Nicaragua tours, small group

Planet

Nicaragua is a relatively small country, and we will be exploring using a minibus. Using group transport is a lower carbon option than multiple vehicles or internal flights, and therefore is less polluting than alternate forms of transport. Added to this, we take a public ferry across to Ometepe Island, and there are also numerous opportunities throughout the trip to explore further on foot, by kayak or by boat, whether walking through the Selva Verde cloud forest, kayaking on Lake Nicaragua or visiting the Juan Venado Mangrove Reserve. Not only does this slower style of travel mean that we're reducing our carbon footprint during our journey through Nicaragua, but it also allows us to discover less-visited places like the volcanic mud fields of San Jacinto.

Our Tour Leaders are all trained on our Responsible Tourism policy, which includes reducing plastic waste. All guests are provided with aluminium bottles which can be refilled from a central water cooler in vehicles, furthermore our Nicaragua local partners are working with hotels and lodges we use to provide filtered water refill points. Although recycling is still very slow in Nicaragua, some hotels have made really positive steps with their own projects - for example, one of the hotels we use on Ometepe Island separates their food waste and produces its own organic fertilizer. Our hotel in Managua also generates hot water from solar panels.

As a travel company we are continually looking for ways to improve and are proud to be ‘Responsible in everything we do’. Education is key, and so all staff, Tour Leaders and partnering suppliers are trained in responsible and sustainable tourism. At our Head Office, we continually strive towards a sustainable and planet-friendly working environment, including having solar panels installed and a company commitment to reducing our plastic usage.

People

During our stay on Ometepe island we visit a woman's cooperative. The cooperative maintains a strong focus on sustainability and community based tourism, opening their homes to travelers and offering hands-on activities including showing how organic coffee, beans and vegetables are grown and harvested. This provides much needed money which goes directly to the 24 members of the cooperative. Added to this, in San Ramon, we spend time in a homestay within a very rural coffee-producing community, where we spend time among the locals and learning about their customers as well as having the opportunity to buy coffee direct from the small producers.

In Granada we visit the Masaya market, a major center for arts and crafts, after which there is the opportunity to visit two supported projects, a hammock workshop and a coffee shop run by personnel with disabilities; two valuable initiatives that generate jobs for locals with a handicap and limited economic resources.

Throughout the trip we eat in local restaurants and use guides from the area we visit, providing employment opportunities and providing a rich insight to this fascinating country.

As a company we have valuable and longstanding partnerships with UK charities Toilet Twinning and Send a Cow, plus many smaller initiatives and projects around the world. We’re members of the UK travel industry body AITO because we believe it’s important to share our knowledge and experience, as well as learn from other operators.