Axel Melchior

Axel has been in the tourism industry since he was a teenager, working during university vacations as interpreter for German and English-speaking visitors in Costa Rica. He now holds a business degree from Costa Rican University (Business Degree) , as well as an MBA from INCAF Business School – Nicaragua Axel  now has more than 20 years of experience working with FITs, groups and incentive programs, as well as with the cruise industry. As General Manager of Careli Tours, he coordinates our team efforts and is always on the lookout for improvement and innovations. His professional background, sense of responsibility (inherited from his German roots), and appreciation of Nicaragua’s culture and natural wonders, help us in meeting our mission: To live up to and exceed your expectations of our company by delivering high quality service, while always mindful of our quest for sustainable practices and policies. Axel’s hobbies include hiking, bird watching, soccer, surfing and diving (a certified dive master) which support his keen interest in marine biology; he is an active participant in the school programs supported by Careli Tours, particularly Vital Voices, whose work centers around propelling women’s economic participation through mentoring programs and business skills workshops.

Lourdes Fuentes

Lourdes oversees our product development and sales efforts, assuring that exciting programs full of memorable experiences are crafted for our incoming guests.Along with the sales team, she takes client requests and interests and assists in creating ideal itineraries, suggesting alternatives based on their selected activities and expectations. Lourdes has 22 years-experience in tourism, originally in Costa Rica, where she studied International Relations and gained valuable experience work on the front lines, first of a coffee company and next of a leading Costa Rica tour operator.  Her personal core philosophy of constant improvement shows in her central goal at Careli Tours: To meet, and indeed exceed, all client requests. Additionally, Lourdes is the heart of our nonprofit and environment efforts, which extend to her personal mentoring of women enrolled with Vital Voices. Her hobbies are reading, dancing, diving and exploring new places.  In the company, we call Lourdes: Jungle Lady.

Jenniffer Rodríguez

Jenniffer is our Chinese girl; she is part of the fourth generation of China descendants in Nicaragua.  Jenniffer studied Applied Economics with mention in Territorial Development at Universidad Centro Americana; also, she has a postgraduate in Proyects Planification at Universidad Americana. Now she has joined our team in the Operation Department as our Operations Manager. Her hobbies are spending time with her family; go to the beach and learning new languages.

Elisa Ruíz

Accountants are often behind the scenes quiet types. But not Elisa! As our accounting coordinator, she is responsible for maintaining Careli Tours’ exceptional record of financial accountability and timeliness. While we value her university degree in Accounting and Finance, we also appreciate Elisa for her helpfulness and kindness, as well as always being action-ready to hit the dance floor. Elisa enjoys spending time with her daughters.

Maria Jose Orue

Maria Jose was born in 1983, and has a university degree in System Engineering.  She joined our staff in December, 2005 and is responsible for both supervising our reservations operations for her area and   creating many of our travel programs.  And her biggest task as a senior executive is leading our team to meet Careli goals.  It’s fun to work with Maria Jose, who is always ready to learn new things, and is a fine team player, willing to lend a hand everywhere. Active and adventurous, she brings high energy and enthusiasm to every project she tackles. For hobbies, she like dancing and listing to music, plus following the latest in technology trends. Of course, there’s always time for being the adoring mother of a beautiful girl.

Jessica Mendieta

Born in Managua, Jessica has a degree in tourism and hotel management from American College University. Following schooling, she has been working in tourism as a travel consultant since 2011. As the youngest on our sales team, Jessica, she works every day providing client-pleasing personalized travel arrangements. Clients benefit from her love for traveling around Nicaragua, most of all in the company of her beautiful daughter. Yes, at Careli, we all seem to love to dance: Jessica describes dancing as her favorite sport.

Ana Bermudez

Ana was born in the town of Siuna on the North Caribbean coast of Nicaragua. She studied business Administration at UPOLI University in Managua and has been in the tourism industry since 2003. She works diligently to assure a wonderful vacation in Nicaragua for all Careli’s clients, and we all profit from her big appetite for adventure. Ana’s an eager learner, and enjoys dancing, working out, participating in our country’s many adventure activities, and spending quality time with her family: her husband, son and daughter.

Guides & Drivers

We take particular pride in our guides: highly-trained, nature loving, culturally sensitive, sociable, thoughtful, caring and smart. Additionally, they are completely bilingual (Spanish / English), and some are also fluent in other languages such as French and German. They work easily with our clients to create and deliver authentic and memorable experiences, they work hard to accommodate specific requests and services. Above all, they know their country and take pride in their ability to share with our guests the natural and cultural wonders of Nicaragua.

  • Bird Watching  : 3 Nicaraguan ornithologists
  • Nature Tours : 3 biologists and many experienced nature guides
  • Trekking : 3 experts specialized in volcanoes
  • Scuba Diving : 2 certified scuba divers on staff (one is a Pro). Additionally, we cooperate with a certified PADI center.
  • History & Culture : We have full-time guides with years of education, training and experience.

Additionally, when required, we assign a Nicaraguan professor with a PhD in history to give clients and groups more in depth cultural background and interpretation.

Experienced and courteous, the Careli Tours’ drivers also take professional pleasure in providing all-comforts road travel to their passengers as they motor about a beautiful and unspoiled country. Our fleet from 56-passenger Scania and Volvo buses and 25-passenger Toyota Coasters 8-passenger Toyota minivans is owned by us, and therefore maintained to the highest standards of cleanliness, safety and reliability, assuring seamless transportation at all times.