Granada, Nicaragua: January 17-19, 2012  -  Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: April 10, 2012

Travel Information


Individual shuttle from Managua International Airport (MGA) to RIO 12 in Granada is available: please let us know about your flight and arrival time; transfer time to Granada is about 45 min, cost is 40 US$ (30 EUR)

Most flights to Nicaragua go via Miami, Houston, Atlanta, San Salvador, Costa Rica or Panama to the international airport Agusto César Sandino of Managua (MGA), the only international airport in Nicaragua. Granada is a nice, colonial-style town located 40 km away from Managua airport. You can either get there by taxi (30 US$), bus or rental car (navigation system is recommended). Tourist infrastructure in Granada is quite good, all sites and services can be reached by foot within a couple of minutes. The conference site Casa de los Tres Mundos (formerly: Casa de los Leones) is in the very center of Granada at the central Plaza within walking distance to most hotels and restaurants. Local currency is the Cordoba, proximally 23.00 US dolar, US$ is widely accepted. Living costs are significantly lower than in Europe or North America. Nicaragua is the safest county of Central America; however, you should keep an eye on your valuables. Temperature is warm, about 25°C, mostly sunny, but some rain showers may occur. General language is Spanish, but English is often understood, especially in Granada. available.

Trips


Granada is at the shore of a big lake (Lago Nicaragua), a boat trip to visit some close-by islands (Las Isletas) is recommended (duration: 1-2 hours). The largest wind park of Central America is at La Virgen, close to Rivas, 30-40 minutes drive from Granada.

Ometepe Island in the lake consists of two large volcanoes and allows a lot of tourist activities: swimming, hiking, visit of ecological tobacco and coffee plantations. Totoco Eco-Lodge is entirely solar-powered with all food grown ecologically on-site and is an excellent example of sustainable lifestyle; to get there a 4 wheel-drive taxi is recommended. While a regular ferry from Granada takes 6-8 hours (from Rivas 2 hours), plus the road time on the island, you should reserve at least 2 days for Ometepe.

The Pacific coast can be reached from Granada within 1-1.5 hours, with excellent spots for swimming and wave surfing. Beaches 10-15 km north of San Juan del Sur are a bit difficult to reach, but even nicer that those close to San Juan del Sur. Road conditions on all main roads between cities are good, but away from the main roads the use of a 4-wheel-drive is recommended.

Government entities, universities, offices and embassies are located in Managua, which also has two large shopping malls and a bar zone, but is not a particular interesting place to visit for touristic reasons due to a missing city center and street indications.

Close to Managua the impressive volcano Masaya with guided tours is worth a trip. A geothermal power plant can be visited at the volcano Momotombo close to colonial Leon, 1.5 h north-west of Managua.

At the Caribbean coast, the islands Big Corn Island and Small Corn Island (official language is English there) are very nice to visit, also for diving & snorkeling, but can be reached reasonably by flight only via Managua.

The latest touristic development zone is Rio San Juan, at the frontier to Costa Rica, with lots of wildlife.

To cover lots of sights and potential energy projects within a single day, a water plane for 12-18 passengers is available.

Nicaragua is developing quickly and has increasing electrical energy needs. Presently, most energy is generated via diesel generators. Time to change that: Abundant resources for hydro, wind, solar, geothermal and biomass power are competitively available.