Nicaragua - Choice Eco-Destination In A
Recession?
By Kathleen Wiersch, Eco-Travel Examiner
If you've already done the "easy" Central
American destinations like Costa Rica and
Belize and want to try something a little
more adventuresome (and a little cheaper),
you may be surprised how far Nicaragua's
tourism infrastructure has come in a few
short years.
Geologically, Nicaragua has similar terrain
to its eco-tourism hotshot neighbor Costa
Rica. It has stunning volcanoes, gorgeous
beaches and a rich jungle and cloud forest
life. What it lacks is the early start that
Costa Rica got in preserving these assets.
But it also still lacks the crowds and being
a traveller there, feels authentic in a way
some other central American destinations do
not.
Our travels were centered around the
colonial town of Grenada which is a short
taxi ride (get a fixed price at the airport)
from the international airport (get a fixed
price at the airport) and where the majority
of the tourism infrastructure is based.
There are all kinds of lodging catering to
all tastes and budgets. What we did was make
a reservation over the Web for our first
night at La Siesta a friendly "backpacker"
hostel catering to a youngish crowd working
on their Spanish - a steal at $25 a night.
We moved to a new, very small hotel around
the corner which still had no website and
for $40 we got a little more privacy and
a/c. We found that the majority of the
smaller, more intimate small hotels, hostels
or hospideja's did not yet have websites of
their own - and finding the perfect place
when you get there is part of the adventure.
Although we have travelled in Costa Rica and
Guatemala, we still wanted to get our
Volcano fix. Grenada has several competing
tour offices which provide excursions to the
Volcanoes closest to Grenada including
Mombacha and Mayasa. We took a tour to
Volcan Mayasa at sunset which included a
tour of bat caves. This is an excursion that
must be done with a tour, still I was a
little concerned with the number of people
visiting the caves and its potential impact
on the bats and that there seemed to be too
many tours. Unlike Costa Rica, Nicaragua
hasn't completely figured out how to manage
its newly popular natural attractions but
they seem to know where they need to head.
Another day we skipped the full package tour
and got ourselves to the bottom of the
dormant volcano Mombacho, a national park
since 1983. We walked about a mile to the
park entrance where you can get a ride to
the top in an open air truck/bus - ours was
filled with school kids. It was misty and
cool at the top where there is a nice, low
key visitor center and cafe and where you
can hike around the verdant caldera. Make
sure you bring a jacket, the temperature was
quite cool!
Volcanoes are just one of the reasons why an
eco-minded tourist should consider
Nicaragua. I'll elaborate more on a place
close to Grenada that is truly special and
not rivaled in nearby countries I have
visited in my next post.
On a final note, Nicaragua's tourism must be
doing something right because even in the
recession, their tourism is growing. In
Nicaragua, eco-tourism and budget travel go
hand in hand. |
