Whilst I try and find the best in most places I think I’ve finally concluded what it is that makes me instantly rail against a city – the inability to just walk about unhindered and get a feel for the place. For example, Los Angeles is so spread out as to be pointless without a car, Delhi has the unfortunate combination of minimal street lighting with missing man-hole covers and San José (Costa Rica) which is quite easy to walk around but it doesn’t matter how far you get – there’s still nothing unique to see.
Unfortunately for Managua it combines all three of these examples. In 1972 an earthquake destroyed 90% of the town centre and the occupants fled to the outskirts. Combined with a civil war in 1979 the economy never really recovered enough to allowed for the rebuilding and it’s only now there’s some semblance of renewal. The old city is mostly abandoned to the poorer people and a new centre is being built nearer the lake.
On the plus side, if you’re willing to spend a bit on taxis there are some great restaurants around. I ended up in http://www.intermezzodelbosque.com/, situated on a wooded hilltop overlooking both the old and new city. Wonderful seafood, but felt I’d missed out on the way home when I saw the McDonalds here were advertising McRiceAndBeans.
On further reading it turns out that Managua was never intended to be the capital which has historically alternated between León and Granada as different groups invaded. Unable to decide the government just picked a place between the two.
Spot on. Managua can be frustrating at first. It’s hard to get to know a place without a coherent center. It’s hard to access it’s ‘heart’ But if you have time to dig deep enough you’ll find the pulse.