Only a triangle standing on its top, the mountain regions of the north-west, gives the impression of a massive land mass. The Atlantic Miskito coast – so-called for its native inhabitants – is crossed by lagoons and marshes. The two large lakes in the southwestern part of the country, Lake Managua and Lake Nicaragua, make the densely populated provinces in the hinterland of the Pacific coast appear almost as a narrow land bridge extending from the Honduran Gulf of Fonseca in the north-west to the Costa Rican border in the south. Along this line is a chain of 58 volcanoes, many of which are still active. At least one of them is always in the view of the traveller, and one can even easely drive by car to the crater rim of the Masaya, which is considered the largest natural environmental pollutant in the world. Also the cloud forest of the Mombacho is easily reached from Granada within a day trip. (read more…)