New York to Managua, Nicaragua from $271

🌍 About managua

Managua is the rare capital with no real downtown: a 1972 earthquake leveled 90% of the city and the old core was never rebuilt, so the place sprawls out along highways and roundabouts instead. The relic of that night is the Old Cathedral of Santiago, condemned but still standing, its clock frozen at 12:35 — the moment the quake hit. For a view, climb to Laguna de Tiscapa, a lake in an old volcanic crater topped by the giant black silhouette of revolutionary Augusto Sandino. Eat nacatamal, the Sunday dish — pork, rice and bitter orange steamed in a plantain leaf. Come in the dry season, November to April; the rest of the year is hot and wet, with September–October the soggiest stretch to skip.