This ecotour is now over.
Trip Itinerary (SUBJECT TO CHANGE):
Day 1 – Arrive at Managua airport where you are met by our guide, a driver and chartered bus. Dinner at sunset at award winning Finca Esperanza Verde Ecologe (FEV) with view across the Dariense Mountain Range. Local staff introduce themselves and welcome group. www.fincaesperanzaverde.com
Day 2 – Tour FEV’s organic coffee plantations and worm composting area. Visit a coffee farm and meet the farmer and his family. Coffee cupping (tasting).
Day 3 – Hike Red Trail with nature guide. Tour FEV’s vast organic vegetable garden.
Day 4 – Visit La Chispa School built with income from tourism. Play games and do crafts with students. Nature hike on Blue Trail to see birds, howler monkeys, sloth, water fall, medicinal plants, orchids and butterflies. Learn to make tortillas by hand and to roast coffee the campesino way. Local folk musicians perform around the campfire.
Day 5 – Depart FEV for the town of San Ramón. Arrive in San Ramón and meet your guesthouse family. Two guests stay with each family. Visit town of San Ramón. Visit craft market where primitivist style paintings by local youth are sold. Dance class.
Day 6 – Visit Los Pipitos Center for Handicapped Children. La Pita hike and swimming. Short talk about the Contra War by a Sandinista soldier. Handmade paper demonstration by a women’s cooperative. Tropical seed jewelry workshop with local artisans. Traditional dance performance by young children at the library.
Day 7 – Visit cacao cooperative in El Tuma north of San Ramón and learn all about growing cacao and producing chocolate. History talk by Doña Marina whose grandparents founded the county of San Ramón. Music in outdoor park.
Day 8 – Return to Managua for departure or for a side trip on your own to another part of Nicaragua.
The cost of this trip is $1,400 per person. This includes all in-country costs; lodging, food, transportation, and activities. It does NOT include airfare. Extra excursions added to the itinerary may result in a change in cost.