Volunteer Resources

Before You Travel

Legal documents (this information should be confirmed with your national embassy)

French and American citizens are not required to have visas to enter Nicaragua. However, when you land you are required to purchase a "tourist visa" for $5 USD, which allows you to remain in the country for 3 months. For all other nationalities, you should check with your embassy for visa requirements. And remember, you will need a current passport for international travel.

Health

You should consult your physician at least 4 weeks prior to travelling to make sure you are up to date on all your vaccinations. Malaria is an issue in Nicaragua and the drug of choice to combat it is choloroquine, taken once weekly in a dosage of 500 mg, starting one-to-two weeks before arrival and continuing through the trip and for four weeks after departure. Consult your physician for more information.

Traveler's diarrhea is a common occurance in Nicaragua. Here (1 and 2) are two sites that discuss this sickness. An important comment is the one about "Bismuth Subsalicylate" and its ability to prevent diarrhea (Bismuth Subsalicylate is the active ingredient in Pepto Bismol).

A list of medical resources in Managua can be found here (U.S. Embassy website)

blueEnergy paperwork

Prior to leaving for Nicaragua blueEnergy MUST receive both your signed liability waiver form and your emergency contact and consent to treat form. The liability waiver form can be downloaded here. The emergency contact and consent to treat form can be downloaded here. Both forms should be printed, filled out (LEGIBLY), and returned to blueEnergy prior to your departure.

Money

Nicaragua uses Cordobas which have an exchange rate of around 16 Cordobas to $1 USD. There are very few places outside of Managua that accept credit card transactions and travelers checks. The main bank in Bluefields recently stopped accepting credit card transactions and they take about 2 weeks to cash travelers checks. Our recommendation is that you wire your spending money into blueEnergy's bank account (we give you a receipt) and then the money can be withdrawn at your leisure from our bank in Bluefields.

Things to bring

Camera, sun tan lotion, bug repellent, mosquito net, personal medicines, sun glasses, and supplies for the house. Of course this list is not exhaustive and you may wish to bring more or less things.

Getting to Bluefields

Getting to Managua - Option 1: Flying directly into Managua

This option is the most convenient but also the most expensive. Prices vary greatly depending on your departure location, but tickets from the United States tend to range from $500-900, while tickets from Europe are generally in the range of $800-1200. If you are flying from the United States Continental Airlines has a lot of flights through Texas and generally has good fares. If you are traveling from Europe, check Iberia Airlines.

Getting to Managua - Option 2: Flying into Costa Rica and taking a bus to Managua

This option requires a significant amount more of travel but provides significant cost savings over flying to Managua. Costa Rica is a popular tourist destination and hence flights into the country are typically hundreds of dollars (USD) cheaper than tickets to Managua.

You can either fly into San Jose (Capital city of Costa Rica) or Liberia (city near Nicaraguan border). If the prices are the same, fly into Liberia as this will significantly reduce your bus travel time to Managua.

Once you have arrived in Costa Rica you can catch a bus to Managua. From San Jose to Managua is about $11 USD and 9 hours of transit. Most buses leave in the morning, so you may have to stay a night in San Jose (Costa Rica Backpackers Hostel, Hostel Pangea, Tranquilo Backpackers -- official taxi from airport to hostels, $12). A good bus company is called TicaBus and their site can be found here. The bus ride from Liberia to Managua is much shorter. When the bus gets to the Nicaraguan border there is a passport check stop.

Getting from Managua to Bluefields - Option 1: Flying

Tickets from Managua to Bluefields are purchased at the Managua airport. We generally fly La Costeña Airlines. Most flights are in the morning, so you may end up spending a night in Managua. Rount-trip airfare is $125 USD and the flight is about an hour long. A round-trip ticket allows you to carry 50 lbs. of weight not including your carry-on bags.

