What's the geography like in Nicaragua in general? Does Nicaragua have mountains, volcanoes, beaches, lakes, waterfalls, or rainforests?

Nicaragua is located in the center of America, in an area that divides the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. This interesting location causes Nicaragua to have great biodiversity and also mountains, volcanoes, beaches, lakes and other features.  Nicaragua is one of the few countries where people will find this variety so close together.

 

For example, the first picture shows some of the geography of Nicaragua, with a lake, mountains, and jungle in the...

Nicaragua is located in the center of America, in an area that divides the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. This interesting location causes Nicaragua to have great biodiversity and also mountains, volcanoes, beaches, lakes and other features.  Nicaragua is one of the few countries where people will find this variety so close together.

 

For example, the first picture shows some of the geography of Nicaragua, with a lake, mountains, and jungle in the same photograph.

 

Below, we have a beach in Nicaragua at sunset, with cliffs, and San Cristobal Volcano

Nicaragua is a very geographically diverse country, even though we do not have very high peaks compared to other places like Guatemala.  We do, however, have mountains, which have the advantage of being a little bit cooler the higher you go.
 
In the Pacific coast of Nicaragua we have the volcanic mountain range, which starts in the northern part of the country and ends at the lake, in Ometepe Island, which was formed by two volcanoes.  Most of the volanoes are dormant,...

Nicaragua is a very geographically diverse country, even though we do not have very high peaks compared to other places like Guatemala.  We do, however, have mountains, which have the advantage of being a little bit cooler the higher you go.
 
In the Pacific coast of Nicaragua we have the volcanic mountain range, which starts in the northern part of the country and ends at the lake, in Ometepe Island, which was formed by two volcanoes.  Most of the volanoes are dormant, but a few are still active, so it is very interesting for those adventurous people who want to learn about volcanoes, and do hiking on them, etc.
 
The coastal areas of Nicaragua are very interesting because we are one of the few countries that has two main oceans.  The bays of our coastal areas are bathed by the Pacific Ocean and by the Caribbean in the eastern part of the country, and we have about 900 kilometers (560 miles) of coastal areas on both sides together, which is mainly still virgin.  We still do not have big hotel chains on our coastal zones.  We have many small hotels in those areas that have started to be developed.

 

We have a lot of reserves in this country and Nicaragua has the biggest natural forest in Central America, which is till protected—we call it the Amazon of Central America, because after the Amazon, it is the biggest reserve in the region. It is called Bosawas Biosphere Reserve.
 
Another very important natural reserve, which is in the region of the San Juan River and the boarder with Costa Rica in the southern part of the Caribbean area is called Indio Maiz Biological Reserve (“Indian Corn”). Both Bosawas and Indio Maiz are biosphere reserves, as declared by UNESCO. 
 
Also the lake is an iconic, very important place in the country, because Lake Nicaragua is one of the 10 biggest lakes in the world, and the only one that has fresh water sharks.  (In Nicaragua, you will hear Lake Nicaragua referred to as Lake Cocibolca, which is its indigenous name).

 

The biggest island in the world on a fresh water lake is also on Lake Nicaragua-- Ometepe Island, which is made of two volcanoes, one active and the other inactive.  The inactive volcano is called Maderas Volcano, which is a natural reserve and protected as well.
 
Then we have the San Juan River in the southern part of the country, which is also a beautiful region of the country.  It is full of stories of pirates and history like Cornelius Vanderbilt and the transit route that so many Americans used during those times, where Mark Twain wrote beautiful stories about Nicaragua and a wonderful river, as well as where the Spaniards built a castle to protect themselves from the pirates in Colonial times. Pirate Morgan used the San Juan River, and the legends say (although this is disputed) that it was in this area that Lord Nelson lost his eye.
 
In the central part of Nicaragua is the region of Chontales where much of the cattle in Nicaragua are raised.  Nicaragua exports a lot of meat (including to the US), most of which comes from this region.  Boaco and Chontales are the two main cities in this area.