Tour of Nicaragua
NICARAGUA When I was able to get about a week off of work, I decided to take a quick trip to one of the Central or South American countries I had not yet traveled to. After doing some research on the Web, I settled on Nicaragua, since it is relatively close and has a fascinating combination of natural beauty (volcanoes) and colonial cities.
I made all of my in-country tour arrangements via e-mail with Richard Leonardi, General Manager of Tours Nicaragua (Reparto Serrano, Plaza Barcelona #5, Managua, Nicaragua; phone 011-505-270-8417, fax 505-278-7851 or visit www.toursnicaragua.com). Mr. Leonardi is from the U.S. and moved to Nicaragua several years ago. He is the author of “Footprint Nicaragua” (2005, Footprint Handbooks. ISBN 1904777422, 352 pp.), one of the best and most detailed tour books on the country.
He was very attentive in terms of understanding what I wanted, and he arranged a flawlessly executed private tour which basically combined elements of their adventure and colonial city tours. The cost was $1,730 for six nights and six days of touring, June 28-July 4, 2006. I realize this may seem a bit expensive, but I was a single traveler with a custom itinerary. I felt Tours Nicaragua delivered an excellent value for the price. Hotels included breakfast, and all touring included a driver and a guide who spoke excellent, fluent English.
I arranged my flights myself online, cashing in frequent-flyer miles for the tickets. My American Airlines coach flights, round trip from Raleigh/Durham to Managua via Miami, all were on time.
Mr. Leonardi decided to personally handle my first day in Nicaragua, since we had built a good rapport in our e-mail conversations. He escorted me to the colonial city of León and on an afternoon to several beautiful churches and museums.
I stayed at León’s best hotel, Hotel El Convento, built from a restored convent. It is breathtakingly beautiful and peaceful, with colorful landscaping and a fountain plus a huge lobby area full of museum-quality artifacts. The included breakfast buffet was bountiful, and the dinners, which cost under $20, were world-class.
My guide for the next two days of volcano hiking from León was Dr. Rigo Sampson, a local Leonese who was trained in Europe as a physician. He is also an expert mountain guide and has opted for a career in tourism instead of medicine. Rigo was an absolutely delightful and personable man, and I truly felt like I was being hosted by a close friend instead of a paid tour guide. He has a deep understanding of the history and politics of Nicaragua, which added to the richness of my experience.
My second day in Nicaragua was an all-day hike from the fumeroles in San Jacinto through beautiful countryside and verdant fields full of green beans to Telica Volcano. My guides and I were the only people on Telica that day, and it was an awesome experience to peer down into the mile-deep hole full of steam, heat and various colors.
That night, Rigo included an extra bonus: a short drive to the nearby beaches of Las Salinas on the Pacific Ocean. We enjoyed a spectacular sunset along a strand of idyllic beach which housed a few charming hotels, restaurants and bars, then enjoyed dinner at a local restaurant.
The third day started with our second and shorter volcano climb up the relatively new (150-year-old) Cerro Negro Volcano. Again, we had the volcano to ourselves. We walked around the entire crater, which was even more active and colorful than the previous day’s Telico, and then slid all the way down the western face’s black sand and pebbles.
We went to El Tigre Lake for the afternoon. The small, crystal-blue lake surrounded by lush volcanoes is one of the most pristine and beautiful sights I have ever seen. There are no buildings, houses or other construction on this remote unspoiled lake, and we shared it with only five local teenage boys who were horsing around in the water.
For the rest of the trip I was escorted by Tours Nicaragua guide Gerald, another skilled, knowledgeable, personable and truly bilingual guide. I was transported to the other Nicaraguan colonial city of Granada via a stop at the Masaya Volcano & National Park.
Our two days in the area also included a boat ride on Las Isletas in Lake Nicaragua, where Gerald pointed out many different indigenous birds; touring between the several highland villages known as “Los Pueblos” high above Lake Apoyo; hiking down and around the large crater Lake Apoyo, and stopping in at the large crafts market in the town of Masaya.
Each of the highland villages has its unique town square, church and craft specialty. In one village, I got to see the entire process of pottery making from start to finish.
I spent two nights at the newly opened, pleasant Patio del Malinche Hotel in Granada. Two blocks from the center of town, it has a beautiful sitting and pool area, and the owner served a delicious breakfast each morning.
Before dinner, I walked around to the various parks and churches in this beautiful colonial city. There are many excellent restaurants to chose from, serving filling and delicious dinners for $10-$15.
On the final day, en route to Managua we stopped in the late afternoon at El Chocoyero-El Brujo Nature Reserve, where several hundred green parrots return before dusk every day to El Chocoyero Waterfall and cliff. Even more fascinating than the colorful display of green birds flying about was the cacophony of squawking I heard all around me.
Nicaragua is a wonderful and “untouristed” small country which welcomes visitors. At various times, I was even thanked by my hosts for coming to see their country. Nicaragua has proudly emerged from the bloodshed of a few decades ago and is now a peaceful democracy waiting to be explored and enjoyed.
My only warnings — you do need to be in relatively good shape for the volcano hikes (I am 51 years old, slim and walk a lot), and some of the roads getting to these beautiful remote sites are bone-jarring. But, overall, the trip was absolutely worthwhile, and the beautiful scenery and the excellent services of Tours Nicaragua far exceeded my expectations.
— STAN KIMER, Raleigh, NC