Itinerary

Sunday – February 12
Upon arrival in Managua, we will check into our hotel which will be our base for the four days we are visiting Nicaragua. We will have a very brief overview and welcome dinner at our hotel, the Hotel Brandt.

Monday – February 13
We will have a relaxing breakfast at our hotel and then visit the nearby US Embassy for a briefing on the economic, political and environmental situation in Nicaragua at the US Embassy. We will then drive north of Managua for a field visit to a tree nursery in La Paz Centro. TWP and its partner organization PROLENA Nicaragua have two established programs dedicated to helping conserve Nicaragua’s forests and water resources. Our programs are focused on helping halt this deforestation along the Pacific coastal region, where the majority of Nicaragua’s population lives. In La Paz Centro we will see how TWP’s strategies are implemented with local brick makers, potters and lime producers. We will also have the opportunity to visit some of the pottery producers with the options to purchase some pottery at astoundingly reasonable prices.

Overnight: Hotel Brandt

Tuesday – February 14
In the morning we will visit the PROLENA stove factory and cooperatives. TWP is also working with PROLEÑA to introduce fuel-efficient, wood-burning stoves into Nicaragua. Our improved stoves, called the EcoStove, help reduce deforestation, and improve the quality of women and children’s health by removing toxic smoke from the kitchen. In the afternoon we will head south for about an hour and visit the handicraft market in Masaya and possibly visit Volcano Masaya.

Overnight: Hotel Brandt

Wednesday – February 15
Today we will spend most of the day in the field exploring Volcano Mombacho with easy (3 km., 300 ft. elevation gain) or moderate (7 km, 1000 ft elevation gain) hike options. We will also visit the Coffee Finca (farm) that is located on the lower slopes of Vulcan Mombacho. This is a great, easy access cloud forest with the opportunity to look into a dormant crater. The views are spectacular with Lake Nicaragua and the Masaya Volcano nearby. After our romp in the cloud we will head down to the beautiful colonial town of Granada which is located on the shore of Lake Nicaragua.

Overnight: Hotel Brandt

Thursday – February 16
Today we will transfer from Managua, Nicaragua to Tegucigalpa, Honduras. We will have a quick visit to TWP’s Honduras partner’s , AHDESA, stove factory. We will then check into our hotel.

Overnight: Leslie’s Place Bed & Breakfast

Friday – February 17
Another full day in the field for a variety of activities including tree planting in the Guacerique Watershed outside of Tegucigalpa. We will also learn about and see demonstrations of soil conservation, Justa stove, latrine and crop diversification projects.

Overnight: Leslie’s Place Bed & Breakfast

Saturday – February 18
Today we will be visiting La Tigra National Park – Beautiful cloud forest with excellent birding. D epending on group interests, we can break into two groups with one being more focused on birding and the other for a more general interpretation experience.

For the birders: Some vistas along a road may afford us a view where we may see the American Swallow-tailed Kite, Barred Parakeet and White-collared Swift. Along the forest trails we will be looking for species such as: Green-breasted Mountain-Gem ( an eastern Honduras and n. Nicaraguan endemic), Garnet-throated Hummingbird, Mountain Trogon, Yellowish Flycatcher, Black-throated Jay , Rufous-browed Wren, Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush, Common Bush-Tanager and many more.

We should will also have the opportunity to visit Santa Lucia – a quaint colonial town was the first Spanish capital of Honduras and then have lunch in Valle de Los Angeles, which is well known for its handicraft market.

Sunday – February 19
Morning – Fly to La Ceiba and transfer to the Lodge at Pico Bonito. A member of the “Small Luxury Hotels of the World,” the lodge is a four-star luxury resort nestled in the lush rainforest of the foothills of the Sierra Pico Bonito and right next to Pico Bonito National Park. There are three nature observation towers, extensive footpaths, hiking trails, a butterfly farm, swimming pool, conference room, dining room, and a comfortable lounge area. We will have an open afternoon on the expansive lodge grounds with swimming pool, hiking trails, beautiful natural swimming areas, etc.

Overnight: Lodge at Pico Bonito

Monday – February 20
Nearby is the coastal reserve of Cuero y Salado, a wetland reserve that is home to hundreds of aquatic and terrestrial bird species as well as crocodiles and manatees (it’s the largest manatee reserve in Central America). Accompanied by a representative from FUSCA, a local conservation organization, we will travel by boat into the estuary maze of mangrove wetlands and into the heart of this unique nature reserve. Once the site of the Standard Fruit Company’s largest coconut plantation, this new protected area is slowly returning to its primordial roots and is an important beacon for conservation in what was just decades ago the site of intensive commercial agriculture. Getting to the reserve is half the fun, accessible only by a narrow gauge railroad system that makes its slow and picturesque journey through different habitats of the refuge.

