Itinerary

Day 1 Arrive Managua lodge

Arrive to the Managua airport where you will be met and transferred to your hotel.

Day 2 Masaya Volcano and Market (B) lodge

This morning you will be picked up to first visit the nearby Masaya Volcano. You will climb the volcano side, passing by fields of petrified lava, until you reach the top. Cover your face to bear the smell, you will be able to get out and walk around, and even peer down into the deep sulfuric crater at the top!

Continue on next to the Masaya Market, the most famous handicrafts market in Nicaragua, and well known for its hammocks! After exploring the multicolored booths and bartering for keepsakes, you will continue on to the nearby small towns of San Juan del Oriente. Here you will be able to witness the making of the handicrafts in action. See how an entire community contributes to making one hammocks, watch the ceramic makers at the potter's wheel, or the carpenter as he builds wooden rocking chairs!

Continue on next to the colonial city of Granada for the evening.

Day 3 Granada and Isletas (B) lodge

This morning you will set out on a walking tour of the city of Granada. The oldest colonial city in all Central America, Granada was first founded in 1524 by Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba. Though it has been sacked by pirates multiples times and undergone many civil wars, Granada boast beautiful Spanish architecture, making it the must see of Nicaragua. Explore San Francisco convento museum, one of the best in the region. Originally constructed in 1585 it was burned by pirates and then later again by William Walker and recently restored in 1989. Inside you can see primiitivists art, paper mache figurines depicted indigenous life, as well as the Zapatera Statuary, with black basalt statutes carved between 800 and 1200 AD.
Explore also La Merced church, arguably the most beautiful in the city. Enjoy a climb to the belltower for an extra dollar! Also visit La Fortaleza,  an old Spanish fort constructed in 1748 with the best view over the city!

Spend the rest of your tour wandering around the main plaza, perhaps even take a horse-drawn buggy ride! Feel free to explore more museums as time allows.

This afternoon you will head to the shores of Lake Nicaragua for a boat tour of the tiny isletas offshore. Over 365 tiny islands were created by the eruption of Mombacho. Keep your eyes peeled for birds and other wildlife as you pass each island.

Day 4 Mombacho Volcano Nature Reserve (B) lodge

This morning you will head to nearby Mombacho Volcano, an active volcano that last erupted in 1570. You will hop into an army cargo vehicle which takes you up the steep climb on the brick road to the top where you find a small biological station. Feel free to get out and explore the small exhibits in the station. The top part of this volcano is home to a cloudforest, housing some endemic species of flora and fauna only found here. You can walk on the trails keeping your eyes peeled for wildlife, as well as find some lookouts allowing you to peer over into the now forested craters below.

Return to Granada and enjoy a free afternoon. You can stroll around the town, go kayaking on Lake Nicaragua, or even arrange to take the zipline tour at the base of Mombacho.

Day 5 Old Leon (B) lodge

Early this morning you will transfer 3 hours to Granada's rival colonial city, Leon lying in the North. En route, stop to visit the UNESCO heritage site of Old Leon, the ruins left behind after Old Leon was buried by an erupting Momotombo Volcano in 1610. Learn about the history of its founder, as well as its unique rivalry with Granada and ultimate demise by natural disaster. Continue on to Leon City for the evening.

Day 6 Leon City (B) lodge
Today you will get the chance to explore Leon City. Famous for being the home to Ruben Dario, it has the stigma of being the center for the modernist movement in literature and the arts for Nicaragua. You will explore the Ruben Dario museum, displayed in his home as a teenage boy. Visit the Basilica de la Asuncion, the largest cathedral in all of Central America. If it is a clear day,  visit the rooftop for a breathtaking view of the avenue of volcanoes. Next explore the Museum of Legends and Myths, filled with life sized paper mache imitations of historical Leonese personages, as well as murals portraying torture methods by the National Guard. You will learn about the human rights abuses that took place here until 1979.

This afternoon enjoy some free time in the area. There are plenty of other museums in Leon that can be explored.  You can go visit Cerro Negro, the nearby black sands volcano known for its 'volcano skiing'. Or you can go take a soak in the freshwater Asososca Lagoon. Visit the Pacific coast for some time surfing or go kayaking in the Reserva Natural Isla Juan Venado. Your guide is on hand to help you plan your time.

Day 7 Return Managua lodge

Enjoy a leisurely morning in Leon before transferring back to Managua for the evening.

Day 8 Return Home

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