Nicaragua Adventure 🇳🇮 - Judy Smith

Judy Smith is an intrepid rambler who loves to hike, bike and participate in competitive rowing in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, Canada. She is a lifelong educator, school principal and mother of two grown kids.

Traveling with my weekly rambling posse is always an adventure. Nicaragua was no exception. Once we had decided to go and made the commitment, we were set. However, most people we know were not so sure about it. They kept saying things like, “Is it safe?” “It’s not safe!” “You’re brave.” And so it went as we prepared to head to one of the poorest countries in the world.

Nicaragua’s political history is riddled with violence and revolt. From the Samoza dictatorship dynasty through the Sandinista Revolution, the Contra invasion, and the recent demonstrations of 2018, Nicaragua has been in turmoil for decades.

Our group likes hiking tours in countries where we can help. In this case, 21 of us took 18 humanitarian suitcases and distributed clothing, toys, and medical supplies to struggling communities. We also purchased food and school supplies for families while we were there.

To go to school in Nicaragua, you need a backpack, a uniform, and school supplies. When your family is surviving on approximately $2 a day, purchasing school supplies just isn’t possible, so your kids don’t go to school.

Our 18-day itinerary took us to the tops of volcanoes, into the cloud forest, through dry forest ecological reserves, the mountains, across gigantic Lake Nicaragua, and to the seashore. The country is so beautiful!

We flew into Liberia and Costa Rica because Westjet (a Canadian airline) allows for humanitarian luggage at no charge, and the land border is an easier crossing. It was all part of the adventure!

There were huge lineups at the border, with hundreds of trucks waiting for their paperwork to be completed to deliver goods to Nicaragua, and further north to Guatemala and Honduras. We learned that some trucks can wait in that lineup for up to a week! 

The walk across the border is about half a kilometer, with multiple passport checks and two separate fees to pay along the way. It’s definitely worth knowing what to expect before you get there - and very helpful to understand a bit of Spanish!

Have small US bills handy. Once you cross the border, many people are there to exchange money for you. American dollars are widely accepted at a set exchange rate.

Our first stop was Ometepe Island in Lake Nicaragua. The lake is enormous and windy - rough sailing!! On our way back, they had to strap down the bus as the boat rocked from side to side.

Ometepe is two volcanoes that have erupted over time to create a beautiful island filled with monkeys and gorgeous birds. After a short warm-up hike on our first day, we headed up the Maderas Volcano to San Ramon waterfall. The hiking was challenging, but Ometepe was a delight. Warm weather, cooling winds, and beautiful sunsets marked our days there.

While we are definitely an intrepid group of hikers, the hiking on this trip was challenging even for us. Day two was a summit hike on Maderas for some and a halfway hike for others. Our leader had her sights set on the enormous active volcano, Concepcion, for a future trip. 

Next, we traveled to Granada, the colonial city. Gorgeous architecture and a breeze from the lake allowed for very comfortable sightseeing.

We also hiked the Masaya active volcano, swam in the beautiful Apoyo Lagoon, and toured the 365 islands in the lake by boat. Some are wild and undeveloped, with an incredible number of birds and howler monkeys.

Other islands are privately owned by wealthy Nicaraguans and foreigners. Matagalpa, Leon, and San Juan del Sur rounded out the locations we called home for some of the nights as we hiked more volcanoes, into cloud forests (literally full of clouds and damp), and through protected areas and ecological reserves. 

The highlight of the hiking were definitely the sloths! On what I call “the day of the sloth,” we saw both two-toed and three-toed sloths. They’re hard to spot up in the trees, so we were grateful to have Julio guiding us with his keen sloth-spotting eye.

The charitable aspect of this trip was incredibly heart-warming. We visited a small English Language school for preschoolers on Ometepe. Our leader had met the young man who runs the school on a previous trip, and they have stayed in touch. He was thankful for the English lessons he received from her and is passing his knowledge forward to his community.

Speaking English can make a big difference for a Nicaraguan child, as it gives them an opportunity to be involved with tourism—something the country needs more of.

We headed into the small community of La Corona to visit a group of women working together to learn skills like cooking and sewing so they can produce items to sell in order to support their families.

Other communities we visited included Aguali, a biological education center that supports young adults becoming eco-guides, and children learning English. Aguali has a private hostel you can stay in if you go there. 

At a farm (finca) in the mountains of Matagalpa, we learned to make tamales and packed our grocery baskets. In El Chile, we met a group of women, organized in a cooperative, who are the only women in the country doing traditional weaving. All of these communities were so inspiring—even across language barriers, connections were made. I cried more than once.

The big adventure of the trip was sandboarding on Cerro Negro volcano. After a hot, dry hike up the volcano, you suit up and hop on a piece of plywood to slide down. Your feet are your brakes. They tell us this is a big bucket list item. For me, it wasn’t worth the hike.

Without a doubt, I fell in love with Nicaragua—the beauty, resilience, kindness, and hope. I’ve been home for a long while, and I still find myself pondering the experience—it knocked me off-kilter in such a profound way. This is a trip I highly recommend.

Our tour company was Matagalpa Tours. Sustainable, eco-friendly tourism and beautiful guides.

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