Centro Recreativo El Primo | Established Campground

Ulises was very kind in allowing to camp for the night and leave my bicycle and luggage on the finca while hiking the volcano. Very reassuring to know someone was mindful of my things. Highly recommend.

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This is where you make the right turn to head to Telica. Look for a sign on the Right side of the road. It's 8 kn from here to the next Pin on ioverlander. I have a 4x4 toyota 4runner. I did not need 4Lo. 4Hi(AWD) was good enough. My car gas RTT and heavily loaded too.4x4 would be great for added security.

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Great place to spend few nights for free close to Telica volcano. Ulysse can be reach through WhatsApp (number in the first comment). If he’s not around he will let you know how to access to the campsite. Very calm and quiet with shadow and non drinking water. He’s working hard to make it batter and it will get better ! From here volcano is 21/22km with return. Really worth it

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We spent 1 night in the finca/camping of Ulices and enjoyed it very much! We drove to Ulices house (the restaurant that is also in iOverlander) and met him and his family there. They are all so sweet and kind! They showed us their garden with all the fruits, offered us cold chocolatemilk and he even drove us a little bit further down the road to start our hike to the telica volcano. The hike was awesome! 3h one way to the top of the volcano. At the top the view of the volcano is breathtaking! We really enjoyed our time with Ulices! Make sure you go there!

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It was a little bit tricky to find it. Pass the red gate (Pinned: closed/old one) and the cemetery, take the first right into the village, then go left until you reach a house on the right side with the Tigo sign. That is the restaurant and his house.

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We had a wonderful stay at this place. We arrived spontaneously in the village and simply asked around to find the owner. He and his family were really nice. He even invited us for a chocolate drink and gave us mangos and bananas. He showed us the campspot and turned on the water for us. Beautiful spot on a grassy area and palapas in the nature, super calm. He organized a pick-up truck who drove us up to hike the volcano „Telica“ for USD 25.—
Really beautiful for sunset.

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So nice family who really is taking care of their guests.

Simple but good food and beautiful self made jugos.

Before the hike up the volcano we stayed one night at the camp spot. After returning we spend another night at the backside of the restaurant. Ulices even took us with a motorbike a bit up the sendero and picked us up when we returned…for no money!
We start hiking 2:30pm and enjoyed sunset before peeking into the massive crater. It takes 3 hours to go up. Walking back in the dark with a flashlight is no problem.

If you are visiting volcano Telica, this is the place to stay!

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Ulices and the fam are so great. Arrived on my bike after a HOT day of riding and they fed me a huge lunch.

Really great spot to camp that’s not too far from the volcano and has potable water (I still filtered in case).

Just make sure you send him a message on WhatsApp a day ahead of time.

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nice wellcoming family, before we went to the campspot we were guided to his family, Restaurant. The campspot is big enough for big rigs. He turnen on the water for us in the morning and took us to his family again for breakfast. they did not want any money for food or our stay at the camping. they were so nice. thank you so much for having us.

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great spacious place. secure. no facilities but some palapas and grassy area. ulises is a great guy.
he also showed me his future lot close to leon where he wants to establish an overlander campground. i added this location but the spot is NOT ready yet (just an empty lot so far). contact ulises on whatsapp for updates

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Un spot idéal pour nous ! en pleine nature, pas un bruit ! iUlysse et sa famille sont des gens adorables et d'une hospitalité incroyable 😍 Ulysse nous a trouvé un chauffeur en 4*4 pour monter au cratère du volcan Telica. Pas trop difficile, une bonne excursion ! Merci Ulysse et jeovanie !

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As everybody says, really nice & loving family. When we went there, we first arrived at the restaurant (which is now closed) and nobody was there, so I messaged Ulises on whatsapp and he answered right away and told us to go to his rancho (centro recreativo el primo on ioverlander) which we did. There were already two travellers there but they left during the day. We spent 3 amazing days there, we felt we could finally REST after days of intense traveling, we were so tired we didn't even go up to the volcano x) but we really appreciated just being there, with the fresh air and the privacy and the silence! We also went everyday to spend some time with the family, geovanni his wife made us try her frescos and we spent long times talking together she is really a beautiful and intelligent woman (Spanish is our language, I don't if they speak english) and one day she even made food for us and didn't charge it. Anyway we tried to support by buying frescos from her and frijoles and things from her shop like fruits & veggies (she doesn't have so much so if you are vegan like us bring stuff because there is limited). Camping was free in their rancho, and Ulises is building a campsite in Leon city that will be paying. I recommend to come here if you want to share time with really nice Nicaraguan people and have time to rest and be with nature without disturbance :)

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This is the access road location up to Telica. It’s very clear now with a sign, 8km Telica. I did not try to camp here or look if anyone was around for that to be possible. If you’re coming from León you can map to here and then take the road up the mountain. It’s definitely a rough sandy volcanic 4x4 track. I did it on an Adventure Motorcycle and probably should not have, it was a really hard ride.