Getting from Managua to Bluefields - Option 2: Taking the bus and boat

This option requires a significant amount more of travel but provides significant cost savings over flying and has some adventure value. The trip costs about $20 USD and takes 10-12 hours. The trip consists of taking a night bus from Managua to the city of Rama. From there you transfer to a boat and go down the river to Bluefields. From a travel guide:

"You can get most of the way to the Atlantic Coast by bus, a bone-jarring ten-hour trip from Managua to the port of El Rama, from where boats go upriver to Bluefields on the Caribbean. An alternate route is with a private bus company called Empresa Vargas Peña (tel 280-1812 in Managua; tel 822-1410 in Bluefields), who provide bus transport to Rama and then a connection by launch to Bluefields: the company has three departures daily from the Mercado Iván Montenegro (5am, arriving in Bluefields at 3pm; 2.45pm, with an overnight stay in El Rama; and 9.30pm, arriving in Bluefields at 7.30am)."

Living in Bluefields

Local transportation

Most places in Bluefields can be reached on foot, but there are also taxis and buses available. Taxi fare is 6 cordobas per person for in-town travel during the day; 10 cordobas per person for in-town travel at night; 10 cordobas per person for outlying areas (like the airport and URACCAN) during the day; and 20 cordobas per person for outlying areas at night.

Buses run frequently but do not have "regular routes". One can easily catch a bus headed for downtown (since all buses end up there), but it is very difficult to catch a bus from downtown to a specific location like home. The bus rate is 3 cordobas.

Food

The food in Bluefields is good, but heavy. Most things are fried or cooked with a lot of oil. Bananas, plantains, rice, chicken, shrimp, and lobster are common foods.

There are many restaurants in Bluefields with varying prices and quality. Good meals can be had for $5-10 USD at nice restaurants. Beers generally cost around $1 USD. Service is almost universally poor.

Safety

Bluefields has a fair amount of petty crime, but no more than any major city in the United States or in Europe. Normal precautions should be taken such as not venturing into outlying areas at night alone. Common sense things. blueEnergy's house is in a safe neighborhood and has an informal neighborhood watch system. The house itself is very secure. As a general travel precaution it is recommended that you leave all your valuable jewelry at home.

Money

Nicaragua uses Cordobas which have an exchange rate of around 17 Cordobas to $1 USD. There are very few places outside of Managua that accept credit card transactions and travelers checks. The main bank in Bluefields recently installed an ATM so money can in theory be withdrawn. The bank takes about 2 weeks to cash travelers checks. Our recommendation is that you either plan on getting money with your bank card (but the ATM may not be that reliable) or wire your spending money into blueEnergy's bank account (we give you a receipt) and then the money can be withdrawn at your leisure from our bank in Bluefields.

Communication

The blueEnergy house has a phone and internet service. Both are available most of the time but are expensive. The house phone can be used, but charges must be paid for by the user. The house also is set up with Skype, a voice over IP program for making calls through the internet. This is a cheap service for calls to the United States and Europe but can only be used when the office computers are not being used for work (which isn't very often!).

Receiving incoming mail outside of Managua either doesn't work at all or is at best is unreliable. Outgoing mail seems to work ok.

House life

Living in the blueEnergy house is an experience that you will likely remember for some time. There is a real communal spirit that develops when the diverse groups come together for work and play. In that communal vane, chores, such as cooking dinner, are divided up among residents. blueEnergy has hired someone to help around the house - i.e. general cleaning and cooking lunch every day.

The house has four volunteer bedrooms - two with bunk beads and two with single double-size beds. You are guaranteed a bed during your stay but you are NOT guaranteed your own room.

blueEnergy asks all volunteers to contribute $250 during their stay in order to defray living expenses. We have nice accommodations including meal service, laundry service, and wireless internet. It's not the Ritz, but it is much above average local conditions, and it costs blueEnergy a fair amount to maintain. We ask volunteers to contribute so that our meager funding can be focused on critical project work.

Some information on the History, Culture, and People of the Caribbean Coast