LA MARIPOSA – BEST SPANISH SCHOOL & GENUINE ECO HOTEL!
Our package deals include:
Accomodation in basic but comfortable hotel rooms with ensuite bathroom, a rustic eco bamboo built room or a homestay with a local family
3 freshly cooked vegetarian meals a day, with free juice or coffee
One on one Spanish lessons for 4 hours per day Mon to Fri
ALL activities or organized volunteer opportunities!
We are a small, friendly, Spanish school and eco-hotel, we use ALL of our profits to fund a wide range of community and environmental projects. Central is our philosophy of offering sustainable employment for local people – currently we offer over 40 jobs, plus homestays. Located in the pueblo of La Concepcion, Masaya, Nicaragua, we are close to many major attractions, including the beautiful colonial city of Granada, wonderful expanses of Pacific beaches, the warm water of Laguna de Apoyo, a crater lake perfect for swimming, the active Masaya volcano, the scenic trails of Mombacho volcano, and we are just 45 minutes from Managua airport. All this plus the opportunity to visit and participate in our local community and environmental projects.
Enjoy all-inclusive packages:
Top-rated, one on one, immersion Spanish language classes.
A variety of accommodation options in stunning and genuinely eco friendly surroundings
Three meals a day, vegetarian, organic garden or market-to-table & freshly prepared in our kitchen
Guided activities & tourist excursions, and/or volunteer opportunities
Classes from Nicaraguan history to dancing and cooking
Special programs designed for university/high school groups
The knowledge that your money is supporting good causes: All our profits are used to alleviate poverty, provide community services, take care of rescued animals and improve the environment.
Testimonies
La Mariposa Trip Advisor Reviews
“This unique hideaway has spurred a stream of rave reviews from our readers”
– Moon Nicaragua (Moon Handbooks) by Amber Dobrzensky
“This wonderful school-hotel minimizes impacts, setting is lush, accommodation in comfy rooms with private bathrooms (and awesome views)”
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY ECO-HOTEL?
(1) We are not a “normal” hotel with just a few trees around us. We really care about the future of our planet and all that lives on it so we do our best to not to destroy what is left but to preserve, and enhance it. We care for and feed our wild birds, bats, frogs, squirrels and possums, plant trees and flowers and we do not use poisonous pesticides or insecticides and we do not use massive amounts of disinfectant etc. We make our own organic compost. There are spiders and other insects around (especially in the eco rooms) – none of them are poisonous or dangerous. Bear in mind that humans have eliminated about 80% of insects – most bees and butterflies have disappeared – with grave consequences for pollination and therefore future food supplies.
(2) Of course we do the basics like use solar power and solar heated water. We reuse grey water and rain water whenever possible – please do your part by switching off lights and fans, keeping showers short. In hotel rooms you can also use the bucket to collect shower water and reuse to flush the toilet.
(3) We also avoid using machines wherever possible – partly to save energy and partly to keep employment going. We wash clothes etc by hand – you can either do this yourself or ask the kitchen staff, thye are happy for a small payment to help.
(4) We serve vegetarian meals. They are nutritious and home cooked, using local produce wherever possible, some organically grown in our own garden. Consumption of meat has a massive impact on the destruction of tropical rainforests (along with palm oil). We do not serve chicken as it is now factory farmed, with all the antibiotics and hormones etc.
(5) Trash of course is another issue. Visitors often complain about the trash in the sreets but please bear in mind that the local landfill is actually a once beautiful valley where people live. Nicaraguans generate about a tenth of the amount of the “developed world” – the difference is you see it. You can help by saying “no, gracias” when offered a plastic bag and not buying snacks in metallic bags or polystyrene which do not decompose.
– Lonely Planet 2009
La Mariposa’s Four Sites
La Mariposa Spanish School & Eco-Hotel
The original Mariposa site includes the Spanish school, eco-hotel, and eco-rooms built of bamboo and volcanic rock. Located on a quiet back street, the hotel/Spanish school building and open air classrooms are surrounded by lush greenery, including banana plants, coffee trees, and flower gardens as well as many native forest trees planted during the construction (2006). Our higher elevation ensures a cooler and less humid climate than the lowland cities. Ideal for studying Spanish, learning about Nicaragua, exploring our local community, discussing environmental and development issues, and going out and about on a range of different activities. You can be as busy as you like, kick back and relax in a hammock, or play with the dogs. Most home-stays and volunteer work are within walking distance.
La Reserva in San Juan
La Reserva is approximately 10 acres of land in nearby San Juan, and only a 15 minute walk from the main La Mariposa building. In this beautiful natural setting, you can stroll by giant guanacaste and cenizero trees covered in orchids and bromeliads, observing wildlife which survives despite surrounding urban development (frogs, bats, birds including parakeets, iguana). As well as offering lovely walking trails, the nature reserve has developed in a number of different but complementary ways. Near the entrance gates, we have constructed two new buildings of straw where differently abled children receive therapy and education with our Chispa de Vida (“Spark of Life”) program. Most of our children’s enrichment projects are also held here in the afternoons. Further into La Reserva, you will find our organic vegetable gardens, a popular choice for volunteers with a green thumb!
