Nicaragua Intense Adventure

Begin this vacation in the capital city before taking to the road to discover that Nicaragua is the ideal destination for the high-on-adventure traveler seeking something truly unique in once-in-a-lifetime experiences. For example, you’ll be biking through scenic coffee country, plantation to plantation, village to village; dropping in on a community tourism project producing everything from Swiss cheese to medicinal plants; meeting an artist who rock-carves a mountain; hiking, swimming and cliff-jumping in Somoto Canyon. This adrenaline-high adventure comes to rest (so to speak) in Granada, with activities such mountain biking and kayaking on Lake Nicaragua.

DEPARTURE/RETURN LOCATION Managua city- Matagalpa City – Esteli city, Somoto Canyon – Granada Colonial City
DEPARTURE TIME To check locally
RETURN TIME To check locally
WEAR & BRING Comfortable Clothes (pants, shorts, t-shirt, Swimwear) comfortable shoes that are suitable for walking and trekking,  binoculars, sunglasses, sun block , camera.
INCLUDED   A/C Transportation, Bilingual Guide, Entrance fees to the different attractions, Daily Breakfast
NOT INCLUDED Personal expenses, Entry & Exit from International Airport in Managua, Meals & Tours or services not specified in the itinerary, Personal and/or medical expenses,  all optional tours or activities during free time, transfers outside of the tour program.
1

Welcome to Managua

A Careli Tours representative will welcome you at the airport and transfer you to your hotel in Managua, capital of Nicaragua. At leisure for the rest of the day and evening. Overnight at Hotel Los Robles.
2

Selva Negra

Depart after breakfast for Selva Negra, one of Nicaragua’s most famous coffee farms, devoted to sustainable agriculture; the 1,500-acre estate is also home to a well-known mountain-lodge resort. We drive to an elevation of 3,900 ft. (1,200 m.), then you’re off on your bike up the paved road to El Arenal at 4,700 ft. (1,440 m.) and then the off-piste adventure starts: a ride through a spectacular area of coffee fields, fern plantations and little villages surround the cloud forest of the Cerro el Arenal National Reserve.  Your guide will explain coffee farming and the traditions of local life in the countryside.  This is a moderate to difficult ride, so some experience and good physical condition is needed. For a ride of 5 to 6 hours, of course, we’ve packed a picnic lunch.

Overnight at Selva Negra Ecolodge. (Breakfast and Lunch included)

3

Selva Negra

This morning, it’s time to look around the estate on a Morning Hacienda Tour, including a coffee tour and nature walk with your Careli Tours naturalist guide.Selva Negra is recognized for pioneering sustainable farming methods, and during your tour-by-truck you will see and learn of many of their innovations when visiting the organic laboratory, workers’ housing, greenhouses, the cheese house, chicken coops and stables.  Of course for Selva Negra guests, these farming efforts feed right into the freshest of home-cooked meals.

After lunch, it’s time to learn about coffee, according to organic farming methods. Coffee touring includes picking and weighing of coffee beans, bean processing and quite naturally a cup of coffee in the museum. (Note: Back home, Selva Verde coffee is for sale at Whole Foods stores) Late afternoon you and your guide will take a hike: it’s the right time of day to see a bevy of birds and watch the howler monkeys swinging through the trees.

Overnight at Selva Negra Ecolodge. (Breakfast and Lunch included)

4

Esteli

Following breakfast and checkout, we head out to the El Tisey Nature Reserve, the southernmost point in the Western Hemisphere to find pine forest, combined with moss-covered trees that are hosts to hundreds of species of orchids. This area is also home to some inspiring communities, and we are going to meet many of the local campesinos, starting at La Garnache , one of Nicaragua’s greatest success stories of community tourism and cooperative development. It was founded in the 1980s by families displaced by the war, and we will learn about many of their successes of this association: Swiss cheese production, organic coffee, fertilizer, vegetables and medicinal plants. We will also visit the soapstone carvings shop where young men carve wood and soapstone mined within the community, and then head to the natural medicine pharmacy for a consultation on which herbs you need, prescribed right there.

Our next stop is Don Alberto’s Gutierrez and his mountainside stone carvings. Don Alberto (77 years) greets his guests, leading us up the side of a low mountain to view his collection of rock carvings, And indeed, running along the ridge of the hillside are hundreds of figures—jaguars, snakes, religious scenes, Nicaraguan historical figures—he has carved out of the rock.  Time with the man and his art add up to an inspirational experience.

Enjoy a lunch of typical foods, prepared by the community.

We are in the principal region of tobacco production, and in the afternoon, we’ll check out how they make the world-famous Nicaraguan puro. Esteli’s plantations were founded by Cuban exiles in search of the perfect tobacco-growing spot and their cigars now rival those of their former homeland. While tobacco is harvested in March and April, cigars (porros) are rolled year-round.  We will witness firsthand the curing and hand-rolling techniques carried out in the vast factory workshop of Plasencia Cigars..

