Solentiname Islands

The Solentiname Islands (in magenta)

The Solentiname Islands are an archipelago near the southern end of Lake Nicaragua near the Costa Rican border in Nicaragua. They are made up of four moderately-sized islands named Mancarrón, Mancarroncito, San Fernando and La Venada, along with some thirty-two smaller islands with rocky headlands which afford shelter to numerous aquatic birds. The islands’ origins are volcanic.

The Solentiname Islands are tropical in every sense. They are covered in tropical tree species, and are home to various colourful bird species. The waters about the islands contain plentiful fish.

The islands’ tranquillity and colourfulness are likely what has attracted artists to their shores. Painters and woodcarvers share the islands with farmers and fishermen.

On the island of Mancarrón there is a hotel. It is on this island that the priest and poet Ernesto Cardenal’s historical parish is to be found. Father Cardenal is known for establishing a communal society for artists in the early 1970s which persists to this day. The community developed its own naïve art movement with some help from painter Roger Pérez de la Rocha. There is a small art gallery where the craftsmen and painters display their works: birds, mobiles featuring the local fauna carved out of balsawood, as well as much sought-after colourful primitivist Solentiname paintings, largely inspired by the islands’ rich wildlife and plant species.

For these very things, the Solentiname Islands have also been the object of ecotourism in recent years, although currently, they are still a somewhat obscure destination.

In the "Covey of Quails" — which is what Solentiname means in the Nanuatl language — there are also important archaeological sites (including petroglyphs on San Fernando), and the Los Guatuzos Wildlife Refuge, a 40 000ha marsh parallel to the lakeshore, home to both monkeys and alligators.