Description
With the barely pronounceable Huellas de Acahualinca is referred to the ancient footprints left thousands of years ago at the borders of Lake Managua. Workers found a track of footprints by accident in 1874. Later studies proved that these footprints are 6000 years old, which makes them the oldest human footprints on the American continent.
These tracks are left behind by a group of around 10 people – men, women, and children. Some thought these people were fleeing from an erupting volcano close by, but a governmental study has rejected this idea. The people were not running and instead probably on their way to the lake to collect food and water.
Volcanic activity is the reason behind the conservation of the prints though. The original prints were left in a layer of volcanic mud. When a volcano nearby erupted – researchers are not sure which one – a layer of volcanic ash rained down on the footprints and perfectly conserved them.
Only part of the tracks has been found, the other parts probably being covered by volcanic material. In 1978, Nicaraguan researcher Jorge Espinoza excavated an area close to where the footprints ended to see if they would find more. At a depth of 4 meters they indeed found more prints, and the track is believed to continue even further.
At the Huellas (track in Spanish) de Acahualinca (Nahuatl word with several meanings) a small museum is set up. Besides observing the footprints you can also see some artifacts found here as well as in other parts of Nicaragua. Pre-Columbian tools, a scull from León Viejo, and conserved mammoth footprints form part of the collection. Huellas de Acahualinca is a small but very interesting site.
Practical Information
The entrance fee is U$4 for foreigners and C$20 for locals.
Getting There
To get there in taxi, you can simply try to pronounce the words ‘Huellas de Acahualinca’ and the taxi driver will have no problem getting there. From the Metro Centro shopping mall you should expect to pay around C$40-50 (convert).
To get there in your own car, go from the Plaza Inter shopping mall towards the lake (pass the rotary and go straight). At the third traffic lights take a left (you will see the TELCOR building on the corner). Now follow the road for about 2 kilometer, and you will enter some sort of neighborhood. From here, you are only 5 minutes away from Huellas de Acahualinca. Everybody here knows where they are, so just ask around and you will easily find your way through this maze.
Comments
gabriela vivas wrote on Dec 9, 2011:
cual es la direccion exacta para llegar a las huellas de acahulinca
ERICKA MONGE wrote on May 5, 2011:
HOLA MI ESPOSO ES PERUANO Y EL ESTA ANSIOSO DE CONOCER MI LINDA TIERRA NICARAGUA, Y EL SIEMPRE ME HACE PREGUNTA SOBRE LAS HUELLAS DE ACAHUALINCA, Y YO POR SUPUESTAMENTE NO CONOSCO MUY LA HISTORIA,DE ACAHUALINCA, EN AGOSTO VAMOS A HIR A MI LINDA NICARAGUA, GRACIAS POR SU IMFORMACION ES MUY VALIOSA PARA TODOS LOS NICOYAS QUE NO SABEMOS SOBRE LA HISTORIA DE NUESTRA TIERRA NATAL. QUE VIVA NICARAGUA!.
Gbriela melendez wrote on Mar 30, 2011:
hola a nicaragua soy de rio san juan para mi es de mucha importancia que hablen sobre nuestro ante pasado ya que es un simbolo de agradecimiento y para que los demas paices tanto extranjero como latinos se den cunta de la bellesa de nicaragua saber historia es conocer a su pais
tatiana rojas wrote on Oct 26, 2010:
ami me parese que las huellas de acahualinca son huellas que dejaron nuestros antepasados indigenas y eso me parese cursi
carlos corea wrote on Sep 27, 2010:
es lamentable que gente inescrupulosa la sigan haciendo daño a nuestro patrimonio historico,me refiero a loacontecido en dias pasados que bandalos trataron de destruir dichas huellas,hay que pedir a las autoridades policiales que con esto vago hay que ponerle mano dura y que no sigan haciendo mas daños,por que esto es parte de nuestra historia.gracias
Javier Matamoros wrote on Sep 23, 2010:
Estoy mas que de acuerdo con las personas que escribieron acerca de lo lindo que nuestra linda tierra a como lo es nuestra querida Nicaragua, tierra de lagos y volcanes con gente amistosa y agradables sin meter a ningun politico que es lo unico malo que tiene Nicaraguita. Saludes a todos los Nicas en su tierra a los que estan fuera de ella.
veronica cruz wrote on Aug 5, 2010:
nunca tube la oportunidad de ir alas huellas de acagualinca pero al verlo se me parece interesante al igual ke otros lados turisticos siempre lo he dicho mi patria es pequena sus riquezas son graqndes y su gente incomparable
Santiago Rivera wrote on Jun 21, 2006:
Totally unrelated in a relatable way. I just recently returned from Nicaragua, where I ran across Sauropod (Diplodicus I think) tracks, along the Tuma River In an area the locals call El Tigre. It is called El Tigre because antepasodos (ancestors) pecked petroglphs around one of the tracks making it appear to be a Saber Toothed Lion track, along with these are various other designs and human figures.
mireya wrote on Jan 31, 2006:
The Utah footprints are debatable. They are not
convincing evidence of human footprints. The
sediment rock is the one that is 300 millions yrs
old. The Acahualinca Footprints are a perfect
evidence of human feet. But, he is right about
the claim that they are not the oldest in the
continent. In 2005 a Dr. Gonzalez made a great
discover in Mexico near Puebla. She found footprints
perfectly imprinted in ash/volcanic rock that date
to be 40,000 yrs old in one test, and in the other
it dates back to 1.5 million years old. This ones
are NOW the oldest in the continent of America.
01/30/06
doc george wrote on Jul 7, 2005:
There is evidence that these are NOT the oldest footprints found in N. America. some have been found in Utah which have been dated to 300 million years ago. Some were wearing sandals!