Pirates of Granada, Nicaragua

1888 ‘Pirates of the Spanish Main’ card game

Wrinkles spread from his eyes, creasing the Welshman's tanned, weathered face as he squinted in the moonlight, hoping to discern any branches or boulders popping above the surface belying significant obstructions that might tip his canoe.

The 30 year-old and his rough looking companions paddled surreptitiously up the San Juan River, fighting the current that flowed into the Caribbean Sea.  The men of diverse skin colors and ethnicities didn't chatter or sing sea shanties as they rowed, understanding silence to be their best ally.

Granada, Nicaragua

As the first light of dawn made noticeable the silhouettes of all six canoes under his command, Henry Morgan pointed toward shore, and soon the pirates' boots splashed in the shallows as they dragged their canoes onto the river bank.  Though exhausted, they took time to carry their flat bottomed boats to the brush where they camouflaged them beneath branches.

The buccaneers spent the day in hiding.  They discreetly foraged for food, repasted and rested in preparation for that night's efforts.  A few days later, they reached La Mar Dulce, the Spanish Sweet Sea as it was called, though this was actually the fresh water lake we now call Lake Nicaragua. 

Plaza in Granada

On its far banks sat the first European city on the American continent, a claim bolstered by official registration with the Crown of Aragon and Kingdom of Castille as founded in 1524, but these pirates were not concerned with historical claims about this city or its Moorish and Andalusian design.  They made the difficult, stealthy approach because La Gran Sultana, as Granada was also known, housed great riches awaiting transatlantic passage to Spain under guard of the powerful Spanish Armada.

Captain Morgan and his men had been legally authorized as Privateers to attack and loot Spanish ships and ports on behalf of the British Crown.  In payment for playing havoc with Spain, which had acquired great wealth through its rapid domination of the New World, the Privateers could keep most of their stolen treasure.

Convento de San Franisco in Granada

The Golden Age of Piracy had begun in the Caribbean 15 years earlier in 1650, but this location deep within what is now Nicaragua was considered more secure than a bank's vault.  Captain Morgan's bold assault caught the Spanish completely by surprise.

The pirates sank all the Spanish ships in port, set fires in the city and then absconded with a treasure of a half million pounds sterling in the 12-foot boats they had previously stolen in their raid on Villahermosa, Mexico.

While loading that much additional weight into such small watercraft undoubtedly strained their capacity and made the canoes difficult to control, Henry Morgan's men nonetheless made their escape up the Coco River, with assistance from the indigenous Miskitu tribe.



Freshly Painted Re-Construction in Granada

Before the Lake Nicaragua boat ride that I wrote about previously, we had been led on a walking tour through Granada.  In many places, the re-constructed city, with most buildings over 100 years old, has an appearance almost like a movie set built in the style of the original architecture, with freshly painted walls making it look even newer than it actually is.

The historic city had been sacked several times by other pirates subsequent to Morgan's raid, and then on December 14, 1856, that Granada was totally destroyed.

The Conquest of Nicaragua by a few hundred mercenaries in 1854 temporarily installed a filibuster (essentially a pirate with more permanent ambitions to rule than pillage) named William Walker as President of Nicaragua.  Walker had eyes on ruling all of Central America.

Why did he think a power base in Nicaragua would give him enough power to fulfill his megalomaniacal dream?

Mambacho Volcano Viewed from the Road

Prior to the Panama Canal's construction, the primary water route from the east coast to California's gold rush came up Nicaragua's San Juan River, as Henry Morgan had, and then by stage coach to the coast.

Control of that route was worth a fortune, and in fact Cornelius Vanderbilt already had expanded his substantial shipping fortune from his efforts to improve the waterway and operate the stage coaches.

To fund his own ambitions, Walker revoked Vanderbilt's exclusive rights, but Cornelius did not retreat to his New York mansion or Newport summer "cottage" muttering that it was good while it lasted.  Instead, Vanderbuilt struck back as a powerful enemy who helped ruin Walker's grand plans by allying with the counter-revolutionaries, providing both money and soldiers to the cause.

Burial Urn at Convento de San Francisco

It was one of Walker's defeated generals who burnt Granada to the ground on his way out, proclaiming in a final note, "Here Was Granada." 

As we walked around the bustling city square, our guide told us about the city, but we could only hear fragments of what he said due to the ambient noise.  Previously on the 2 hour bus ride, this former school teacher proved himself to be an expert on his home country, hanging up a map and passing around other visual aids to accompany his descriptions of the area and its history, so I wish we could have heard him better in town. 

When we reached the quiet of Convento de San Francisco in Granada, our guide provided a wonderful narrative about its museum's art, including the pre-Columbian statues found at nearby Zapatera Island. 



Monkeys in Nicaragua

A decent luncheon buffet of local foods completed our Granada visit before continuing to Lake Nicaragua, which left all of us content to rest on the bus ride back to the port in San Juan Del Sur, but we had an unexpected treat: monkeys in trees by the side of the road to bid us farewell.