Bilwi (Puerto Cabezas)

Introducing Bilwi (Puerto Cabezas)

Although the capital of the enormous Northern Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) has been officially renamed Bilwi, most residents still refer to their isolated tropical stronghold as they have for almost a century, Puerto Cabezas, or just Puerto. Or just Port.

Neither name is the original, however. Founded in 1690 by a trio of pirates who called it Bragman's Bluff, it only later came to be known as Bilwi. The port town was officially renamed in 1925 to honor General Rigoberto Cabezas, who helped put the largely indigenous and English region under full control of the Nicaraguan government in 1894 - never really appreciated by the locals.

Even after the English were forced out, English-speaking companies like banana empire Standard Fruit, which built the 1km dock in 1823, helped keep federal interference in the region minimal. The same dock was used in the 1960s to launch the failed, US-backed invasion of Cuba that has come to be known as the Bay of Pigs. Heck, most people in Bilwi still speak some English - as well as Creole, Mayangna, Miskito and Spanish - and do brisk business selling lobster tails, pine lumber and shrimp to the USA.

And there are also still plenty of pirates. Bilwi (Mayangna for 'snake leaf') is a major cocaine transit point. Keep your nose clean, take taxis at night and through Barrio El Cocal (between the city center and Restaurant Kabu Payaska) even during the day, and avoid going to beaches alone. Port has a terrible water supply, which runs for a few hours three times a week, and that water is green. Don't even use it to brush your teeth.

Last updated: Jul 22, 2009