Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean - Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World - page 236

316 Monitor whales oFF the
BahaMas

317 learn spanish in
nicaragua

Ten metres away from where the whale surfaced
less than a minute earlier your dinghy comes to a
stop and lolls on the waves. Ahead of you a shiny
sliver of grey slides through the waves - it doesn't
look like much, but you know that it's a sperm
whale, the world's largest carnivore, a creature
that eats giant squids for breakfast. After a while
it raises its head to breathe and seems to fix
you with an eye the size of a melon. For the next
quarter of an hour you sit transfixed, a kilometre
from shore, until the whale flicks its massive tail
and dives.
On an eleven-day Earthwatch volunteer trip
to stay with marine biologist Diane Claridge
on Abaco Island, you spend every other day out
on the boat recording the behaviour of whales
and dolphins that gather in the waters of the
Bahama Banks to feed. Schools of dolphins often
follow you, jumping into the air or across the
boat's wake. Sometimes you'll spot reef sharks
in the shallows. And if there are none of them
around and a bit of time to kill, you can leap off
and swim around the reefs.
On the days not tracking whales and dolphins
you are back at the research station on the
beach at Sandy Point, entering your data into
the log and identifying animals by matching
photos taken out at sea with ones stored in
the files. It's an amazing insight into the life
of a marine scientist, and will provide many
more intimate encounters with cetaceans than
any brief whale-watching trip can give you. An
experience like this might change how you feel
about volunteering, or even what you are doing
with the rest of your life.

Learning the lingo goes a long way when you're
travelling in rural parts of Central and South
America, so a Spanish language course makes
for a great way to kick off your travels. You
could, of course, learn Spanish in the laid-back
quarters of downtown Quito, but come to La
Mariposa Hotel, nestled in the tropical hills
south of Nicaragua's capital Managua, and you'll
also gain a glimpse of a different way of life in
this little-visited country.
The hotel is based at an organic farm with
simple but comfortable rooms that have a range
of eco features, such as solar power for the lights
and waste water to irrigate the garden. Courses
cost US$300 full-board per person a week,
including twenty hours of lessons, while extra
individual tuition is US$8 per hour. There's no
single-person supplement and you can request to
stay in local homes if you wish.
You can stay for just a week, but you're
encouraged to remain for longer to gain a better
grasp of the language and see some of the local
sights. Outside of lessons, students can try out
guided walks, horse-riding or trips to Masaya
Volcano - a live volcano where you can stroll
around the crater or hire a guide and explore some
of the 20km of trails and caves in the park. You
can even trek to the volcano at night, when the
lava glows in the moonlight like thick red treacle.
The two best cities to take in at the weekends
are nearby Masaya - home to one of the
country's best craft markets - and Granada, one
of Nicaragua's most relaxing cities, with plenty
of bars and restaurants. You'll return with a
better knowledge of this off-the-beaten-track
and often misunderstood country, and with your
new-found language skills, the Spanish-speaking
world will be your oyster.

Need to know The programme is available
Jan-Feb and June-July. All meals are included,
with cooking and cleaning done on a rota between
the volunteers and members of Diane's team. For
details and itineraries see W www.earthwatch.org/
expeditions/claridge.html; T [phone].

Need to know For directions, details of course
programmes, activities, prices and bookings see
W www.mariposaspanishschool.com; T +505 418
4638.