Afternoon – loop trail at lodge - Pico Bonito National Park encompasses 110,000 acres and has forest cover from sea level to over 8,000 feet, with the peak of Pico Bonito at 7,987 feet. Major habitats include old-growth rainforest, cloud forests, and secondary rainforest, with many waterfalls and six major life zones. Our moderate day hike will take us along the scenic Gorge Trail, a ridge trail between two cascading rainforest rivers. We’ll keep a sharp lookout for colorful tropical birds such as lovely cotinga, and numerous parrot and hummingbird species. This area is also home to the more elusive fauna such as jaguar, puma, margay, agouti, tree frogs, and countless other tropical species.

We will have our farewell dinner at the Lodge.

Tuesday – February 21
Depart from San Pedro Sula

For more information contact:

Trees, Water & People

Stuart Conway : stuart@treeswaterpeople.org

Patrick Flynn: patrick@treeswaterpeople.org

877-484-4TWP 877-484-4TWP

OR

Mesoamerican Ecotourism Alliance

Mark Willuhn

mark@travelwithmea.org
800-682-0584

Accommodations Information

Hotel Brandt, Managua 2.5 star, central location, very clean with basic with modern conveniences.

Hotel Leslie’s 2.5 star, central location, very clean with basic with modern conveniences.

Lodge at Pico Bonito 4 star, luxury lodge with all services.

NOTE: At publishing time not all the hotels were confirmed but we will have the equivalent or improved replacements.

Practical Information

WEATHER: The weather, depending on our location, will vary from warm and sunny to cloudy, misty, foggy or rainy. We can expect daytime temperature highs in the low 90s in some location and in the highlands low 80s.

TOUR SIZE: This tour will be limited to a maximum of 16 participants and a minimum of 10 participants.

TRAVEL DOCUMENTS: A US passport valid beyond your anticipated date of return to the US is required. Currently no visas or immunization certificates are required. Those with foreign passports should contact the Embassy of Nicaragua and Honduras for details.

FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS: The fee for the tour is $2,950 per person based on double occupancy from San Salvador. Single rates are an additional $500. This includes all food, three meals per day, from dinner on Day 1 to breakfast on Day 10; all lodging for 9 nights during the tour; ground transportation; roundtrip airfare from Managua to Tegucigalpa and Tegucigalpa to La Ceiba, and guide services provided by the tour leaders and local conservation professionals. It does not include local guides tips, alcoholic beverages, special gratuities, phone calls, passport fees, international airport departure taxes, or items of a personal nature. Rates are based upon group tariffs; if the group does not have sufficient registration a small party supplement may have to be charged.

HEALTH PRECAUTIONS: For comprehensive information please contact the Center for Disease Control and Prevention on the Internet at www.cdc.gov or by phone at 404-332-4559. The CDC information is a comprehensive listing of any disease reported in a particular region or state. Nicaragua and Honduras are included with Central America. We have not had any problems with diseases. Please consult a health care professional with any questions.

STATE DEPARTMENT TRAVEL ADVISORIES: Currently there are no travel advisories for traveling in Nicaragua or Honduras. You will be updated on any significant developments that pertain to our trip. http://travel.state.gov

TOUR REGISTRATION: To register for the tour, complete the registration form and return it with a deposit of $500 per person to:

Trees, Water & People

Attn: Stuart Conway

633 Remington Street

Fort Collins, CO 80524

Feel free to contact Stuart with any questions - phone: 970-484-3678;

e-mail: stuart@treeswaterpeople.org . To learn more about Trees, Water & People and their important work please visit www.treeswaterpeople.org .

Full payment of the tour fee is due November 12, 2005. Single supplements are an additional $500.

CANCELLATION POLICY : Refunds are made according to the following schedule: If cancellation is made eighty days or more before departure date, the deposit less $150 is refundable. If cancellation is made between seventy-nine and sixty days before departure date, the deposit is not refundable, but any payments covering the balance of the fee will be refunded. If cancellation is made fifty-nine days or less before departure date, no refund is available except for amounts recoverable through our agents. We recommend that you purchase trip cancellation insurance which you will receive upon registration.