When I first arrived in Nicaragua I was alarmed by all the honking. In our research we had read that life in Nicaragua was very relaxed and that Nicaraguans were very nice, patient people…so why were they so angry and in such a hurry? I soon learned that Nicaraguans use their vehicle horns as a way of signaling their proximity. A simple deep to alert a slower car that they are passing, or a honk by a cab driver to see if you’re looking for a ride, a quick toot while passing a parked delivery truck to signal you’re going around. After four months of living here, I beginning to think this is why the horn was invented.
Parking has been another factor I’ve had to get used to. In Nicaragua it seems you can pretty much park anywhere. Road shoulders are limited and delivery trucks, ox carts, horse wagons, and cab drivers all simply pull over as far as they can and preform their business at a leisurely pace. At first I was annoyed at this blatant dismissal of other people, until one day I saw a friend walking down a busy road with no shoulder. I pulled over and had a nice long chat with her while passersby made their way around my car only honking in case I was planning on pulling out at the same time as they passed. I felt so free from regulations!
Another word on parking…you are allowed to park your car going to opposite direction from traffic. This makes it so easy to always find a parking space!
When passing a parked car it seems the unwritten rules are that you are free to follow the car(s) in front of you around the parked vehicle, but if you approach a traffic jam and there is a line of cars in your lane passing around, then you must wait until that line is through and then it is your lane’s turn. It is not every other car as one might expect.
