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Nicaraguan Lakes
The most Beautiful
Lakes in Central America
Another thing that Nicaragua is famous for is its lakes. Here are
some of the most beautiful lakes in Central America and even in the
world.
Lake Nicaragua
Lake Nicaragua is the most beautiful lake that you will find in this
country and it is also the most famous one. It is also the largest
lake of Central America, in southwest Nicaragua.
Lake Nicaragua is a massive freshwater lake in Nicaragua of tectonic
origin. With an area of over 8000 square kilometers (100 miles long
and up to 45 miles wide) and a depth of 84 feet, it is the second
largest lake in Latin America, the 20th largest lake in the world
and only slightly smaller than Lake Titicaca but not by much.
The native name of this lake is Lago Cocibolca or Mar Dulce (Sweet
Sea). This lake can actually be compared to a sea; the only missing
element would be the salt water. Like any other sea it has sizeable
waves, driven by the easterly winds blowing west to the Pacific
Ocean. It also has archipelagos of islands, such as Ometepe (which
has several small volcanoes rising from its surface) and the
Solentiname Islands, along with freshwater sharks. It has also built
a reputation of having periodic, powerful, and impassable storms.
The winds on the western side are often very intense.
Lake Nicaragua was part of the Pacific Ocean, but volcanic activity
made the land raise forming Lake Nicaragua. The freshwater of Lake
Nicaragua contains fish usually associated with saltwater, including
tuna and sharks, which have adapted to the environmental change.
Lake Nicaragua has the only species of freshwater sharks in the
whole world. The last was seen a few years ago, and the people think
they are living in the deep water near Solentiname only.
This amazing lake is also connected with the Caribbean Sea by the
navigable San Juan River and it even had a history of Caribbean
pirates. Over the centuries a long history of individuals - from
conquerors to pirates have traveled in and around Lake Nicaragua.
History has swallowed up their tales in the surrounding jungle. But
you can still create your heroic tales just by being here.
Before construction of the Panama Canal, a stagecoach line connected
the lake with the Pacific across the low hills of the narrow Isthmus
of Rivas. There were actually plans made to take advantage of this
route to build an interoceanic canal, the Nicaragua Canal, but the
Panama Canal was built instead. In order to quell competition with
the Panama Canal, the U.S. secured all rights to a canal along this
route. Nevertheless, the idea of another canal in Nicaragua still
periodically resurfaces and one of these ideas was put into
practice. The result is the Ecocanal; one of these projects.
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