Day 8 – Saturday, April 12: Las Isletas and Granada

This morning will begin just before dawn as we head to the shores of Lake Nicaragua for our early morning boat trip through Las Isletas. The 365-island archipelago of Las Isletas was formed 20,000 years ago when Volcan Mombacho erupted, hurling its top half into the lake and forming dozens of small islands. Today Las Isletas are covered in lush vegetation and provide a haven for birdlife. We will wind our way through the many meandering channels separating the islands and could see snail kites, pinnated bitterns, ringed kingfishers, bare-throated tiger herons, and numerous other water birds. We will take a packed breakfast with us and will return to the boat dock by mid-morning. After our boat trip we will return to Granada for a city tour. Granada is the oldest continuously occupied city in the New World and is rich in colonial architecture and cultural sites. We will visit these important sites and have lunch before having the rest of the afternoon free to relax, shop or to continue exploring. We will meet in the hotel lobby this evening and walk to La Gran Francia for dinner – a really nice restaurant with incredible food. We will stay overnight once again at the Hotel Alhambra. (B,L,D)

This morning, after breakfast, we will check-out and travel to Montibelli Private Reserve. Montibelli is a fantastic dry tropical forest reserve located fairly close to Managua. Situated in a remote valley, Montibelli is home to a huge variety of birds including many species we are not likely to see elsewhere, such as plain chachalaca, northern potoo, painted bunting, Pacific parakeet, rose-throated becard, dusky antbird, and yellow-billed cacique. It also has plenty of lekking long-tailed manakins if they prove elusive at Selva Negra. It also is home to many mammals and reptiles. Once we arrive we will have a chance to settle into our accommodations and watch birds coming to the water baths before lunch. In the late afternoon we will have our first chance to explore the reserve. After a full day we will have dinner and take a night hike to look for nocturnal birds and mammals. We could see northern potoo, Pacific screech owl, and several species of opossums. After our night hike we will settle into our comfortable bungalows for the night. (B,L,D).

This morning we will have the early morning to explore Montibelli before breakfast and our departure for Managua and the airport. Those departing for the US have any early afternoon flight to our US gateway city and those continuing on the Caribbean extension have an early afternoon flight to San Carlos. Once in our US gateway city you will transfer to your flight home. (B)

This morning we have an early breakfast before we depart for Managua and the airport. We will need to depart fairly early in order to catch our early afternoon flight to San Carlos. Our flight will take us across the great expanse of Lake Nicaragua and past the islands of Zapatera and Ometepe. The flight will last about 50 minutes before setting down on San Carlos’s dusty airstrip. San Carlos is situated in the far southeast corner of Lake Nicaragua where the San Juan River begins its journey to the Atlantic. Upon arrival we will transfer to the city dock for our boat trip down the Rio San Juan River. Our journey down river will be very scenic passing small farms, areas of swamp and forest, and eventually the town of El Castillo and its imposing fort overlooking the river. After El Castillo the towns and agricultural lands begin to disappear giving way to the rainforest which envelops both sides of the Rio San Juan. We should have plenty of opportunities to observe birds along the way and if we are lucky perhaps a huge American crocodile along the river’s muddy banks. Eventually the river becomes the border with Costa Rica on the south bank and Nicaragua on the north. Our destination, and accommodation for the night, is Refugio Bartola – a rustic ecolodge located on the edge of Rio Indio Maiz National Park. The gardens and forest edges surrounding Refugio Bartola are full of birds and we should arrive in time for the late afternoon activity period. After a full day we will have dinner under the stars. (B,D)