Ticuantepe is a town and a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the

Managua ) , settlement_type = Capital city , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Nicara ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

with an estimated population of 38,520.

Etymology

Ticuantepe comes from the Nahuatl language of the first inhabitants of Nicaragua. ''Ticuane'', which means fierce or tiger, and ''tepeh'', which means hill, are combined to make Ticuantepe (''"Hill of the Fierce"'').

Overview

Ticuantepe has the largest underground

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characterist ...

in the nation, and is the largest supplier of pineapples to all of Nicaragua. Ticuantepe has an estimated population of 37,545, 44.7% of which live in

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

zones and 55.3% in

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

zones. The town has a nice "pueblo" feel to it. It is one of the safer areas of Nicaragua and is located just 20 minutes from downtown Managua. There is easy transportation to and from Ticuantepe to most of Nicaragua by bus, microbus and moto-taxi. Located just 20 minutes from Managua and from Masaya as well as only 35 minutes from Granada, it is central but at the same time, has a rural environment. The volcano "Volcan Masaya" is about 15 minutes away.

Flora and fauna

Located in Ticuantepe is

Chocoyero Nature Reserve Chocoyero-El Brujo Natural Reserve (Spanish: ''Reserva Natural El Chocoyero-El Brujo'') is located in the municipality of Ticuantepe in the Managua department of Nicaragua. Chocoyero-El Brujo is one of 78 protected areas in Nicaragua, and at just ...

, which is the smallest

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

in Nicaragua at just . Chocoyero is a

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equatori ...

and is abundant in water. It is home to two waterfalls, El Brujo and Chocoyero, named after the Pacific parakeets that make the walls of the cliff their home, they are locally known as Chocoyos. Chocoyero is home to an estimated 113

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

species, 29 species of

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

s and 21 types of

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

s and

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

Tourism

Chocoyero Nature Reserve is regarded as an important tourist attraction. Each year an estimated 10,000 people visit the reserve. There are wild howler monkeys as well as a vast array of flora and fauna and two waterfalls. It is a two-hour hike around the reserve and most people travel in and out of the reserve by moto-taxi. It is about 7 kilometers off of the main road. There are a handful of clean hotels and nice restaurants. The main hotels are Viva Guesthouse and The Chocoyo and both have pools and are secure. The restaurant Las Pitahayas is well known throughout most of Nicaragua and is located in Ticuantepe. There is one Spanish language school located in Ticuantepe; Ticuantepe Spanish School, operated by Nicaragua Spanish Schools. It is well integrated into the community and a great place to enjoy Ticuantepe. Ticuantepe has been a sister city of

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

. Milwaukee residents collected aid shipments for Ticuantepe during the years of the Sandinista government, with a focus on medical supplies. After 1990, Milwaukee's aid shipments fell off as a result of the imposition of custom charges, and around 2005, the sister city relationship was discontinued.

References

External links