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This place is still open, but you have to contact Ulices in advance (best one day before). He's very responsive on Whatsapp and let us stay on the campground for free, wouldn't accept a payment. It's basic and safe, but perfect for any non 4*4 vehicle (with a 4*4 you can go all the way to the volcano). The main entrance is no longer the red gate, but a little further down the road (+- 200m) towards the Telica volcano. Highly advised not to drive any further without a 4*4, especially not in the rainy season.

We hiked to the Telica volcano from here without a guide. We started at 1am for the 3-3.5hr hike so we would be there +- 1 hour before sunrise. We felt safe hiking in the dark, there are only a few houses along the road. Don't linger too long at the edge of the crater, it's been getting more active lately. Peak in, we saw the red glow, and walk to the mirador at the unmanned volcano monitoring station for the sunrise (turn your back to the crater at the 'fence', it's pretty well marked but you need to search a bit in the dark).

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Somos ciclistas. Quedamos con Ulices y su familia cuatro noches en nustra carpa donde esta el restaurante de Ulices y donde viven ellos, en la comunidad de Cristo Rey. Si tienes motor home puedes dormir antes del pueblo en su rancho. El rancho de Ulices es muy bonito. Puedes hacer sanderismo porque hay senderos y ver muchos pajaros y mariposas. Tambien en la comunidad de Cristo Rey, donde vive la familia de Ulices , a solo 200 metros caminando de su casa se pueden quedar con motor home.

De hecho Ulices nos vio mientras subimos hacia el pueblo con la bicicletas y el nos invito a su casa. Dejamos una gran parte de nuestro equipaje inclusivamente las bicicletas y fuimos a dormir al volcano de Telica.

Despues regresamos y pasamos mas tiempo con ellos. Es una familia muy especial y muy buena. La esposa de Ulices hace enchiladas muy ricas y tambien refrescos super naturales de granadilla, tamarindo, piña y cacao. Entonces yo recomiendo que cuando usted vaya para alla no trae su comida y compra de ellos para apoyar el negocio. De la tienda de Jeovanna (la esposa de Ulices) puedes comprar practicamente todo lo que necesitas.

La familia muchas veces compartio su comida con nosotros y pasamos tiempo juntos. Era una experiencia muy bonita y memorable. Nos ensenaron hacer refresceo de cacao y Ulices nos mostro la comunidad de Cristo Rey y a que se dedican la gente alla.

Cristo Rey es tranquilo. Andamos alla sin problemas y sin sentir en peligro. La gente viven tranquilo alla y muy humilde.

Ulices no nos cobro ni ningus peso. Totalmente gratis.

El tambien nos dijo que va a comprar un lugar en Leon donde se pueden quedar viajeros como nosotros. Entonces puedes comunicar eso directamente con el cuando estas alla o via su telefono.

Les recomiendo que vayas alla para disfrutar la vida en el campo y la buena compania y amistad de Ulices.

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Beautiful, quiet and green campground on the eucalyptus finca of a local family. Has several palapas, trees for shade, running water and a basic pit toilet.
Climate is much cooler than Leon and the coast and there is a nice cool breeze.

We wanted to camp here to have the full next day to drive up volcán Telica.
Ulices and his family welcomed us so warmly inviting us to their house to try local food for dinner that we came back the next night instead of spending the night on the vulcano.

The family also offered us to stay at their house in the village but we preferred the peace and quiet of the finca to the sounds of roosters, radios and motos ;)
Ulices put a lot of work into the campground and created a great place. But since the pandemic there have not been much visitors at all and him and his family are very happy about every guest.

After two nights, lots of home cooked food and incredible hospitality Ulices would not accept any money from us. So we at least gave him the rest of our homemade bread.

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the road for there access is not possible with one 24 feet.

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Hemos pasado 4 noches con esta maravillosa familia, nos hemos sentido totalmente como en casa. Tanto a Ulises como a sus papas y familiares les encanta concer a viajeros y compartir experiencias y momentos juntos. Les gusta probar comida diferente y que nosotros provemos la de aquí. El rancho es espectacular y tranquilo pero nosotros pasamos todos los dias en el partio de la casa de la família compartiendo el dia a dia con ellos! Totalmente recomendable! Desde allí hicimos la excursion al Volcan telica, son 24km ida y vuelta.

We stay 4 nights with this incredible family, we feel like at home. Ulises and his family love meet travelers and share experiences and moments with us. They love try new food and offer us food from here.
The place for sleep is incredible and quiet, but we sleept all the nights at the house with the family, expending all the time together. Very recommended! From here we did the walk to Telica volcano, it was 24km all.

