11 Day Natural History Trip from April 5 – 15 Optional 6-day Post-trip Extension to bird the Caribbean Lowlands
Day 1 – Saturday, April 5: Raleigh to Managua, Nicaragua and on to Finca Esperanza Verde
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- Day 2 – Sunday, April 6: Finca Esperanza Verde
Day 1 – Saturday, April 5: Raleigh to Managua, Nicaragua and on to Finca Esperanza VerdeAn early morning flight from Raleigh/Durham International Airport takes us to either Houston or Miami for our connecting flight to Managua, Nicaragua. Please arrive at our departure gate no later than two hours prior to our scheduled departure time. After clearing immigration and customs, and gathering our luggage, we will travel up into the Matagalpa highlands to Finca Esperanza Verde. Once we arrive we will settle into our accommodations and have a chance for some late afternoon birding before the sun sets over the mountains and we get our first delicious taste of Nicaraguan food. (D) Day 2 – Sunday, April 6: Finca Esperanza VerdeW  e will spend today exploring the forests in and around Finca Esperanza Verde (FEV). The area is beautiful and rich in wildlife, especially birds. Keel-billed toucans, swallow-tailed kites, parrots and numerous tanagers could all be spied from the veranda prior to breakfast. Various species will be attracted to the fruit and hummingbird feeders. Some of the birding highlights could include black hawk-eagle, violet sabrewing, pale-billed woodpecker, royal flycatcher, masked tityra, rufous-browed peppershrike, rufous-winged tanager and blue-crowned chlorophonia. Throughout the day we will hike some of the Finca’s trails in hopes of glimpsing mantled howler monkeys, leaf-cutter ants, and many more species of birds like violaceous and collared trogons, blue-crowned motmots and Montezuma’s and chestnut-headed oropendolas. Various species of treefrogs may be out and about at night. After a full day we will have a great dinner and perhaps a night hike before retiring for the night. (B,L,D)
Day 3 – Monday, April 7: Finca Esperanza Verde and General Nestors Farm Today we will have the early morning to bird at FEV. After breakfast we will travel from the Finca to General Nestor’s farm. This farm is located in a much drier habitat and the river that cuts through it is home to many species of birds and numerous reptiles. Especially common are several species of hummingbirds, white-throated magpie jays, Inca doves, orange-fronted and orange-chinned parakeets, common tody-flycatchers and scrub euphonias. Basilisk lizards are frequently seen on the river and may even run across the surface of the water as we approach. We will have a picnic lunch along the river and, because it will be very hot, a swim in the river will bring welcome relief. In the afternoon we will return to the Finca and the opportunity to explore more of the well developed trail system. Delving deeper into the forest we may spot crested owls, bat falcons, emerald toucannets, variegated squirrels, helmeted iguanas and either, or both, two-toed and three-toed sloth. After dinner we will enjoy an entertaining evening of traditional Nica folk music. The local villagers always look forward to this fiesta around the bonfire under the stars. It will be a memorable evening of music, dancing and great food. (B,L,D) Day 4 – Tuesday, April 8: Finca Esperanza Verde to Selva Negra and on to El Jaguar Today we will pack up and travel from Finca Esperanza Verde to Selva Negra. This spectacular primary forest is a little higher in elevation than FEV. Selva Negra is home to some specialty birds that we are unlikely to see elsewhere during our trip including the spectacular resplendent quetzal. We will also search for three-wattled bellbirds, collared forest falcons, bushy-crested jays, and hopefully some of the antbirds and woodcreepers that follow army ant swarms. The forest is also a great place for mammals and we could see agouti, troops of mantled howler monkeys and perhaps even collared peccaries. After our hike at Selva  Negra we will have a picnic lunch before departing for El Jaguar. El Jaguar is a shade coffee plantation and ecolodge located in Jinotega Province. The lodge is situated above 4,000 feet and protects a significant area of cloud forest. Along with a great variety of resident birds, the Matagalpa highlands are an important area for neotropical migrants. Just like Finca Esperanza Verde, El Jaguar has significant populations of wintering neotropical migrants and it will be great to watch some of “our birds” mingle with the resident species in mixed foraging flocks. Once we arrive at El Jaguar we will settle into our accommodations and should have the late afternoon to bird. (B,L,D)
Day 5 – Wednesday, April 9: El Jaguar We will have a full day to bird the misty patches of cloud forest that drape the hillsides of El Jaguar. El Jaguar is home to a spectacular variety of birds including many that are difficult to observe elsewhere during our trip such as highland guan, barred forest-falcon, green-breasted mountain-gem, white-bellied emerald, white-winged tanager, blue bunting and blue-hooded euphonia. We will hike some of El Jaguar’s many trails in the morning before taking a break for lunch. Because of the elevation it will be cooler and, although bird activity may drop a bit at midday, some activity should continue even in the heat of the day. As a result we will continue to explore El Jaguar throughout the afternoon until we break for dinner and overnight. (B,L,D) Day 6 – Thursday, April 10: El Jaguar – The Highland Oak/Pine Forest Today we will travel from El Jaguar to a special ecosystem located even higher in elevation – the endangered oak/pine forests at the very top of the mountains. This ecosystem provides a real mix of species including those more frequently found in the US and Mexico as well as those which occur primarily in Central America. Some of species we could observe includes: acorn and hairy woodpeckers; spot-crowned woodcreeper; tufted flycatcher; scaled antpitta; crescent-chested, Grace’s, hermit, golden-cheeked and olive warblers; painted redstarts; cinnamon-bellied flowerpiercer; flame-colored tanager, black-headed siskin; and red crossbill. Once we have fully explored this unique area we will return to El Jaguar for dinner and overnight. (B,L,D) Day 7 – Friday, April 11: El Jaguar to Granada and Volcan Mombacho T  his morning, after breakfast, we will depart for the colonial city of Granada. Along the way we will make a brief stop to bird Las Playitas (a shallow wetland area) in hopes of viewing fulvous whistling ducks, least grebes, northern jacanas and numerous herons. After our stop at Las Playitas we will continue on to Granada and our accommodations at the Hotel Alhambra. The Hotel Alhambra is a beautiful old hotel located directly across from the main plaza. After settling into our rooms we will have lunch at a colonial restaurant before we travel to the slopes of Volcan Mombacho and transfer to one of the Park’s trucks for the steep climb to the summit. Once we reach the summit, we will hike the caldera trail and explore the diverse cloud forests that make Volcan Mombacho so special. These high altitude forests are a haven for plants and animals. A wide variety of bromeliads and orchids festoon the tree branches and some of the orchid species grow only on the slopes of Mombacho. The dormant volcano is also home to an endemic salamander and many higher elevation birds such as mountain elaenia and purple-throated mountain gem. If not obscured by clouds, the views of Lake Nicaragua from the summit are fabulous. As the sun sets we will descend Mombacho, return to Granada and have dinner at Bistro Estrada restaurant. (B,L,D)
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