The Mysteries of Cerro Musún

     Among the park rangers of Musún, you might encounter Miguel del Socorro Jarquín Artola, a tall young man with a dark complexion and slender build, who shares fantastic stories from the Natural Reserve where he was born and grew up as a natural predator of wildlife, until he became one of its most dedicated protectors.

"One time, on that hill, I was with my dad, one of my brothers, and two uncles, and we had many dogs. We were going to hunt armadillos, agoutis, or whatever we could find. It was late afternoon in winter," says Socorro.

As is typical during winter, dense fog covered the mountains. Socorro and his father, also named Socorro, along with his brother Francisco and his uncles Ubencio Martínez and Facundo Guzmán, continued searching for animals to hunt.

The young park ranger adds, "We were still on the hill and suddenly, we saw that the place cleared up. The cloud lifted, and it was clear. Then we saw some freshly made paths, some houses, chickens, and that worried us because we knew that didn't exist. We tried to find a way out, but we kept going in circles in the same place and never got out. We were lost in the same spot."

According to Socorro's account, it was then that his uncle Ubencio rebuked them: "This is something one of us is carrying, because otherwise, we would have already gotten out." 

"I have some wild hen eggs that I picked up along the way," responded Francisco, Socorro's brother.

"Then throw them away because if not, we're going to stay lost," warned Don Ubencio. Socorro continues with his story: "When my brother threw away the eggs, we then managed to find our own tracks and could get out of the place. Afterward, we went to check what we had seen and couldn't see anything again. We realized that what we had seen didn't exist and it was because of the cursed wild hen eggs my brother was carrying. It was like an enchanted place to ensure no one took anything away."

Unveiling the Beauties of Cerro Musún (Fragment) Written by Luis Eduardo Martínez M May 2, 2004 / La Prensa Mosaico

La Taconuda (The ghost of the woman with high heels)

     The municipality of El Crucero in Managua is not only known for its favorable climate, its ceramics, and for being one of the most important coffee-producing areas in Nicaragua. It is also known for the stories that arise from the narrations and experiences of its inhabitants. In addition to its "ceguas" (mythical creatures), witches, and mysterious haunted houses, this area is famous because it harbors one of the most famous and feared apparitions of the place: La Taconuda.

    According to Ninoska Chacón (El Nuevo Diario), this evil spirit, who could well be the protagonist of any horror book, is a "bony, stinking, and chilling mockery of a woman who was said to have tragically died at the hands of a family member 150 years ago, and has since then terrorized coffee pickers." On the other hand, Eduardo Manfut tells us that La Taconuda "is a woman 7 feet tall, young, with long hair reaching to her calves, slender, wearing high and curved heels, with a dry face, deep eyes, pronounced painted lips, and smiling, black shawl, perky busts, white dress with a silver sash and a large square buckle, and a golden headband... when she passed by, she left a strong aroma of perfume and that's how they identified her, but she didn't take every man with her."

    This dreadful apparition with a woman's body appears among the Nicaraguan coffee fields, taking advantage of the shadows of the cool nights in this region. It is not known exactly what she looks like; the only thing accurately commented on is the terror she causes to those unlucky enough to be chosen by her. After hearing her macabre laughter among the coffee fields, some man or foreman from a farm mysteriously disappears, and the next morning he wakes up dazed, completely mute, naked, or worse still, dead with a look of terror fixed in his lost gaze.

The Herd of Mares from Comalapa

 "A legend that every inhabitant knows and affirms is not a tale but the truth, is that at the beginning of the last century, from the Cerro de La Cruz, located in front of the town, a herd of mares in heat would come down to neigh in the square, located in front of the old church.

It is said that they were the witches of the San Francisco community who came to meet their lovers.

But one day, the parish priest of the town went up with a group of parishioners to place three crosses at the top of the hill to calm the beasts. Since then, the mares no longer come down to the town, although some night owls claim that they sometimes hear the neighing of the famous fillies in the distance."

Fragment from "Comalapa, pueblo de leyendas y personajes" Orlando Valenzuela - La Prensa

Zipes

   Another character known to the farmers of our land is the mischievous zipe (zee-pay). These curious dwarfs are characterized by their sideways feet, pot-bellied appearance, and an insatiable fondness for girls and beautiful women from the villages. It's rumored that zipes lurk around cornfields, scheming ways to abscond with women, leaving them stranded in the jungle once they've achieved their aim.

    Rural women also allege that zipes snatch unbaptized babies, purposefully misplace them, as Wilfredo Alvarez mentioned in his intriguing tale of the origins of Loma del Zipe in Chinandega. Some men attempt to ensnare these dwarfs, intending to exploit them for labor while they themselves take a break. However, capturing zipes is no easy feat. According to previous attempts, zipes are exceedingly cunning and deceitful. Once in the service of a new captor, one must remain vigilant, for if the zipe is left unattended, he may vanish, along with the captor's wife.