Semana Santa
Submitted by miriam.green on Mon, 2013/02/25 - 08:56.
Hi All,
My husband and I and some friends of ours are moving to Nicaragua for a few months to learn Spanish. By mistake, I'm arriving several days before the rest of my group; they are arriving on the evening of Easter Sunday. I'd like to make the best of it and see some of Nicaragua's interesting Semana Santa celebrations. I've found information about it here and here.
Can anyone give me any more advice on cool things to see and, more importantly, on the places and times to see them? I'm also looking for advice on how I can find out the times of these celebrations when I arrive. Do I just walk up to a church and ask someone? Thanks for your help.
Transportation Advice?
Thanks everyone for your help. It sounds like there are a lot of things to do, and the best way to hear about things is by word of mouth.
Can anyone give me advice about the transportation situation that weekend? I'm a little leery of taking a long distance taxi alone at night right after I fly in, but I'm concerned that, at some point, buses and taxis will quit running due to the holiday weekend. Does anyone know how late in the week the buses and taxis run from Managua to other cities in Nica?
Thanks!
cabs should be available
Cabs are pricey for city to city, but if you have a lot of luggage or more than one person they might pan out.
local and national buses will probably be down the legal holidays, thursday and friday. The national buses will probably be running but very crowded before and after. people have to get back home sunday afternoon to get to work, etc. on monday.
there seem to be 2 kinds of drunk drivers-- those with enough money to drink the whole weekend and those who run out of money before they run out of time.
"Anything that is complex is not useful and anything that is useful is simple. This has been my whole life's motto."
Mikhail Kalashnikov, Russian inventor
No buses at night
OK, maybe few is the right word but don't expect to find much to anywhere after dark. I believe the last bus from Managua to Estelí leaves at 1800. On the other end, buses start early. I believe the first bus from Estelí to Managua leaves at 0330.
Transportation will be strange during Semana Santa as the cities empty out and people go to the beach. Thus, many of the buses that do regular runs to somewhere will be resting in San Jorge, San Juan del Sur, ...
I don't have more details because, like Billy Bob, I tend to hide at home for the whole week.
Don't know precisely about Semana Santo
I've caught taxies from the airport to Jinotega at night, generally for $120 (with my dog) to $85, no dog, some bargaining. Buses don't run much after 5 or 6 p.m. from Managua to other cities.
The standard advice is to call someone to tell them you're showing up in whatever time (three hours from Managua to Jinotega, an hour and a half to Matagalpa). Basically, I haven't had any trouble with cabs. Call the hotel you're staying in to see if they can arrange pickups is the other way to deal with getting in late.
Rebecca Brown
USD or Córdoba
Hi Rebecca,
You've caught taxis for $120 to $85, in US dollars on in córdobas?
US dollars
It's a three hour trip from the airport to Jinotega, up some rather impressive mountains. I prefer to take the bus during the day, or even a cab willing to make stops along the way, but I've done it at night, too.
If you're interested in seeing the country, stay overnight in Managua and take the bus or a cab in the morning.
Rebecca Brown
Jinotega has the parades with minimum fuss
I've taken photographs from my front stoop. Ask where the parade route is for one of smaller cities.
Hotel Central or Hotel Rosa here would put you close on or the parade routes. Good Friday is at night; Easter is in the morning. Good Friday here is quite impressive, with a really dead looking Christ on the bier.
If you speak Spanish well enough to ask, ask.
Rebecca Brown
Alternatives
While there are certainly a lot of celebrations, the ones you will hear the most about are the lets go to the beach and be drunk and disorderly ones. Here are a couple of alternatives that might be of interest.
thanx for the heads up...
I need to mark my calendar, stock up on groceries and bottled water, so I can hide and swelter in the heat in peace!!! I sure wish they would do Easter on the same date every year.
If you are looking for religious services and belong to a specific church, track down your church and see what they are up to.
If you are doing a generic tourist thing, wander by a local church and don`t get into the way.
"Anything that is complex is not useful and anything that is useful is simple. This has been my whole life's motto."
Mikhail Kalashnikov, Russian inventor
According to my calendar
we are looking at the week of 23-31 marzo. The thursday and Friday are the only legal holidays, govmint offices will be closed or on limited services mode for much of the time and private businesses will do whatever they want. Public transport will be problematical both before and after the holidays. Only the taxis and international buses will run their normal services but may be full.
this wasn`t Easter, but sometimes you stumble into local things by the churches. http://www.nicaliving.com/node/10971
"Anything that is complex is not useful and anything that is useful is simple. This has been my whole life's motto."
Mikhail Kalashnikov, Russian inventor
The main things are Church, Drinking and Eating...
I any order. Its like Spring Break for all ages with Jesus looking on.
I love the smell of ammonia in the morning so I walk the beach road at 7 am.
One trick you might see is people getting drunk and going swimming...then realizing that they can't actually swim. 20 or so a year will lose that game.
Its a long weekend to miss.
One year I toured inland Honduras for Semana Santa and it was very nice. They do the colored sawdust carpets up there.