We are pleased and proud to announce that the latest edition of Moon Handbooks Nicaragua was given the Award for Best Travel Writing in the 2006 Peace Corps Writers Awards. PeaceCorpsWriters.org is a place for returned volunteer scribes to gather and share news about their writing, which helps promote the Peace Corps Third Goal of "Bringing the world back home." Say the site's founders, "the writings of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs), all their novels, short stories, essays and poetry are a positive way of educating Americans about the world."

Authors Randall Wood and Joshua Berman first traveled to Nicaragua in 1998 as Peace Corps Volunteers, where they received intensive language, cultural, and technical training before moving to isolated posts in the Estelí countryside for their respective two-year tours. 

It's one of the first questions we get asked when speaking about the possibility of living long-term in Nicaragua, and in a Nicaraguan election year the concern becomes even more portentious: "What would happen if Daniel Ortega won the presidency?"

In November 2006 Nicaragua will again vote for its president, and Daniel Ortega is again running, so the question is inevitable. Here's a recent Washington Post article about the subject, and a couple of comments.

The newest Nicaragua guidebook title by Randall Wood and Joshua Berman will ship to bookstores across the continent by the end of August, 2006. Moon Living Abroad In Nicaragua is a very different book than their previous title, Moon Handbooks Nicaragua, their debut book which sold more than 18,000 copies and is geared toward travelers and temporary visitors to the country. Moon Living Abroad In Nicaragua was written to prepare potential expatriates looking to live, work, volunteer, study, or invest in Nicaragua, say the authors, who, combined, have spent nearly a decade living and working in various parts of the country. 

According to the book's write-up on Amazon.com, where it is currently available for pre-order, Moon Living Abroad In Nicaragua includes "practical information on everything from buying a home, to finding a Spanish school, to managing your expenses, and uncovering prime living locations. The book also provides a special focus on how and where to volunteer and participate in sustainable community work in Nicaragua."

I was pleasantly surprised to see Nicaragua written up in an unlikely place: Cigar Aficionado magazine. Then again, maybe it's not so unlikely. Nicaragua's been growing great quality tobacco for decades, and the cognoscenti have long admired the rich flavor and full-bodied aroma of Nicaraguan cigars. But it's just the latest in a growing body of literature that has forgotten about Nicaragua's dark years and is looking south with interest for business and for pleasure.

The article is "Under the Volcanoes" by David Savona, and you can find it on page 187 of the June 2006 issue.