early 1970’s before an earthquake took out many of the buildings.
From there we got a tour of many other sights in Managua. Some highlights include:
Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception – AKA the “Eggcarton Cathedral”, a modern twist on cathedral design.
Loma de Tiscapa – an overlook over the city of Managua. The kids enjoyed snacks here, and running around on the playground.
Old Cathedral – We couldn’t go in, but you can see the shell of what’s left from the earthquake, and the huge cracks on the sides.
We ended the day at Parque Luis Afonso Velasquez Florez. It’s a very large and well-done children’s park. Our kids enjoyed paddleboats, a roller coaster ride, and playing on the many playgrounds. The park was named after a young 9-year-old boy who is considered a martyr of the Sandinista Revolution. He was killed in 1979 for being an outspoken critic of the Somoza government. Just three months after his death, the “revolution” took place with the ousting of “Somoza”.
In 2019, it is a bit ironic to observe the “niceties” of these children’s parks and beauty of some of these city centers juxtaposed to the current political and economic crisis in Nicaragua. Last April (2018), a benign protest turned deadly when government forces shot and killed 26 people. Things fell apart from there, and hundreds more were killed over the next several months before opposition protest were snuffed out, leaving a political and economic mess in its wake.
During this trip in Managua, I observed graffiti and burn marks on scale model cathedrals being painted over and restored. My kids enjoyed the result of lots of money poured into very colorful park systems. I saw a forest of 140 Metal Trees costing around $3.3 million in one of the poorest counties in the Western Hemisphere. While my kids immensely enjoyed the parks, part of it felt like a facade, hiding the many problems and challenges of this beautiful country. A more optimistic reflection would point out the attempt to build an impressive and iconic downtown area for this capital city, something Nicaraguans can be proud of.
I was confronted with a different reality as we headed back home on public transportation. For nearly the hour plus trip, I stood with my two oldest kids on a jammed bus, bracing myself and them for the constant braking and acceleration of the bus. Something I’m glad my kids experienced, but something I wouldn’t want to do everyday. The verdict? Managua was a great trip and worth seeing, but not something I’d do every weekend.