Nicaragua Trip Details

Flights have been reserved and details have been confirmed for Nicaragua - February 15-21, 2017!

Timeline:
Sept. 29 - First Interest Meeting, 3:30pm in Woods Hall History
Oct. 5 - airfare deposit due on my end
Oct. 14 - First payment due
Jan. 10 - Second payment due
Feb. 10 - Tip payment due
Feb. 15 - Depart from CLT to Managua, Nicaragua

Itinerary:
Day 1 - arrive in Managua and make our way to Leon
Leon city tour, where you can appreciate the colorful colonial architecture of the town's center, which includes the imposing cathedral and facades of their churches.
Day 2 - Cerro Negro is the youngest volcano in Central America, and it is located in the outskirts of León (1 hour drive.) You hike up the 728 meter high volcano to reach the top and sandboard down! There are two different ways to sandboard down the volcano: you can stand up like on a snowboard, or you can sit down like on a sled. Then the fun really continues as you will slide or surf down the slope in less than 3 minutes! After this amazing experience, you will spend the afternoon at the beach, sipping a refreshment, watching the sunset or swimming in the ocean.
Day 3 - Today you drive north to Matagalpa: located in the north highlands that make the water shed division of the Caribbean and Pacific rivers. It’s a perfect spot for mountain hiking, bird watching, horseback riding, wildlife watching, eco-tourism and wildlife photography. It has a nice temperate climate, from the hotter León.
Day 4 - Selva Negra cloud forest, home to almost 200 identified bird species. Besides these abundant birds, you can also encounter small mammals like howler monkeys, reptiles and amphibians. This private wildlife refuge has over 300 acres, strictly reserved as the refuge, but there are other 400 acres as secondary forest, in the form of shaded coffee plantation.
Day 5 - Transfer day to the colonial city of Granada. Before reaching it, you will explore Masaya: the artisan’s market is not only a beautiful place in an old 1900’s structure that is located near the center of the city, but also a great place to buy nice souvenirs! Then, if mother nature allows, you will visit the Masaya Volcano National Park: it comprises an area of 54 km2 and includes two volcanoes and five craters.
Day 6 - Today you will visit one of the most popular volcanoes in Nicaragua, the Mombacho. Its 4 craters are covered with cloud forest. You can walk around one of the craters, or hike around several craters. Besides lots of different trees and plants that thrive because of the cloud forests humidity you can also observe howler and white face monkeys, as well as snakes, deer, reptiles, birds, and insects. The views to the Managua Lake and its Ilsetas are amazing.
Day 7 - Transfer back and return to States.

NICARAGUA 2017

In February 2017, students (grades 8-12) are invited to visit Ms. Obando's former hometown! Join Señora Laine and Ms. Obando as we trek through the beautiful and varied landscape that is Nicaragua.

Travel + Leisure Magazine voted Nicaragua in the "top 50 best places to travel" in 2014 and 2015 due to its geographic diversity and affordability.

Cities: León, Matagalpa, Granada (fly into Managua, but won't stay there)
Activities: colonial city tour, hiking, swimming, sandboarding, kayaking, school visit, etc.
Sites: market & shopping, beach & swimming, volcanoes, Masaya Volcano Natl' Park, rain forest creatures at a private wildlife refuge, Apoyo Lagoon, Pacific Ocean, cathedral visit, and more of course!

We will spend 7 days over the 4 day weekend in February so that students only miss 3 days over two weeks - and still have the opportunity to spend spring break with their own families.


Black Sand

Granada, Nicaragua

Last day - Feb 16

Early rise means early arrival in Charlotte - 4:15 pm. Great flights - no problems!

This group was wonderful - one of most well-mannered groups I have traveled with! I received many compliments from other adults who encountered our WL kiddos and they were so impressed.

Final pic is Alonso and me. This is Alonso's third year leading WL kids. He is so knowledgeable about all of Costa Rica's living things; I know the kids learned so much from him. I hope they had a blast and share stories with you all week long!

Next year's trip is already planned! We will travel to Nicaragua, again through Elemento Natural & with Alonso as our guide!
Elizabeth Obando (upper school history teacher) will join us too! Ms. Obando lived in Nicaragua for several years with her husband and three children before coming to WL. We will visit her town while we are there!
Look for details on Haiku and in WL Notes.

Day 6 - Feb 15 - return to SJO

Well, it's Monday & like most Mondays that means it's time to head back to reality. We had a lot of ground to travel and so Alonso & I worked in some fun stops to break up the trip and add some diversion to the day!

After our last breakfast by the beach, we boarded our boats and headed back through the mangroves. Along the way, Alonso spotted a boa for us and the ultimate sighting for birders - the Common Potoo - an owl like bird that resembles the tree it roosts in.
Once we made it back to mainland, we boarded the bus for San Jose. Our first little stop was Parque Esfera, which has these spheres that are over a 1000 years old. Many stories exist on their purpose including a landing strip for UFOs, of course! Across the street from the park - the first train ever in CR is on display.

For lunch, we stopped in Jaco - a popular beach town with Americans and surfers. It was busy, hot & crowded! The kids had a good lunch and then grabbed an ice cream at the local chain, POPS. We did a little souvenir shopping in Jaco too and stopped by a mega supermarket so they could buy coffee to take home - hopefully you all received that gift! :)

Another popular stop when in route back to SJO is the Tarcoles Bridge. Under this bridge exists the highest number of crocs per square km! While it looks pretty dangerous to cross such a bridge, the locals depend on this business and the truck drivers slow down when coming through. We spotted 12 crocs and a heron. We waited anxiously thinking the heron would become lunch, but he was smarter than we thought. If you look closely in the photos, you'll see croc eyes under the murky water!

Our final stop before arriving in San Jose is a well-known artisan market from the same people that own the big market in Sarchi (if you're familiar with that place.) We got our final gifts to take back home from here!

Back at Casa Conde, we ended a wonderful trip with a nice dinner buffet poolside and a group meeting. I asked the kids to give me their highlight of the week and tell me something fascinating they learned. Their answers would make you cry. Their answers are the reason I do these trips. Doing trips of this nature with 15-20 kids in tow is beyond exhausting, but intensely fun and rewarding.
Your kids were amazing and I thank you for trusting me in leading them through this adventure abroad! - Laine

Look closely right in the center of the pic and you'll see a boa coiled up.

Seeking shade on the boat ride!

Made it for the Clt flight just as everyone was boarding, but Bennett couldn't resist a donut stop! Notice it says "share." :)

My digs! A couple months' supply of delicious coffee - straight from the source! Hope you got some too!

Day 5 - Feb 14 - Caño Island

What an awesome day! We went to Caño Island and snorkeled! The kids saw puffer fish, big eyed Jack, white tipped reef shark, Hawks bill turtle, barracudas, king angler, angel fish, etc, etc!! We saw many Dolphins today too. We snorkleed & swam all morning, and then had a wonderful picnic again on the beach. We ate arroz con pollo, pasta salad, fruit, veggies, cookies - all homemade. After lunch, Alonso had a little surprise for us: we took a little hike from the main beach along the shoreline, but mountainous with spectacular views. We arrived at a fresh water river (that empties into the Pacific) where we all cooled off from so much sun & saltwater. There was a big platform to jump off from & so we had a cannon ball contest into the lagoon! The kids had a blast! We arrived back at the hotel late afternoon & relaxed by the pool.
Even though, we applied sunscreen all day, it's fierce & no match for our pale skin! Many of us are a bit red despite trying to stay covered!


Getting fitted for snorkel gear.

Coconut breaking & success - again! They became pros!

Cannonball judges.

Celebrating Alsu's birthday a couple days early!