We can help you with making arrangements and providing transportation for further activities aside from what our activity schedule already offers at reasonable rates. Popular requests include guided outings for bird watching enthusiasts, and our eco – adventure program, for groups of 6 or more who enjoy active outdoor pursuits. Read on to learn more about both options.

Eco – Adventure Program

Designed for groups of at least 6 people, these fun activities have all been tried and tested by us and our students. We offer a selection of half day excursions are all within an hour’s drive. La Mariposa provides transportation and guides (who speak both English and Spanish) to accompany the activities.

Each program is customized to your preferences. The eco-adventure activities you choose can be combined with volunteer/service work and/or Spanish classes if desired. You can also opt to incorporate into your program any of the other activities we regularly offer, which can be scheduled separately to suit the needs of your group’s agenda.  

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Half Day/Evening Activities – choose as many as you like from the following options:

• Canopy ride in the foothills of Mombacho Volcano
• Night tour to see the live crater of Masaya Volcano
  
• Swim or sail in a volcanic crater lake at Laguna de Apoyo
• Kayak around the islands in the Lago Cocibolca (Lake Nicaragua)
• Horse ride or hike through our own nature reserve with spectacular views
• Night walk through our own nature reserve, Canada Honda, and observe night wildlife from our specially built hide
• Cooking classes using traditional ovens
• Hike through pineapple, dragon fruit, tobacco farms and learn about local production
• We can also arrange sporting events eg football matches in the local barrios of our community

Weekend Options – we can take you further afield to:

• Leon – for a weekend of volcano boarding, a trip through the mangroves on the Pacific coast
• Ometepe – climb the Maderas volcano, swim in the lake, kayak in the River Istian (great bird watching opportunities here)
  
• Esteli – visit Tisney nature reserve, horse ride in Miraflor and spend a day in the Somoto Canyon

Please note – we make every effort to ensure your safety and comfort whilst you are with us but you need to arrange your own insurance to cover these activities.

Prices are dependent on your choice of accommodation with us and which activities you choose for your individually designed program. Contact us for more information.

Bird Watching

La Mariposa works hard to conserve and improve as much local flora and fauna as possible (one of our strategies is to purchase land which we then turn into nature reserves) — and Alan, one of our guides is a nationally recognized bird guide who speaks both Spanish and English.

He can show you round La Mariposa and the reserves, pointing out the red legged honeycreepers who are frequent visitors, painted buntings and the wonderful aricari (known locally as felicies — happy birds!) We provide many bird feeding stations and water sources to encourage the presence of a wide variety of resident and migratory birds.

We can also take you further afield to El Chocoyero, Montebelli, the cloud forest of Mombacho, the lowlands of Tisma and the islands of Lake Nicaragua to observe water birds. These locations are all within an hour of La Mariposa.

Your itinerary is individually designed to suit your requirements and of course bird watching can be combined with Spanish classes, other activities or voluntary work.

The photos below were all taken at La Mariposa except the water birds (on the Granada trip)

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Many thanks to the photographers who contributed the above – Ann Tagawa, Allison Connor and our own Ismael Calero!