Q. I wonder if you could advise me regarding visiting Nicaragua. I have never been there, but I heard there is the potential of cheap investment and low cost of living. I'm about to retire and am looking for safe and inexpensive living in the Caribbean or Central America.

Please give me some advice, and information sources for traveling overseas, such as Web sites and e-mail addresses. -- D.S., Huntsville, Ala.

A. I found a company that offers tours for potential retirees or people looking for vacation homes or investment opportunities. And I learned about a helpful program offered by the Central American nation's consulate.

The Consulate of Nicaragua, 8532 SW Eighth St., Suite 270, Miami, FL 33144, helps prospective retirees with paperwork and advice. Write or call the consulate at 305-265-1415, Ext. 19, to reach Telma Prego. She explains that the retiree-to-be needs to obtain a 90-day visa. He must be over age 40 and have an authenticated document saying that he has a pension or other guaranteed income of at least $400 per month, plus an additional $100 for each dependent.

Also needed: A certified health statement, a document specifying police record or lack of it, and an authenticated first page of a U.S. passport. After the consulate receives all the required paperwork and issues the 90-day temporary visa, the retiree-to-be travels to Nicaragua, where he or she visits the Tourism Institute to apply for a retirement visa.

Americans interested in investments can contact the Nicaragua-American Chamber of Commerce in Miami, phone 305-599-2737.

Nicaragua has no tourist offices in the United States.

If you want to check it out before starting the visa process, Barbara Periello at Discovery Tours and Agora Travel in Delray Beach, Fla., takes groups on discovery tours to Nicaragua, Panama and Honduras to explore options for retirement, vacation sites and investments.

"Retirement cost depends on lifestyle, what they're looking for," Sedita said. Of the three nations, "property is probably cheapest in Nicaragua. The cost of living is low." Various reports estimate that American retirees can live in Nicaragua for $1,300 to $1,500 a month.

Sedita believes that Nicaragua "is pretty safe; it is conservative and business-friendly, with low taxes." Investors are encouraged to start tourism-related businesses including fast-food franchises.

Boosters of Nicaragua development point out that the Sandinistas have been gone for more than 10 years, that rapid development is improving the infrastructure along the Pacific coast, with better roads, utilities and other services.

A Web site that has a selection of books on Nicaragua is www.bluejeweltravel.com. Some are guidebooks and one is titled "Investing in the New Nicaragua," written by Christopher Howard, an American who lives in Costa Rica. Some reviewers think the book paints too rosy a picture of conditions in Nicaragua.

Another good Web site, www.internationalliving.com/nicaragua, discusses tax incentives and the procedure required to qualify for retirement. On home ownership, it says that a spacious two-bedroom home with air conditioning can be built for about $60,000.

------

Q. Can you please tell me if AAA or any other travel organization has compiled a list of motels/hotels along the Interstate 95 corridor between Florida and New York City that have walk-in showers and/or ones with grab bars?

A. AAA guidebooks designate motels and hotels that are suitable for handicapped travelers with a wheelchair stick figure. The symbol means that the hotel or motel has "at least one room that meets criteria: accessible restrooms and parking facilities." Those with roll-in showers are signified with the same wheelchair stick figure and a shower.

Some motel chains also indicate wheelchair-accessible rooms and baths with the same wheelchair figure we see at handicapped parking spaces.

One that uses that symbol is the catalog of Choice Hotels (Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality Inn, Sleep Inn, Clarion and MainStay Suites). Catalogs are available in properties of that chain, and of others that use the symbol.

Help is found at state welcome centers along main highways just inside each state border.

I contacted Society for Accessible Travel and Hospitality, www.SATH.org, an organization dedicated to aiding people with physical challenges. Although SATH provides much information on aid for the handicapped, including rating airlines and ships on their handling of the handicapped, it pays little heed to automobile travel and has no lists of the kind you're seeking.