The Highland Crossroads

I’ve been traveling around Nicaragua for almost two years now, and I’ve seen lots of small towns out there. But none are like this one.The main form of transportation for Nicaraguans is by bus. It’s pretty cheap to travel for foreign tourists. The most expensive ticket I’ve bought was from Managua to San Carlos, close to 7 hours, at about seven dollars. And that was because we took the nice bus.
On the road you always pass by dozens of tiny little hamlets whose population ranges to no more than a few thousand. Nicaragua is the least densely populated country of all Central America. The people that live by the roads are generally farmers along with a few small businesses that cater to both the farmers and the travelers passing through.
Then the bus pulls out onto the highlands. Here the wind constantly whips by at high speeds, bending trees, bushes and pedestrians as it passes. The hilltops are almost naked of trees, however the glens between them are full of forest that was sheltered from the winds.
All around the road are abandoned houses with missing walls and roofs. Sometimes you think that nobody lives here until you see some old woman hanging laundry between the destroyed structures. These “homes” often remind me of post-apocalyptic movies like Road Warrior where you see humans trying to cling to life in desolate waste lands.

El Crucero holds a special place in my heart. It’s a real world of extremes. Located on the Pan American Highway between Managua and Carazo, I have to pass it every time I go to see my wife and her family.

El Crucero holds a special place in my heart. It’s a real world of extremes. Located on the Pan American Highway between Managua and Carazo, I have to pass it every time I go to see my wife and her family.

Coming from the capital city of more than 1.5 million, the little road stop seems to practically be a ghost town. As I ride the little microbus up into the mountains, we pass by really nice views of untamed jungle. I always think that this is what Nicaragua would look like with more environmental protection.

Then you might look and see away from the road are huge houses, almost mansions that seem to dominate the hill they occupy. Kathya told me that many people with money choose to live outside Managua in small towns.

The poor people around them often work for those houses, washing clothes, cooking or caring for children. I literally saw one of these large houses next to a house made of black plastic sheets supported by tree branches. In no other place in Nicaragua have I ever seen such stark contrasts.