Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.  ~  Edmund Burke
     

              Check out Nica photos from Roadmonkey’s scouting trip, Dec. 7-16

Then we head north, to San Juan de Cusmapa, in Nicaragua’s prime tobacco- and coffee-growing region, where horses and mules are common modes of transportation. For three days, we’ll stay at the family-style Fabretto Children’s Foundation lodge in Cusmapa, eating, sleeping and working communally. We’ll also make time to explore the town and get to know its residents, including local women weavers who sell baskets, coffee and other locally produced products. Once we’ve built the playground at the Fabretto-run school, we’ll caravan back down to the Managua/Granada area for individual departures starting as early as the evening of Sunday, March 14.

Our Volunteer Project

In San Juan de Cusmapa, in Nicaragua’s cool northern mountains, we’ll spend our days building a playground, working with local parents and community members, at the Fabretto-run school school two blocks away. The playground will be erected on the school grounds and be open to all of Cusmapa’s children. We’ll spend evenings on personal time and on getting to know the people and traditions of Cusmapa. And, if there’s interest, we’ll make time to improve our Spanish with some basic conversation.

Lodging & Food

Expedition members can expect single rooms in superior hotels during their first and last nights in Nicaragua. While surfing in San Juan del Sur, lodging will be shared in a well-appointed, bungalow-style surf lodge off the main tourist path. Breakfasts and dinners are included in the expedition price and will be family style, under the lodge’s large open-air bar & cantina. Because lunches often are difficult to coordinate while surfing, depending on who rises at what hour to catch the morning waves, hike along the beach, practice sunrise yoga or explore the jungle, you are responsible for your own lunches, either at the lodge cantina, on the beach or somewhere else, on your own or with your new surf buddies.

Nicaragua Expedition

Learning to Surf & Building a Playground for Impoverished Children

March 6-14, 2010

Join us on a 9-day adventure philanthropy expedition to two of the most wild & least discovered regions of Central America. On the Pacific coast, learn to surf on warm, consistent beginner and intermediate waves. Then, ascend into the orchid-, coffee- and cloud-rich mountains of the north, to give something back to a community in need.

Beginner surfers, you are not alone! This expedition is made for you. For four days, we’ll explore Nicaragua’s Pacific beaches, surf on uncrowded, sandy-bottom beach breaks, progressing at whatever pace is right for you. Then we journey together high into Nicaragua’s northern mountains, a jungle eruption of flora and wildlife, to spend three days building a playground for underprivileged children, in cooperation with our non-profit partner, the Fabretto Children’s Foundation.

Expedition Itinerary

After meeting you at the airport, we’ll travel by 4x4 to Granada, the lively colonial city 45 minutes south, spending the night there. The following morning, we’ll caravan 2 hours south, to San Juan del Sur (aka San Juan del Surf), a tranquil, still-undeveloped region of long empty beaches, good food and friendly locals, on Nica’s southern Pacific coast. The next four days are all about learning to surf at sandy-bottomed Playa Maderas, the best beginner and intermediate beach break, and/or hiking magnificent beach coves, and/or exploring the jungle backroads. We’ll also have the option of taking a small boat to other surf breaks around the rocky coves.

Expedition Cost & Timeframe

The nine-day expedition is $2,700 (£1,692 | €1,883 | AU3,065) and includes most meals (see Lodging & Food, below, for what that means) and all lodging, transportation, surfing instruction, surfboard rental and full coordination of our volunteer project in Cusmapa. The price does not include airfare or voluntary tips for surf instructors. Entry visas are not required for North Americans, Europeans, Australians or almost everyone else.

During our volunteer project and transit times, your meals are covered. In Cusmapa, we’ll lodge at the Fabretto house—the only lodging available in this mountain-top region, in clean rooms with bunk-beds and shared bathrooms. We’ll eat our three daily meals at a huge wooden dining table in the home, family style.

Interested? Want more info? Call Paul at 917-319-8070.