El Piscacho
El Piscacho is a short drive from the main Mariposa. The beautiful gardens are designed to attract butterflies and birds, and some of our rescued horses can be seen munching straw in the corral. We use this space for our equinotherapy sessions whihc benefit local differently abled children. A very popular volunteer activity.
Cañada Honda Reserva in Palo Solo
Cañada Honda (meaning “deep gully”) is our second nature reserve with over 140 acres, now declared an official Private Nature Reserve. It is in barrio Palo Solo on a ridge. Here we organize hikes, horse rides, bird watching, and opportunities for hardy volunteers! Cañada Honda is our biggest and most important environmental project. It provides grazing for some of the rescued horses but over half of this land is still wooded and we have started to reforest the rest. This is critical because the area around us is fast becoming a monoculture desert. The ever increasing popularity in the US and Europe of exotic fruits – mostly pineapple and dragonfruit which grow in full sun – has led to clear-cut logging throughout our municipality. This deforestation is having a negative impact through soil erosion, diminished local water supply, as well as destroying biodiversity and animal habitats. We are proud to be part of the solution.
Please DO COME Here If…
- You want to slow down and enjoy learning in a natural environment with close contacts with the local community, contributing to the local economy in one of the poorest countries in the world. And are prepared to do your bit to be eco-friendly – for example, switching off lights and fans when not in use, keep showers short, don’t wash clothes unless they are dirty, reusing shower water to flush or – better still – use the latrine.
- Are interested and want to know more about the history, politics and culture of Nicaragua. Help us to dispel some of the myths – for example, around the crime rate which is actually half that of the USA. No tourists were in any way involved in Nicaragua’s political crisis in 2018. But to ensure peace of mind – and also to help out with any contingency such as spiders in the bathroom (please dont kill them) – we do have all night security staff on duty.
- Want to sample freshly cooked, mostly organic, vegetarian Nicaraguan food. We provide a typical Nicaraguan breakfast (with loads of fresh fruit), family style meals at lunchtime and in the evenings. We serve vegetarian food. We encourage guests to eat together in a convivial atmosphere.
- Want to meet welcoming, friendly people, who are happy to share their wealth of local knowledge – from teaching Spanish language to showing you the medicinal plants which grow on our land. You will probably make friends with other students too.
- Enjoy animals and birds – we have many rescued dogs, cats, horses – as well as some parakeets and monkeys. We do not have a zoo and most of the wild animals brought to us are released into the nature reserve. However some animals stay with us as they are too vulnerable to survive in the wild or they have no habitat left. We work hard to encourage wild plants, birds and animals to take up residence at the Mariposa. We now host a wide variety of both resident and migratory birds who can be spotted at our feeding and watering stations. There are insects and spiders – none of which are dangerous. Mosquitos and flease which are now pretty immune to everything we throw at them are a pain though so bring repellent.
Please DO NOT Come Here if…
- If you want the ultimate perfection in anything: we do not do luxury or speed. And we are human and sometimes make mistakes.
- If you are not willing to treat the Nicaraguans you meet with respect, especially understanding the history that people have endured. If you don’t want to try and talk to our workers (even if your Spanish is limited, the effort is greatly appreciated!) and learn names!
- If you cannot live without meat, or like lots of junk food/drink, or don’t like fruit and veggies. This is especially important to note if you are bringing young children and/or teenagers. Please make sure they know what to expect with the food. We do cater for special dietary needs such as allergies.
- Please don’t encourage too many aluminum wrapped snacks or polystyrene take aways – the trash is non biodegradable! There is a horrific amount of discarded trash in the streets…please don’t add to it.
- If you don’t understand the following: even though touching or approaching a strange female in any way is culturally taboo in Nicaragua, it is advisable to remember that Nicaragua, a largely Catholic country, is still very conservative. and for that reason IT IS NOT OK to wear revealing tops or shorts (except at the beach) – you will be regarded as, at the very least, a legitimate target for serious male attention.
- If you do not understand that we do not have “staff” at the Mariposa – what we have is an amazing group of people who happen to work here and who offer a unique combination of openness, generosity and humour – we ask students to be responsive to this and to find a way of giving something back – frankly people earn so little that money (in the form of a general tip) is the best but a little of your time to help out is also appreciated.
- If you think Nicaragua is the most dangerous country in the world: it is simply not true.
- If you expect gourmet meals, we cannot and do not provide a restaurant-style service. Serving family style meals also reduces food waste.
- If you don’t like animals. We have a lot! Dogs and cats live freely in the hotel grounds. The dogs and birds can be somewhat noisy from time to time.
- We work on a balance between human requirements for a clean living space and the need to use poisons as little as possible – during our 20 years we have noticed an almost total decline in bees and butterflies due to neighbor fumigations, for example.
- If you think that Nicaragua (or indeed other so-called Third World countries) is a cheap option. Prices of food and fuel are actually very expensive compared to the West. It is only labor that is cheap.
