Northern Nicaragua (2/21/11-2/24)

Selva Negra

north of Managua, dry and windy

I think I drove on pins and needles for the first hour heading north out of Managua hoping there would be no asshole cops pulling me over, but I never saw any. And it cost me $82 for 18 gallons of gas today. $4.55 a gallon. Thankyou, Libya. Another reason to travel now. It should only get worse over the years, right?


at Selva Negra

Only when I got close to the town of Matagalpa did things turn greener as the road climbed in elevation. It went from the high 80's in Managua to the high 60's at Selva Negra. Settled by Germans in the 1880's, it means Black Forest, and it's a combination of coffee finca and private rainforest reserve. This is another spot that birders like to visit. I took a short hike on a couple of the trails and all I saw was one howler monkey. This is a relaxing location built in an old world style and it's good for a couple of nights even if you aren't a birder. They wouldn't let me camp, however.

La Bastilla


my deck tent

Further up into the rainforest is another finca called La Bastilla. They recently opened a small ecolodge on their property that I read about in the brochure given to me several months ago by Roberto in Alegria, El Salvador. It takes awhile to get from the town of Jinoteca over dirt road ,with the final 3 miles being very slow as I bounce along up into the rainforest here. I'm greeted by 4 young students who are taking their turn working at the ecolodge. This is part of a program of combining the finca with a college and several businesses to give the local people a higher education and bring more economic growth to the area. Much more info on their website http://www.bastillacoffee.com/ .


with Kaiyote at La Bastilla

This area is quite steep and there is no place for me to camp, but you can get either a very nice room (it's all brand new) or one of the deck tents that I took for $20. The little room to the right in the picture is my private bathroom with a solar hot-water shower. It was fun and comfortable to sleep there. The cot that normally goes in the tent was too short so they grabbed a mattress off one of the beds, which was even better. This being a Tuesday, I was at first the only guest. After a short time another American walked up the driveway. This was the same woman who had rented the room next to me at Selva Negra. We hadn't met there, but it turns out she's from Estes Park, Colorado and her name is Kaiyote. She has a guiding and birding business back home and she's in Nicaragua to see birds. So I find myself in a another birding area, but I only saw a few. I don't have the patience for it.


workers sorting out the best beans

We're not the only ones here as it's harvest season for the coffee beans and I later find out there are upwards of 100 people wandering around picking beans. They grow the plants under the canopy so you often hear them without seeing them. I was inspired to take another coffee tour and since this is a fairly large operation much more of it is automated. No drying in the sun here, they use hot air in large holding tanks. But it's organic rainforest coffee so I bought some whole beans to throw in the 'frig for when I get back to Colorado. La Bastilla is a unique experience and worth a couple of nights if you can find it.


San Juan de Limay


follow the statue trail to Limay

On my way through Costa Rica I decided to buy a native craft from each country and I read in Footprint about this town way out in the country west of Esteli that makes soapstone carvings. This was the world's longest drive to buy what amounted to two little carvings that cost me less than $6. The 50 miles of dirt road to and from the town took 4 hours. You can buy these in most towns, but I just had to go to the source.

my $6 of treasure

Once on the paved road from Jinoteca north and west down to Esteli the land goes from rainforest to dry, rocky, hilly and hardscrabble. A few miles north of Esteli on the PanAm is a large fat budda woman statue. This is the turnoff "sign" to Limay, and there are ocassional statues just like it along the road to beckon you forth.



the folks who sold me my treasure

When I made it into town I had to ask around where I could find any homes where people made any smaller statues that I could take with me. I was led to one home by the son of a man who makes them. He saw me wandering around and he and his mom showed me their collection. The fat budda woman is very traditional and you can see these throughout Nicaragua. The other one I bought is obviously more modern.

road bad, view good

I was in and out of there in 30 minutes as it was getting late and I needed to get up to Somoto near the border so I could cross the next day. The drive north and east towards the Pan Am was even slower than the drive in with many washed out areas. People looked at me like I was from the moon. A gringo? Here? WTF? 



my 24 days in Nicaragua
click to enlarge

In Somoto I scored a sweet $12 room at the Hotel Panamerica that was halfway comfortable and clean with warm water. I've seen worse. I had a cheap chicken dinner at a restaurant in town and spoke with a woman from Quebec for awhile. She volunteers her time as a psychologist. I always wonder if they're trying to read me. Somoto is a nice little town that has a canyon nearby that people come in to hike. My goal was the border into Honduras.