Nicaragua – Leon – Jeff's Travel And Photo Blog

Leon is Nicaragua’s second largest city and has previously been its capital. The city also has the second oldest University in Central America.

The architectural focal point of the City is it’s cathedral (Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary).

But there are many other impressive churches within waking distance.

There are a number of museums to visit in the City, our first visit was the Museum of Myths and Legends.

It’s set in an old prison, one used to house political prisoners before the revolution.

The figure displays are somewhat crude but entertaining and support various ‘tales of old’, recounted in English and Spanish.

As it is set within the old prison its easy to lose the thread a little between the myth and legend elements versus the prison setting and visual references to those dreadful times.

In the gardens there are some nice mosaics, again a mix of prison history and the macabre.

Our next stop was the Museum of the Revolution just opposite the Cathedral.

They have both Spanish and English language tour guides who lead you through the museum’s exhibits.

There are a number of wall paintings but the majority of the exhibition is based on historical photographs and newspaper clippings.

We visited on a very hot day and we did struggle a bit with the guide’s somewhat overly detailed explanations behind each of the 20 exhibits.

The country’s political history and the revolution are fascinating topics, but perhaps a more digestible script might get the key points across, or perhaps the 38 degree heat just got the better of me!

At the end of the tour the guide led us through the rest of the somewhat dilapidated building.

Upstairs there are some nice views across square towards the Cathedral.

The final bit of the tour was something i felt was a little sketchy. You climb up onto the roof to check out the views. You walk across the cracked and rotting corrugated iron roof with white painted arrows indicating your direction of travel

The roof creaks and cracks as you walk on it, it looks unstable but the others walked along unfazed, with me lagging fearfully behind them! I think there is a ceiling below the roof but that failed to reassure me, perhaps it is safe…

I can’t say I enjoyed that bit of the tour, best judge for yourselves!

Just walking around Leon you see lots of reminders about the Nicaraguan revolution, its main participants and other revolutionary figures from across the Americas.

We also visited the Ortíz Gurdián Foundation Art Center which has a private collection of Central American and European contemporary art works.

The works are set in two stunning 19th century buildings adjacent to each other.

The center has a fabulous and extensive collection and the gallery areas seem to be way larger than you expect, with new rooms appearing at every corner. Well worth a visit if you like art and/or architecture.

One of the highlights of our stay was walking on the roof of the Cathedral. It’s ‘otherworldly’ up there and just lovely to walk around for your allotted 25 minutes or so.

It’s an easy walk up to the top and they seem to regulate the numbers up there to make it enjoyable and safe.

The views across the city are good too, with the distant mountains and volcanoes in view.

If you have limited time, do prioritise this activity!

We stumbled on an event outside the Cathedral one day and managed to see people in traditional costumes preparing for a show. It was 38 degrees centigrade at the time!

Our final activity was a trip to the Juan Venado Island Nature Reserve, near Playa Las Penitas, just a 30 minute drive from Leon.

The reserve is an island cut away from the mainland by a mangrove skirted series of estuaries. You take a small boat along a river spotting lots of wildlife, especially birds.

Even before we board the boat we saw lots of pelicans and vultures on the beach.

Below is a snowy egret whose yellow feet are utilised as a lure to attract fish.

Giant Egret, identified by its black feet and a yellow beak

Halfway through the river trip we get off the boat to visit a turtle conservation project. The project focuses on the Green Sea Turtles that lay their eggs on the beaches nearby.

The eggs are collected and reburied in a secure area and then some weeks later the baby turtles are released into the sea.

Their work has improved the chances of survival to maturity for these impressive creatures.

When we visited we were able to release a baby turtle each. They are so cute to hold in your glove covered hand. We took them to the waters edge where after a short period of orientation they started clambering towards the sea.

Before long the baby turtles get close enough to the sea for a small wave to pick them up as they swim away. And then they were gone, away to sea, we hoped for the best.