Excursions
These excursions are part of the package “Getting to know Matagalpa and our culture” and its goal is to offer a social, creative, and entertaining learning experience. Besides learning Spanish, you will spend time in a number of beautiful places near our city.
This option is intended for those who want to mix study with fun and adventure, as well as learning more about the Matagalpa region.
Whit the packages, we offer three activities every week in the city, and it´s also possible to do a tour to a tourist destination that Matagalpa Tour offers, only if there are more than three students interested in taking that tour.
In the city
Tour of Matagalpa
This is a walking tour of the city during which we visit the Museum of Coffee, where you can learn about the evolution of coffee production. In the Carlos Fonseca Museum, you can see the house where the founder of the Sandinistan Liberation Front was born, as well as many of his precious possessions. And we visit the Cathedral of San Pedro, the cultural patron of the city.
The Municipal Cemetery and the Cemetery of the Foreigners
Immigrants of European and North American descent who were not Catholic are buried in the Cemetery of the Foreigners. This municipal cemetery has garnered much attention for the construction of its tombs, which look like a small city in the mountains.
The Chocolate Factory (El Castillo de Cacao)
This tour is especially interesting for lovers of the sweet of the gods: chocolate. The Chocolate Factory makes the best Nicaraguan chocolate using organic cacao cultivated only two hours from the city of Matagalpa. During the visit, you can witness the delicate process of creating delicious candies and chocolate bars.
Black Pottery (Ceramica Negra) Workshop
We visit the workshop of Maria Estela Rodriguez, one of the leading exhibitors of black pottery in Nicaragua. Although barely five years into her artisan craft, she has a wealth of knowledge inherited from her mother, Eustaquia del Carmen. This family from El Nipero in Jinotega are the creators of black pottery. The family moved to Matagalpa in 1942 and settled here permanently.
University Tour
We visit the Autonomous National University of Nicaragua (UNAN) and other public universities so that you can see university life and the areas in which our young people are preparing for the future.
Tour of Familias Especiales
The Special Families of Santa Julia Billiart Foundation is a non-profit non-governmental organization agency created in 1996. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Matagalpa’s invitation to the Sisters of Notre Dame of Namur to support families who have children with disabilities.
Markets Tour
We visit the north and south markets of Matagalapa where you can observe idiosyncratic characteristics of the commercial and social lives of Nicaraguans. We take public transportation from one market to the other.
Dance Class (Arabesco)
On Friday nights we have the opportunity to attend salsa, merengue, and other forms of Latin dance classes. Students, together with city residents, participate in two great hours of dancing. Classes are from 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Artisan Crafts of Jicaro: El Tule
We will visit a group of potters known as the “Old ladies of Jicarao.” These four sisters who learned their craft as children, inherited from their parents, are official pottery makers. They mold the mud without the help of machinery to make beautiful pots, pans, shapes, and figures.
Cerro Apante Natural Reserve
The Cerro Apante Natural Reserve is high in the mountains and very tropical. From the viewpoint you can see Matagalpa in all of its splendor. The walking tour through the reserve takes about 3 hours.
El Calvario Hill
The El Calvario Hill is located in a neighborhood of the same name to the west of the city. There is a cross at the summit which symbolizes the presence of the Catholic faith in the city. During the many years of rain the cross has gradually moved due to erosion of the hill, and this has caused concern for the safety of people living near the cross in houses on the hillside in case of landslides. Continued deforestation is further contributing to the problem. During the war in 1979, the hill was a strategic location for the National Guard. From El Calvario Hill, you can get an unforgettable panoramic view of the city.
San Martin Hill
This hill is located to the northeast of the city. From here you can see all of Matagalpa from an angle opposite of El Calvario Hill and can get some beautiful pictures of the city.
Excursions and Tours Offered by both Matagalpa Tours and the Spanish School with more than three students and For more information about tours and other tourist destinations in the area visit:
www.matagalpatours.com