Juigalpa is a town of 70,000 people in central Nicaragua. It is the capital of the department Chontales. This region is a livestock area, "where the rivers are of milk and the stones of cuajada" as is said. Cuajada is a product that looks like cheese, but is a bit softer.

There are three theories about the origin of the name Juigalpa: an Aztec descent: "big city", a word acquired from Mexico meaning "in the nursery of the black snails", or another Mexican heritage meaning "place with an abundant number of jícaros". There is a snail in the city's coat of arms. A jícaro is a vegetable, for example added to a range of local soup variations, providing a delicious flavor.

The landscape is mountainous and beautiful. Juigalpa lies at an altitude of more than one hundred meters, and has a beautiful view upon the mountains of the "Cordillera Amerrisque".
With all the nearby farms, cows, cowboys and the many horse riders, the region has sometimes an atmosphere like in a Western.

The center consists of course of a Central Park, in front of a modern cathedral, with a bandstand, swings, seesaws and a shoe shine place. From the center a square street pattern extends itself to "Palo Solo" in the west, with its magnificent view, San Antonio in the south, and Sanctuario in the east.

Juigalpa houses one of the most important museums of Nicaragua (the "Gregorio Aguilar Barea" museum), with many statues and Indian art from before the time of Columbus, or even before the year zero. It also has a zoo ("Thomas Belt").

There is not much tourism in Juigalpa. The nature in the area is wonderful, but it's not really safe anymore to just walk around. There is a lovely swimming spot in the river Mayales near a waterfall, four kilometers from Juigalpa. Nowadays there are also two swimming pools, complete with music and waiters, a few kilometers away.
A possible nice trip is a visit to Puerto Díaz at five and twenty kilometers away, a fisherman's village on the edge of Lake Cocibolca.

The feast of the Patron Saints is from August 11 to 17, with a fair and bullfights. These are somewhat bull-friendly, because the bulls are not slain. For the tough young men who participate they are dangerous however, because unfortunately they are sometimes the real victims.
Unfortunately, nowadays during these events, violent raids on persons are rather frequent.

Problems
Juigalpa is not a problem-free city. The main problems are:

• Lack of money
• Vanishing forests
• Growing population
• Worrying political developments, undermining democracy and an endanger of the freedom of expression in future