Nicaragua budget accommodation in Esteli
| country: | Nicaragua |
| location: | 30 km from Esteli |
| price: | From US $7 - US $10 per person per night |
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introduction to Nicaragua budget accommodation in Esteli
This Nature Reserve covers 2006 sq km of mountainous terrain in the northern region of Nicaragua. The reserve was designated as a protected area in 1996, home to farming communities and a wonderful landscape of important wildlife. Our community project aims to protect the landscape and a collection of communities.
Visitors are welcomed into local families and have the opportunity to hike among cloud forests replete with orchids, spot parakeets in the dry zone while gazing at stunning views, wander along trails through oak forests made magical by Spanish moss and much more. The hosts of the community ecotourism program welcome you.
This is a union of agricultural co-operatives whose aim is to develop sustainable livelihoods. We always welcome volunteers who want to stay with us longer and help us with reforestation, coffee planting, coffee harvesting, footpath construction and maintenance.
Some of the activities at the reserve are birdwatching and walking or horse riding guide tours to see orchids’ fields, butterflies, cloud forest, bearded oak forests and waterfalls.
The local guides can show the visitors the archeology, culture and history of the region. The guests can get an insight into the organic coffee finca and buy handicrafts from the community such as coffee bags and blouses.
Visitors are welcomed into local families and have the opportunity to hike among cloud forests replete with orchids, spot parakeets in the dry zone while gazing at stunning views, wander along trails through oak forests made magical by Spanish moss and much more. The hosts of the community ecotourism program welcome you.
This is a union of agricultural co-operatives whose aim is to develop sustainable livelihoods. We always welcome volunteers who want to stay with us longer and help us with reforestation, coffee planting, coffee harvesting, footpath construction and maintenance.
special things to do and see here
Some of the activities at the reserve are birdwatching and walking or horse riding guide tours to see orchids’ fields, butterflies, cloud forest, bearded oak forests and waterfalls. The local guides can show the visitors the archeology, culture and history of the region. The guests can get an insight into the organic coffee finca and buy handicrafts from the community such as coffee bags and blouses.
how to find us
The natural reserve is 30 kilometers from our office in Esteli. The nearest airport is Managua, from there in the Mercado Mayareo terminal are buses that leave often to Esteli. Once in Esteli a representative can assist you to get to the natural reserve by local buses.rooms, food and facilities
The housing offered is very simple and back-to-basic (no electricity in your room, no running water, etc.), but provides a great way to see how community in the reserve live. We have cold water showers; there is no need for heating or fans in our region. Families have learnt to cater to visitors’ tastes and meals contain fresh local produce. The accommodation that we provide is basic rooms within homes of local producers or in separate cabins for couples or groups. Camping is possible for those with their own gear.
how this holiday makes a difference
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There are a total of 40 local people involved and each family owns the accommodation on their land. This initiative has encompassed diverse activities such as secondary education, adult training, live fencing, reforestation, gender work, a youth group, organic farming methods, health and hygiene.
 The eco-tourism programme has played a large part in opening people’s eyes to the beauty and value of our everyday natural environment, the need to protect and enhance, and how to do this in a recent strategy workshop. About 12-15 youth people from the community are actively training and working as ecoguides. They have just completed their Local Guides qualification with INTUR, the national tourism organization. Several of them have been learning English through the English speaking visitors and community eco-tourism project and can now guide in English. Some of them hope to gain entry to the National Guides course. The programme includes a revolving micro-credit scheme through which members can make improvements to their facilities and their own standard of living. Currently there is a specific one for the purchase of solar panels and another experimenting with bios-mass fuel to replace wood for cooking. We have prevented further destruction of the area and actively encourage families to plant trees for forage, for shade grown organic coffee, for erosion control and for fruit. Those involved with the programme have a better system of rubbish management, creating organic composts, learning from tourists that discarded non-biodegradable material is offensive and polluting. There is a plan to have an annual event with competitions for the best kept communities. There have been many achievements: reducing burning of land and deforestation. The greatest is probably a raising awareness of the value of our local environment.  This holiday is part of the responsibletravel.com and Conservation International Community Based Tourism Programme to support and promote community based tourism ventures that offer significant conservation and development benefits to local communities. To see other community based tourism holidays and find out more about the programme click here. |
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