Another very regular inhabitant of the gardens around La Mariposa Escuela de Español is the Variegated squirrel. This is a tree squirrel endemic to southern Mexico and Central America. Again taken from where we eat our meals at the school/EcoHotel.
One of the regulars on the activities schedule for La Mariposa Spanish School and EcoHotel is a trip to a nearby nature reserve: El Chocoyero – El Brujo. The reserve is the main source of Managua’s water supply and has several hiking trails and good wildlife watching opportunities. The highlight of the afternoon trip with …
Every Thursday night, the Centro Cultural Antiguo Mercado de Masaya (ie the artesania market) hosts a cultural show of dancing and singing called La Verbena. Here you can see traditional Nicaraguan dances as well as some Nicaraguan singers, and it is attended by both locals and tourists alike. Once per month a trip to La Verbena is …
Another of the wonderful initiatives on the activity schedule for students studying at La Mariposa Spanish School and EcoHotel are the talks about Nicaraguan history and other themes. It really helps you to get a bit more of an idea about the country you are visiting and, to be honest, Nicaragua is a fascinating place! Every Friday …
There are no Easter Eggs in Nicaragua… Nor hot-cross buns. However, there is an overabundance of Semana Santa Processions (Holy Week Parades) and Easter is much, much more than an excuse to eat far too much chocolate and bread-and-buttery goodness. There have been parades all week, but the main parades tend to occur on Viernes …
In both of my visits to La Mariposa Spanish School and EcoHotel I’ve managed to luck out with a night hike 🙂 They are not part of the usual activity timetable and are scheduled when there is enough interest and willing guides available. 2 years ago we hiked through the pineapple farms to a …
Couldn’t resist – these birds (Blue-Crowned Motmots) are so beautiful! Look who brought a friend to visit me this morning at La Mariposa Spanish School and EcoHotel. This branch is just outside my bedroom window.
My conversation teacher for the third week at La Mariposa Escuela de Español (we change conversation teachers each week) was Layda. In our first class, we started talking about interests and I found out she’d recently done a community course on beaded jewelry making. Given my love of jewelry I asked her more about it and she suggested that …
It’s Semana Santa (Holy Week) here in Nicaragua and La Mariposa Spanish School put on a special trip for us so we could see the Vía Crucis Acuático around Las Isletas near Granada. After driving from an hour, we arrived in Granada at 8am and headed straight for our boat. We most definitely were not …
Vía Crucis Acuático – Las Isletas, Granada, Nicaragua Read More »
After catching many glimpses over the past weeks, I finally had a wonderful view of a Guardabarranco, the national bird of Nicaragua, this morning. It was just outside my bedroom window at La Mariposa Spanish School and EcoHotel and I managed to get a fairly good picture of it (see below on the right). Many …
Guardabarranco vs Blue-Crowned Motmot – the difference Read More »
