This ecotour is now over.
Trip Itinerary
NOTE: This itinerary is subject to change.
Day 1: Arrive to Managua, and check in to the Camino Real Hotel.
Day 2: After breakfast, take a tour of historic sites in Managua. Then head north to Finca Esperanza Verde, award-winning organic coffee farm and eco-lodge, stopping in the northern city of Matagalpa for lunch. After arriving at FEV and settling into your cabin, enjoy a delicious dinner and prepare for the visit from East Chapel Hill’s sister school the following day.
Day 3: Wake up for some early morning birdwatching and then after breakfast, receive a visit from the children of East Chapel Hill’s sister school, El Trentino. In the afternoon, take a hike through the tropical cloud forest, go for a swim in a waterfall, and visit a butterfly hatchery. Later, take a cooking lesson and learn how to make corn tortillas and roast coffee the traditional way.
Day 4: After some birdwatching and breakfast, visit the neighboring school, La Chispa. Return to FEV for a coffee tour and hike to learn about the entire coffee process. After dinner, enjoy a bonfire with live music.
Day 5: After breakfast, say goodbye to FEV and head to Chapel Hill’s sister school, Rio Negro, for games and crafts. Then make your way to the town of San Ramón, where you’ll meet the SCSRN staff and your host families. After lunch with your host family, you’ll complete a scavenger hunt to get to know the town of San Ramón. In the afternoon, purchase some local crafts at a crafts market, and after dinner, take a dance class to learn Latin American dance moves.
Day 6: Head out to El Trentino school in the morning, and then come back for lunch with your host families in town. In the afternoon, visit FUDEGL, a local organization that works in environmental preservation and food security. After dinner, you’ll take a tour of the local library and enjoy a dance performance by a children’s dance troupe.
Day 7: In the morning, visit a cocoa cooperative to learn about how chocolate is made. Then stop by a beautiful waterfall on your way to the city of Matagalpa, where you’ll attend a lecture with a local historian about the Nicaraguan canal. Do some shopping and visit a lookout point for a bird’s eye view of the city, then return to San Ramón for a cooking lesson to make nacatamales, followed by a dinner with live music.
Day 8: After breakfast, say farewell to your friends in San Ramón and head to the colonial city of León. On the way, stop at the volcanic springs of San Jacinto. After lunch in León, you’ll go volcano-boarding and then enjoy some free time in the main square. While there, you can visit the cathedral of Leon, which is one of UNESCO’s World Heritage sites! In the evening, you’ll head on to Managua, and spend the night where you began, at the Camino Real Hotel.
Day 9: Go to the airport and catch your flight home!