Nicaragua's political history is probably as turbulent as the ground on which it lies: it's a land of dictators, revolutions, earthquakes and volcanoes. But now as one of the safer countries in the region, the country offers a remarkable and mostly undiscovered landscape in which to travel and learn Spanish. We've all heard of Lake Titicaca and Lake Atitlan, but who would have thought Lago de Nicaragua, or Mar Dulce as the Spanish conquistadores used to call it, could be quite so big…home to more than 430 volcanic islands and hundreds of saltwater fish and sharks, it's here, on the lake's northwest shore, that Granada has developed. Founded in 1524 on the site of a former Indian village, this is the oldest city in continental Latin America and currently the place to hang out and just soak it all up - the cool lake breezes, the lovely colonial architecture and the vistas of towering Mombacho volcano, that is. You'll feel like you're away from it all, but at just one hour south from Managua, the capital, it's hardly too far. Unless, that is, we want to keep it the secret that it is…
