2024
• Arrival into Managua before 08:00am, then transfer to Granada at 10:00am.
• Full day tour of Granada. Granada is one of the most picturesque cities in Nicaragua. During the tour we'll visit the cathedral bell for panoramic views, City Hall, and San Francisco Convent.
• Local dinner and overnight in Granada.
• Morning transfer to Monimbo, Masaya the hotbed of the Sandinista revolution in the 1970s.
• Visit to the Revolution Museum in Monimbo. Here we'll be able to learn about the very beginnings of the Sandinista uprising against the Somosa regime. If entry is allowed then we will visit Coyotepe Fortress, which has an infamous political jail during the time of the revolution.
• After lunch we will be transferred to Leon, city of poets and where the Sandinista movement got its first victories.
• We will visit the various murals around the city and the Leon Revolution Museum, where we will learn how General Sandino came to power in the 1930s and eventually became the image of the Nicaraguan resistance.
• Today we will meet with an ex-freedom fighter who was active during the uprising in the 1970s and the guerrilla warfare in the 1980s against the US-backed Contras. We will be able to hear first hand his experience in the war in the atmospheric Prison 21, which is now turned into a museum.
• Transfer to the Tisey Nature Reserve to take in the natural beauty of Nicaragua with panoramic views of the volcanic mountain chain that crosses the country and a waterfall.
• Visit Finca Jalacate to meet the hermit of Esteli and explore his lifework - an impressive collection of rock sculptures carved into the mountain side.
• Meet with an ex-military chief that started his career as a teenager during the 1970s uprisings and moved on to be in charge of a special forces unit in the 1980s civil war.
• Half day tour of Esteli, before starting our drive back to Managua.
• En route visit Finca Selva Negra, which is a coffee plantation owned by Nicaraguans of German origin. Here we will enjoy the rainforest with a small hike and have lunch. Whoever prefers to skip the hike can stay behind in the restaurant of the Finca basking on some mountain lake views.
• Half day tour of Managua. Visit the architectural feat of the New Cathedral, then move on to Tiscapa Hill on the site of the old Somosa residence.
• Visit Salvador Allende Square, which is located in the old town of Managua.
• Head to the airport for our afternoon flight.