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Please come here and support Ulice.Also with drop in tourists there's nobody else there.I hiked up from his house and back in 6hrs.It seems like no tourists come there these days.He's amazingly friend
ly and nobody seems to go there these days.I had the whole Volcano to myself!He will sort you out all year round.I arrived by bicycle pushing up the arroyo for 2.5hrs from the Pan american north side.Not recommended.Come in from Telica side.I didn't know It was an arroyo!.His camp was kinda closed up but actually he's open all year round but for just me and my bicycle he told me to camp at his restaurant where i got to meet the whole family.Very kind people.Volcano and amazing.He can provide food or snacks.All the info in the other post for 2019 is correct.Just stop by his house / pulpería first.

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Ulices started building a campground and at the moment offers:
Running water, potable
dry toilet
big Palapa
two small Palapas
Shade between the Eucalyptus trees
1 rustic simple cabaña

He is very excited to have tourists stay at his finca and stops by 2 times a day, everytime with a different family member of his to chat or see if you need something. Unfortunately the drop in tourists arrving since the protests 1.5 years ago demotibsted him to continue imptobing his csmp spot. He does also show you pictures and Videos of tourists he had hosted in the past.

He surprised us with Nacatamales and took us to Christo Rey stopping by his wife, then his brother and at the end his parents and at each of the stops we where offered typical food and drinks.

Ulices offers to take you in his Toyoya Hiace to close by tourist locations and does also offer to bring you back down by motorbike from the Telica volcano hike cutting of 2-2,5h of hiking time.

Agents from Leon drive up to the Telica parking lot with 4x4, passing his finca at about 15:00. From parking lot it is 35min up and 30min down. From the finca it takes 3,5h up and 3h down.

Best to start your hike from the finca at 13:30 to get to see the sunset up on the volcano or at 01:30 with more comfortable temperatures to experience sunrise.

On two spots leading up to the parking the road splits. Use maps.me to get them right.

In october at 5am on volcan Telica i did not need a jacket. Enough to bring shirt to change into dry not sweaty one.

At the beginning of our stay we offered him 150c$ per night for 2 persons and he said this is too much. A price was not agreed upon and after the two nights, all the food, transport and hospitality we did still hand him 150c$ per night.

We did not take up his offer to take us to the Hervidores de Jacinto and went by ourselves as it was on our route. Check iOverlander for the bad experience we had in Jacinto.

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This area is a great place near a village, in the middle of a forest. There are palapas, water, toilets. You could also play football with the inhabitants and kids.
Near the camp, you can walk in the forest, see palomas (bird), cows, horses,...
You can do a little trekking to the Telica volcano, ( one hour since the place a pick up leaves you ), you will see the crater smoking and a very nice sundown...
we spend tree nice days there with Ulice and his family and friends, we taste good foods like Nacatamales ( Nicaraguan speciality ) and delicious fruits taking on the trees.

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Very nice place to spend a good time with very friendly people. Ulysse and his family are so nice and helpful!
He organizes for you the walk to the volcano Telica, and you can eat at his Hacienda...

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We came to visit the vulcano and stayed longer because of the nice family and their great hospitality.
If you want to have a really nice experience of a local village family of Nicaragua you need to come here.
(you need to come to the restaurant)

To hike to the Vulcano from here is at least 3 hours (more than 8km). So if it's a really hot day it's probably the best to ask for a moto ride to the end of the street.
We didn't see lava, but much smoke.

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We stayed there for three nights, for free - in exchange of us giving him some visibility on iOverLander and else.
The road to get there is a 8km sandy road: no need for 4x4 but high clearance is recommended. Also, not sure what it looks like in the rainy season. If you don't have a car, Ulice has a colectivo and can get you at the airport or other places.

We felt very welcome, and enjoyed our stay in this very rural area. We even milked a cow.
There are bike and hiking trails. We went to the volcano Telica: the trail starts from the camping area, it's a 3h hike to the summit (3h for the way back). The volcano is active; they suggest to go there at sunset to see the lava at night, and they can come and get you in motorbike for the way back.

Ulice's friends and family are very nice. They want you to feel at home, offer some meals and cold drinks, offer to use their hammocks, try the fruits from their garden... The place is also very cute.

Overall a very good experience with this local family

Update: Ulice has just installed dry toilets

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Ulices Guido is running this place since sep 2018. Contact him via 89575522 or go to his restaurant, about 1500m from here to contact him. He is not on the campsite (See on iOverlander, El Primo Restaurant, close by)

It’s a nice place but very basic in rural area.
Shelter for hammocks, running water, tent field, space enough for big rigs.

100 Cordobas per person per night.

The place is along a dirt road which easily can be ridden with two wheel drive. Cyclists; be aware for some pushing instead of cycling.

We stayed two days and hiked to the crater of the Telica Volcano. Awesome place!!

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