Inauguration of the Natural Reserve Volcanic Complex San Cristóbal-Casita Route in Chinandega
Clementine Haudecoeur | Sep 24, 2015
Activities organized in San Cristóbal Volcano this Saturday, 26 and Sunday, 27 of September.
In January 2014, the NGO África 70 and the Nacional Chamber of Tourism in Nicaragua (CANATUR) started a project called ”Development of Sustainable Rural Tourism in the Natural Reserve Volcanic Complex San Cristóbal-Casita” in the municipality of Chinandega. This project contemplated the territory of the rural communities of Belén, La Mora, La Bolsa and San Isidro, and included the Finca Las Rojas and the Finca Las Banderas. The total budget was of 249,919€ and it was subsidized in a 80% by the European Union with technical support from LuxDev, as part as the strengthening of the project of the Colonial and Volcanoes Route.
This Saturday, September 26th, from 1:00pm in the Finca Las Rojas, the functioning of the new touristic offer of the Natural Reserve Volcanic Complex San Cristóbal-Casita Route will become official and there will be a presentation of the results with a tour by the new infrastructures and to the Finca Las Banderas with interventions of beneficiaries.
The main results of this initiative are:
- The strengthening of the touristic offer and the inclusion of communities in the generation of new jobs
- The rehabilitation and improvement of the fincas Las Rojas, Las Banderas and La Mora which now offer accessibility to housing and food services
- The rehabilitation and improvement of three tracks with orientative and interpretative elements and to guarantee tourists security
- The construction of three lookout points
- The consolidation of a cooperative of touristic guides with the training of 28 local guides and the elaboration of a catalogue with the touristic offer of the Reserve
- The strengthening of local capacities with the training of 10 community squads, the organization of meeting on environmental education for students, and training on good practices for solid waste management.
It is important to mention that the Reserve is located at 18km from the city of Chinandega and is made of the union of 5 volcanoes: El Chonco, Casita, Moyotepe, la Pelona and San Cristóbal. The area has a huge touristic potential because of its coffee plantations, its agricultural fields and its traditional ranching, but most of all, because of its beautiful forest and the different varieties of wild birds. For all those reasons, we warmly invite you to go visit this amazing place!
In order to keep up with the celebration of the inauguration of the Route, you are all invited to participate in the 2nd Edition of the San Cristóbal Challenge, that will take place in the same infrastructures on Sunday, September 27th, World Tourism Day. For more information on that event, go visit the following Facebook page: Reto San Cristóbal.