To the new generation of travelers, Nicaragua represents booming beach breaks, volcano hiking, island paradises and laid-back colonial towns. It seems that the message - 'the civil war finished decades ago people!' - has finally gotten across to a world who had the country pegged as a troublespot.

Yet the iconic images of idealistic young people giving their lives for a dream of liberty endure, and Nicaragua remains a land where people, whatever their beliefs, tend to go beyond cheap chatter. A place of artists and poets, the country's people are an even greater asset than its natural splendor.