Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Café Casona
(Enitel, 1c N; dishes US$4-8; 10am-midnight Tue-Sun, 4pm-midnight Mon)
With great atmo-
sphere, this is the best restaurant in town. It has huge burgers and sandwiches, and lots of
other excellent coffee-shop grub, and an espresso machine that staff know how to use.
There's live
trova
(folk) music on the weekend.
NICARAGUAN
$$
Information
BanCentro, on the main road just west of the park, has a 24-hour ATM (Visa/Plus only). If
you're on the MasterCard system, go south two blocks for the BAC ATM.
Getting There & Away
San Marcos lies at the border of the Masaya and Carazo departments, and you'll probably
have to changes buses or minivans here to get between them. Minibuses leave when full
from the parque central to Managua (US$1, one hour), Jinotepe (US$0.30, 20 minutes),
Masaya (US$0.60, 45 minutes) and other destinations all day long.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Carazo
This department, blessed with beautiful mountains reaching 870m (bring a sweater) and
wide, sandy beaches (bring your swimsuit) - separated by only 35 steep kilometers - is
central in Nicaraguan history and myth. It is not only where the first Nicaraguan coffee
was sown but also where the nation's most famous burlesque,
El Güegüense,
was an-
onymously penned in the late 17th century. The comedy, which pits Nicaraguan ingenuity
against Spanish power, always gets a laugh. It was written (and is still performed) in
Náhuatl, Spanish and Mayangna.
Regional relations apparently predate the Spanish conquest, as Carazo's four major
towns still celebrate an interesting ritual called the
Fiesta de Toro Guaco
. In it La Concep-
ción brings out her patron saint, the Black Virgin of Montserrat, to meet Santiago, patron
of Jinotepe, the old Nicarao capital; San Sebastián emerges from Diriamba, Jinotepe's an-
cient Chorotegan rival, and San Marcos appears from the university town of the same
name. Four times throughout the year - the saints' feast days - the saints pay ceremonial
visits to each other, an event livened up with striking costumes and masks displayed in
