Nicaragua's Sandinistas: They put down their guns and picked up paintbrushes

There are five of us in the single-prop plane: the pilot, the co-pilot and three passengers. Barely off the ground, the co-pilot reaches for a newspaper to check the baseball scores. I'm too engrossed in the view to worry – Lake Nicaragua and its tiny islands spread out below us like a map.

I'm heading for the Solentiname archipelago, in the remote south-eastern corner of the lake, to discover the community of primitivist artists founded in 1965 by the Nicaraguan poet and rebel priest Ernesto Cardenal.

The plane thumps down on a dirt clearing – what passes for a runway in San Carlos, a ramshackle trading town on the shore of the lake. A short, bumpy taxi ride later, I'm met at the bustling dockside by my island guides, Elena Pineda and her nephew, José, who whisk me by panga – a motorised canoe – to San Fernando.

Of the 36 volcanic islands that make up this isolated archipelago, only four are inhabited – San Fernando, Mancarron, La Venada and Mancarroncita – and all are without roads, electricity and running water. We arrive at Cabañas Paraiso and Elena shows me to my cabin. It has bright yellow walls and simple furnishings; the shower uses the chilly water from the lake and solar power runs the light bulbs.

It's a tranquil place, but it hasn't always been so. During the revolution that brought the Sandinistas to power on 19 July 1979 – last Thursday marked the first celebration of Liberation Day since they regained power last November – it was a hotbed of political activity.

José takes me to Mancarron to see Cardenal's cabin and his erstwhile church, the altar decorated with the locals' paintings. We stop at a monument dedicated to five young men who died in the uprising, among them Laureano Mairena. "Laureano was Elena's husband," José says quietly. "He was a Sandinista but more than that he loved the islands and wanted the people to have access to education, medical care and a better standard of living."

More than 40 years ago, campesinos – dirt-poor subsistence farmers – began to produce colourful paintings inspired by their daily struggle and the islands' lush landscape. Post-revolution, with Cardenal as minister of culture, the artistic community flourished once more. Today, many of the islands' 900 or so inhabitants combine farming and fishing with painting and woodcarving. Visit them in their homes and you'll find three or more generations living and working together. Elena, too, is a talented artist. I look for her work in San Fernando's small gallery but it's on show in New York.

At dawn the following day, we set off by panga for Los Guatuzos Wildlife Refuge, a maze of verdant waterways and tropical forest teeming with wildlife, including almost 400 bird species. Within minutes we've disturbed the fishing expeditions of herons and cormorants. On dry land, José points out a slumbering sloth, tracks of the elusive jaguar and a procession of leaf-cutter ants. I step gingerly on to the aerial walkway for a monkey's-eye view of the forest. A spider monkey emerges from the thick foliage, peers at me and moves on.

Back at the hotel, exhausted by my dawn raid, I flop into a hammock. I wake to find Elena laying the table for dinner. As the fireflies dance to the tune of tree frogs and cicadas, I dine on fresh fish, avocado salad and the ubiquitous rice and beans – washed down with ice-cold Toña beer, thanks to the solar-powered refrigerator.

The next morning I catch the first water bus back to the airstrip at San Carlos. As the sun edges over the tree tops I look back at these enchanting islands. Now that paintbrushes have replaced guns, it won't be long before their resilient inhabitants are in the midst of another revolution – only this time they'll be welcoming an army of tourists.

Compact facts

HOW TO GET THERE

American Airlines (020-7365 0777; american airlines.co.uk), Continental Airlines (0845 607 6760; continental.com) and Delta Airlines (0845 600 0950; delta.com) offer return flights to Managua via the US from £552 to £740. La Costeña (tacaregional.com) offers flights from Managua to San Carlos from £60 each way. Boats to the islands run twice a week with fares from $5. A double at Cabañas Paraiso (00 505 278 3998) costs $40 (£20) per night.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Solentiname.org (solentiname.com/nica.htm). ViaNica (vianica.com). The Nicaraguan Institute of Tourism (intur.gob.ni).

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