This ecotour is now over.
Trip Itinerary
NOTE: This itinerary is subject to change.
Day 1: Arrive to Managua airport. Immediately transfer to Finca Esperanza Verde to enjoy the sunset in the mountains and settle into your cabin.
Day 2: Wake up early to do some early morning birdwatching if you like, or sleep in until breakfast. Take a tour of FEV with the owner, Vivianne Arango. Do some group work directed by your professor, Ray Sinclair, and in the afternoon, enjoy a coffee tour to learn about how coffee is grown and processed. Afterward, take a cooking class and learn how traditional tortillas are made and coffee is roasted.
Days 3-7: Your group will be working on a volunteer project at FEV for these five days. The project will be determined by the FEV administration and your professor. In the past, projects have included solar panel installation and repair, water heating systems, etc. Each day will consist of time dedicated to the volunteer project, as well as free time to go on hikes, go swimming, or just relaxing in the pavilion. On your last day, you’ll enjoy a bonfire with local musicians.
Day 8: After breakfast, depart FEV for the town of San Ramón. Meet the SCSRN staff, your host families, and take a tour of the town. In the afternoon, hike to the nearby rural village of La Pita and go swimming. Later you’ll attend a craft market where you can purchase locally made crafts. After dinner with your host families, you’ll take a dance class to learn different Latin American dance steps, as well as traditional Nicaraguan dances.
Day 9: After breakfast with your host families, you’ll visit a cacao cooperative and learn about how chocolate is grown and processed. After lunch, you’ll visit an indigenous weaving community and attend a handmade jewelry workshop. In the evening, a local dance group will give a performance at the local library.
Day 10: In the morning you’ll have a language exchange with high school English students, where they will practice some of their English and you can practice your Spanish! Then in the afternoon you’ll visit the nearby city of Matagalpa, where you’ll visit a coffee processing plant and have some time for shopping and sightseeing. Back in San Ramón, you’ll attend a cooking class to learn how to make traditional nacatamales, followed by a dinner with live music.
Day 11: After breakfast, say goodbye to your host families and SCSRN staff, and head for the colonial city of Granada, where your trip will continue with an itinerary prepared for you by your professor.