reserva biológica indio maíz

The jungle is wonderfull but so far there is no services or hotel inside. The best is stay at Bartola Lodge and go with a small boat inside the protected area.

We went on the Agua Frescas tour with Seyla of Nena Tours. It was a fascinating, but muddy, 3 hour trek through the jungle where we learned about medicinal uses of plants, the different trees and how they adapt, saw two types of poison dart frog, a well camouflaged leaf litter frog, an agouti, fresh ocelot footprints and several birds (it was a little late in the day for a lot of birds).We highly recommend the local guide, Seyla. She has perfect English and really knows the jungle. She also took us on an El Castillo tour where we learned not just about the history but about modern life in that part of Nicaragua. The local guides in El Castillo have to be born there or live there for 10 years, and are very well trained.

We canoed with a guide about 1.5 hours down the Rio San Juan from El Castillo (our guide's name was "Ardilla", or "squirrel"--we'd recommend him!) to the river Bartola, where there is a checkpoint and one of the two trails in the reserve that you can access. Saw howler monkeys, spider monkey, poison dart frogs, some crazy plants and insects. Wear rubber boots as it is MUDDY! We used a motor boat to get back up river after El Castillo. Trip lasted from 7:00-12:00. Sprinkled on and off, beautiful forest.

... Great experience... Do it, before the Nicaragua channel will effect the beauty of the rain forest. Combined with a smooth canoeing on the river San Juan-very impressive!

I'm a city boy, but the trip through the reserve, followed by some canoeing and swimming left me impressed. Great guide (Manuel of the Hotel Luna del Rio) who explains well the many mysteries of the jungle. We went from El Castillo down to the reserve by canoe, a nice two hrs (?) of paddling in very beautiful surroundings.

We hired a guide to show us one of the two accessible treks in this reserve. It was a great trip in which we saw two sloths, a couple of tucans, a venenous frog and learnt a lot about a couple of plants that the guide pointed out. Totally recommendable!

We spent 5 days canoeing down the Rio San Juan with some hiking at Bartola. Our guide was Julio, who can be hired in Sabalos. We had a really fantastic trip and would return again. If you really want to get deep in the reserve you MUST get to San Juan de Nica and travel up the Rio Indio. You can arrange a tour either through Raul, who we hired and was a fantastic guide, or through the local Rama (indiginous people), who you will have to try to get in touch with by phone. We spent 3 days on the Indio and homestayed with some of the Rama living there. Loads of wildlife and definitely an adventure. The river was in flood when we went but usually it is possible to do some hiking in the area as well.

We went on a 3 day kayaking tour, from el castillo to san Juan del norte. 3 days of paddling, sleeping in a hammock in the jungle with an excellent tourguide, Juan. Juan knows and sees every animal, you'll probably see crocodiles, monkeys and toekans. You find him at his house, turn to the right when you leave the boat and follow the path untill you see a house with pictures and a sign of the guide

Started with a boat ride down the river. Our guide (Orlando) pointed out so many amazing things in the jungle.

Seyla, at Nena Tours in El Castillo, speaks excellent English and was a very good guide. She proved to be knowledgable and patient with our questions, and had a great eye to spot birds and other wildlife. Our tour (Aguas Frescas trail) was four hours of walking in a very muddy trail (luckily Seyla has a great selection of rubber boots to rent - totally necessary).

Spent a few days at Refugio Bartola recently to do some birding and hiking in the rain forest. I'm glad that I did. Sandra and her staff do a great job, and the food is great. The only reason that I didn't rate it as excellent is because there isn't hot water, but what the heck, you're in the rain forest. The highlight of my trip was in the Indio-Maiz Reserve with Orlando as a guide. We were watching a group of capuchin monkeys in the forest canopy, when a Harpy Eagle nearly nailed one of them. If you are in the Rio San Juan area, don't miss Refugio Bartola.

Gorgeous place. We arranged our trip through Refugio Bartola and it was cheaper than in El Castillo. The Costa Rican road has negatively impacted the area.

My wife and I visited the reserve via a five hour excursion with Nena Tours in El Castillo. Our guide, Seyla, was very knowledgeable and spoke excellent English. Despite my wanting to stop to take photos countless times, she never showed impatience. Her ability to pick out wildlife from a distance was uncanny. Highly recommended.

From palms to 'Grandfather trees', three types of monkey including spider monkey, exotic birds , turtles, lizards and jaguar. Tour Canoas Basiliscus will provide excellent trips from El Castillo, ask for Darwin he realy knows his stuff and is fun.

Darwin from Canoas Basiliscus took us on two great trips, the second we canoed. He was great and really knew his stuff (fauna and flora). Lenin at the Cafe de Huesped Chinandegano introduced us to him, and he didn't disappoint.