Drinking and nightlife
Managua’s nightlife is given a shot in the arm with the continuing return of the “Miami Boys” – wealthy families who fled revolutionary Nicaragua – who have helped drive the demand for upmarket bars and discos. As well as the plusher options, the city offers a reasonable choice of cheaper places to drink and dance – most places only charge a few dollars cover and drinks are either included or cost around C$20–60. You can expect to hear merengue, salsa, reggaetón, pop, house and even Nica rancho music (not unlike American country). Most bars shut between midnight and 2pm, and clubs start filling up from 10pm – Saturday is the busiest evening of the week.
Eating
Wherever you walk in Managua – on the street, at the bus stop or even under a shady tree – you will find someone selling a drink or comida corriente. Good, cheap food on the hoof is also easy to get in any of the major markets – look out for pupusas, a Salvadoran concoction of cheese, tortillas, sauce and meat. Managua also has a surprisingly cosmopolitan selection of restaurants: Chinese, Spanish, Mexican, Japanese, Italian, Peruvian, North American – even vegetarian. Americanized fast food is virtually everywhere, but cafés are thin on the ground and tend to be frequented by expats and wealthier locals. As for picnic food and self-catering, well-stocked supermarket chains La Colonia and La Unión sell a large selection of local and imported food including organic produce. You can also buy a lot of the basics at local pulperías, small shops set up in people’s houses. Fruit and vegetables are cheapest at the weekend markets, when the growers come into town to sell their produce.
Loma de Tiscapa
Directly behind the landmark Crowne Plaza, you can get some perspective on both Managua’s dramatic history and its weird, battered cityscape in the Loma de Tiscapa, or Tiscapa Historical National Park. The fifteen-minute walk up the hill takes you via a series of posters detailing the rise and fall of Somoza’s National Guard, then past the elegant white pillars of the Monumento Roosevelt and a decapitated statue of Justice before winding round and up to a silhouetted statue of Sandino. Nearby lie a tank and statue donated to Somoza by Mussolini. Photos detail the disastrous earthquakes of 1931 and 1972, while a display in the tunnels of the former prison goes into gory details of Somoza’s infamous noches de tortura (torture nights).
The views of the city from here are excellent, stretching north to Lago de Nicaragua and the distant volcanoes and south beyond the new cathedral towards Masaya. Adventurous types can enjoy them on a so-called canopy tour from the top of the hill. Three cables cover more than 1km, allowing you to glide high above the city and the picturesque – but polluted – Laguna Tiscapa, which sits below the Loma de Tiscapa’s summit.
Malecón
North of the theatre, an attempt has been made to spruce up the previously seedy lakeshore boardwalk, or malecón, with bars and food kiosks, plus a couple of fairground rides. A statue of Latin American liberator Simón Bolívar sits in the middle of the nearby roundabout, guarding the shorefront’s entrance. The area gets quite lively at weekends, though it’s fairly deserted during the week except for ambling teenage couples. There are pleasant views to the north, where Volcán Mombotombo and Mombotombito sit side by side against the horizon on the far shore of the lake, 50km away.