How to Organize a Trip to Indio Maíz, Nicaragua

Venturing deep into the mysterious jungle of Indio Maíz with a Rama Indian guide was the highlight of Nicaraguan adventures. We spent a night in a traditional Rama house and learned more about their traditions, hiked to the sacred stone pyramids of Canta Gallo, and fell in love with the wilderness of those inhabited lands. Since we get frequent inquiries on the subject, we decided to share our tips for organizing a guided tour to Indio Maiz jungle and Canta Gallo.

This article has been updated in March 2024: after all years, we’re still in frequent contact with our Rama Indian guides Salomon and his son Norvin Salomon, who nowadays organises the Rama tours. We also get regular feedback from our readers who have visited Indio Maiz recently to keep information up to date. 

How to Book a Tour and Guide to Indio Maíz Jungle

You can either organize the Indio Maíz tour beforehand or when you arrive in San Juan de Nicaragua. Either way, don’t compromise: approve only a Rama Indian as your guide. That way you’ll be fully immersed in their unique culture and traditions, and also support the local Rama community. If you are interested, they’ll show you the ropes of catching delicious river crabs and cooking them on the open stove or showcase the healing powers of plants. You’ll be sleeping in a real Rama Indian home instead of a tent, which the commercial companies usually use. Also, all the profits will go to the community and the Rama Indians get well needed job opportunities.

Guides are obligatory in Indio Maiz since you are entering Rama territory through several military posts. The other guides can take you there, but only Rama can guide you to the Canta Gallo pyramids. All Rama speak Creole English, so you don’t necessarily need to speak or understand Spanish.

Due to the lack of online information, we didn’t have the option to book our Indio Maiz visit beforehand. But since we’ve done it, there’s that chance for you! We recommend taking the trip with Norvin Salomon, who was co-guiding us with his father, Salomon. I won’t publish his phone number here, but you can request it by commenting below or emailing us.

It’s also possible to negotiate your Indio Maíz trip at the spot: ask from your hospedaje or walk to the Rama settlement at the outskirts of Greytown and settle a deal with one of the Rama guides. Usually there’s someone available to take you to the Indio Maiz even on the next day.

How Many Days You’ll Need for Indio Maíz Tour? (from San Juan De Nicagarua)

On a one night (two day) Indio Maíz trip you’ll see a lot: the lifestyle of the Rama, pristine jungle and wildlife, and the sacred Rama Indian site of Canta Gallo. The boat trip to Canta Gallo from San Juan de Nicaragua is long, so it’s not recommendable to pack everything in just one day (you can opt for paying more for a faster boat, which cuts the journey into 4 hours, but in my opinion one-day trip results too shallow experience).

If you are okay with staying several nights in a very basic Rama Indian house, I’d recommend expanding the adventure (tip: bring your own hammock!). Then you could either reach further than Canta Gallo or do the same as we did, but at a more tranquil pace. Usually, two nights’ trip to Indio Maíz consists of one night near Canta Gallo and the other night at the edge of the Rama territory on your way back. You can adjust the deal to your likings with your Rama guide.

If you decide to go with someone else than Norvin or Salomon, insist on venturing further than the former village of Makenge, nowadays called “the Holy Land”. That’s the biggest Rama settlement in Indio Maíz, where almost all guides take the tourists, so there might be other groups at the same time. It’s a nice to explore the “Holy Land” but personally, I wouldn’t stay there, if I had only one or two nights in the Indio Maíz. Being a village, it might be too “civilized”, if you’re looking for an adventurous night in the jungle, like us.

The boat trip to Canta Gallo takes approximately 8 hours with a traditional motor boat. We saw the first Rama house after sailing for two hours and the second one 30 minutes later (the house of Esmeralda, which Norvin and Salomon sometimes use for the last nights’ stay in longer trips).

A trip from San Juan de Nicaragua to “the Holy Land” (former Makenge) took about 6 hours. All times vary due to the weather, currents, and your choice of boat.

How Much to Pay For the Indio Maiz Trip? (From San Juan de Nicaragua)

Prices for Indio Maíz trips are rather steep, even when booked with local Rama guides at the spot in San Juan Del Norte/San Juan de Nicaragua/Greytown. We paid 200$ for 2 of us (for two nights) but that was already years ago. Even then the quoted price for 2 persons was around 400$. We bargained the deal at the spot: Salomon was our “random guide” that we found through our hospedaje and the Rama settlement.

Please note that the guide needs to rent a boat, buy gasoline (which is expensive), buy food and water for you, and pay for the Rama homes where you’re staying, etc.

Our guides, Salomon and Norvin, also seemed to support generously all the Rama people we met, which felt really good. We felt like making a real difference, although we paid much less than through commercial companies. After seeing several other guides in San Juan de Nicaragua, I would still go with Salomon and/or Norvin Salomon (his son).

Of course, you can always try to bargain. But lower price means slower boat, meals consisting mostly of rice and plantains and other tweaks – and less support to the Rama Indian community. Anyway, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the Indio Maiz trip in any form!

Tips for Starting and Ending the Indio Maíz Trip in San Juan de Nicaragua / San Juan Del Norte

Either fly to San Juan de Nicaragua (Greytown) or take a river boat from San Carlos.

You’ll need one night in San Juan de Nicaragua/Greytown before and after the Indio Maíz trip. Check out how the boat or flight timetable allows that. We needed to stay longer. There are enough sights to keep you entertained for one or even two days (blue lagoon, manatees, four intriguing graveyards) but accommodation options are rather basic.

There aren’t any ATMs (or banks, or posts) in Greytown / San Juan Del Norte. And there are just a couple modest shops selling basic snacks and drinks: if you’d fancy something special, take it with you from Managua or San Carlos.

The flight is really scenic but the airport is a boat trip away from the town, so you’d need to organize a boat transfer. We had booked a transfer through our hospedaje, but still ended up waiting there for an hour before we got a lift from the airport personnel (our prebooked boat never arrived).

From San Juan de Nicaragua / San Juan Del Norte we took a river boat down Rio San Juan to the charming little town of El Castillo. The next day we sailed to San Carlos and took a ferry to the island of Ometepe. Check out our 4-week itinerary into the heart of Nicaragua!

Would you dare to take this kind of jungle trip to Indio Maíz and the pyramids of Canta Gallo?