Overnight at Hotel Hex Esteli.(Breakfast and Lunch included)

5

Somoto Canyon

Today, we drive north to Somoto, a small town near the Honduran border, but we spend the day out of town in Somoto Canyon—a special day in a unique and dramatic place, where you tailor your own adventures—combining hiking, swimming and cliff-jumping—to your abilities and spirit of adventure.  Formed millions of years ago when an earthquake split several hills in two and started the formation of the Canyon, gradually deeply eroded by two rivers: now the Tapacali and the Comali, which merge to form the Rio Coco, the longest river in Central America. Until 2003 when two scientists stumbled upon the rift, only the local communities knew of its existence; in 2006, Nicaragua declared Somoto Canyon—2.9 mi. (4.7 km.) long— a National Reserve. And nowadays, one can’t resist calling this “the Grand Canyon” although due to rock formations, it is not a canyon that can be navigated totally by boat. For true adventurers, it’s a must-conquer world of really high-octane adventure. Our day here of guided touring, includes rock climbing and swimming, often jumping off high places to do so; each of our three tour choices includes some hiking, along with optional boat rides or tubing. On these excursions, our outfitter provides life vests, dry bags, water, snacks; we recommend you bring river shoes.

*Short Tour (2.5 hours) Trek up he Rio Coco against the current to the final part of the Canyon. You have a second option choice of inner tubing up this stretch of river.  For both, the wonder of it all are the majestic walls towering more than 300 feet high, where parakeets, hawks, and herons make their nests thousands of orchids and bromeliads growing wild at the Canyon’s rim.  This is the easiest tour offered, and if you don’t want to swim, you don’t have to. Just enjoy this gem of a natural wonder.

*Medium Tour (3.5 hours) We enter at the midpoint of the canyon, just after the Tapacali and Comali rivers merge into the Rio Coco. We pass through the narrowest part of the canyon (15 ft.) where the walls are very close and the views amazing.  This tour requires a bit more of an adventurous spirit, as you will be trekking on rocky surfaces and swimming through 2.5 km. of the total canyon distance.  Along the way, there is one obligatory cliff jump into the water.

*Long Tour  (5 hours).  Explore the entire Grand Canyon of Central America!  Trek and swim the entire five kilometers of the Somoto Canyon with a local guide, who will show you the way to navigate this adventure, pointing out fruit bat caves right at the start of the canyon, keeping you up with the trekking and swimming pace, introducing you to local flora and fauna. While you’ll need to bring little snacks and water, we will stop for lunch in one of the communities and take time to learn about their lives near the Canyon.

Overnight at El Rosario Hotel Somoto (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner included)

Optional: Instead of staying at the hotel, you may want to go camping> You can hike above the canyon and damp at one of the t here lookout points along the canyon, or hike down into the canyon and camp in one of the caves inside the canyon.  All tents, camping gear, water and snacks are provided by a local outfitter. Note: While it is possible to camp alone, we recommend camping with a guide, who will have his own tent.

6

GRANADA

After breakfast, we leave for a long drive to the beautiful colonial city of Granada, founded in 1524 and one of the oldest settlements in Latin America. After a bit of time to freshen up, you will meet your guide for a walking tour of the town, starting at the beautiful main square where everyone gathers for snacks, sunning and socializing, then moving along cobbled streets lined with patrician homes. Visit the exquisite La Merced Church and the baroque Convento San Francisco, whose museum exhibits mysterious stone carvings and idols made by pre-Columbian artisans, as well as an impressive collection of ancient statues unearthed on Ometepe Island on Lake Nicaragua. Additionally, tour the Polvora Fortress and stop in at the Municipal Market.

Overnight at Hotel Colonial. (Breakfast included)

7

Biking Granada city & Kayak at Lake Nicaragua

This morning, our local outfitter will meet you in the lobby to gear up on your mountain bike for a ride through Granada to El Rayo (6 mi, or 10 km.), located at the tip of the Asese Peninsula, a chunk of largely untouched wilderness which juts out into Lake Nicaragua—the largest fresh-water lake in Latin America. The area was formed by volcanic activity that produced numerous natural hills of basalt boulders. Well, the bumpy road makes this ride more fun, but pedal slowly to be able to spot lots of birds and iguanas along the way.

At El Rayo, you switch to double kayaks, moving out to thread through small canals that form a watery network among the Granada Isletas. Along the way we’ll stop to meet the locals fishing or living on these tiny islets, we’ll count many of the dozens of bird species at home here, and we’ll definitely have time for a dip or two in Lake Nicaragua.

Your afternoon is free to find your personal adventures in Grenada

Overnight at Hotel Colonial. (Breakfast included)

8

MANAGUA

Depart after breakfast for Managua International Airport for flight home or on-bound. (Breakfast included)
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