Nicaragua adventure holiday, river canoeing expedition
Travel Team
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01273 823 700 Calling from outside the UK? rosy@responsibletravel.comDeparture information
Responsible tourism
As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we screen every trip so you can travel knowing your holiday will help support conservation and local people.

To reinforce their sustainable philosophy, our agent and Rainforest Alliance have established an alliance to support Best Management Practice in Sustainable Tourism since June 5th, 2007, moreover they are the creator of Bosawas Maps on each edition of each city map we promotes a carefully selected local project working in the key areas of environment, social development or community based tourism.
The Impacts of this Trip
When not camping we always try to use hotels and eco-lodges which actively support responsible travel. Some more specific information on a couple of these hotels is below -
Sabalos Lodge
They support four health centers in the surrounding rural communities, they are the local partner for the San Juan River, they are partner of Rainforest Alliance.
Esquina del Lago Hotel
For ten years they have worked to help the indigenous people in the Rio San Juan / San Carlos areas. They have set up and continue to assist projects and watch as they grow to fruition. Ten local Nicaraguan families now derive their livelihood from projects set up by this hotel. The hotel constantly acts in order to preserve Rio San Juan's unique resources and natural beauty. It is 100% nature friendly with solar energy, water is purified rain water collected from roofs, they have full black water treatment. They act to promote preservation, finance investigations, train Nature Guides in sport fishing & birding. With the schools they organized special days upon Environment for San Carlos children, a speech, a lunch and a tour in National park of Los Guatuzos. All these children will not forget what they saw, what they learned that day.


To reinforce their sustainable philosophy, our agent and Rainforest Alliance have established an alliance to support Best Management Practice in Sustainable Tourism since June 5th, 2007, moreover they are the creator of Bosawas Maps on each edition of each city map we promotes a carefully selected local project working in the key areas of environment, social development or community based tourism.

The Impacts of this Trip
When not camping we always try to use hotels and eco-lodges which actively support responsible travel. Some more specific information on a couple of these hotels is below -
Sabalos Lodge
They support four health centers in the surrounding rural communities, they are the local partner for the San Juan River, they are partner of Rainforest Alliance.
Esquina del Lago Hotel
For ten years they have worked to help the indigenous people in the Rio San Juan / San Carlos areas. They have set up and continue to assist projects and watch as they grow to fruition. Ten local Nicaraguan families now derive their livelihood from projects set up by this hotel. The hotel constantly acts in order to preserve Rio San Juan's unique resources and natural beauty. It is 100% nature friendly with solar energy, water is purified rain water collected from roofs, they have full black water treatment. They act to promote preservation, finance investigations, train Nature Guides in sport fishing & birding. With the schools they organized special days upon Environment for San Carlos children, a speech, a lunch and a tour in National park of Los Guatuzos. All these children will not forget what they saw, what they learned that day.

1 Reviews of Nicaragua adventure holiday, river canoeing expedition
Reviewed on 03 Feb 2014 by Kam Datta
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
The kayaking trip itself - fantastic. Brilliant guides, good food, comfortable camping and accommodation, saw lots of wildlife.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Go for it! Be prepared for quite basic accommodation & amenities at times (although we did not mind it at all). Bring some wet-wipes as in some places washing facilities are very basic and you might prefer the wet-wipes! Also consider bringing small roll of toilet paper.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
In some instances, yes, at other times harder to assess. Not sure the Rio Indo Lodge was all that eco-friendly!
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Read the operator's response here:
I do appreciate your input regarding the responsible travel element too. The trip definately does help the local region which is definately off the tourist map, however I 100% agree with your comment about Rio Indio Lodge (which is basically a fishing lodge in the middle of the jungle). The reason we use this lodge is that a) there is no other alternative and b)after a few nights camping out and staying in local villages, it is really nice to have some home comforts. I was out in Nicaragua last year and stayed at Rio Indio, and as a result we have been trying to educate them in more 'responsible' ways.
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