From humid jungle lakes, to cold and damp cloud forests, we were headed north into the highlands of Nicaragua. Matagalpa is cool, green and perfect for growing coffee. We chose a hostel that was a little out of town, called Hostal Ulap Yasica, which offered clean beds and a very nice surprise. Hot water. Real hot water, like the kind you would find in any Canadian or Australian home. It was the first real hot shower we had found since Mexico, and it was like heaven.
First and foremost on our itinerary in Matagalpa was coffee. We took a tour to a local coffee finca where we met one of the farmers 5 daughters, and were shown the process of coffee farming from seedling to roasting coffee beans. The farmer explained that coffee was graded and sold in three categories: first and second grade coffee were sold to coffee shops and cafes while third grade was sold to Nescafé, to create the gastronomic delicacy we all know as instant coffee. We also learned that coffee beans are flavoured by the plants have as neighbours. Plant coffee trees near citrus and you will get citrus accented coffee beans. Plant coffee near cacao and you get chocolate. One large North American coffee chain (you know who…) doesn't care about the beans natural flavor, as they add their own flavours during the roasting process.
For more in-depth information, the Coffee Museum was also worth a visit. It provided information so detailed you could start your won coffee farm, but also gave a nice overview of the history of coffee in Nicaragua.
First and foremost on our itinerary in Matagalpa was coffee. We took a tour to a local coffee finca where we met one of the farmers 5 daughters, and were shown the process of coffee farming from seedling to roasting coffee beans. The farmer explained that coffee was graded and sold in three categories: first and second grade coffee were sold to coffee shops and cafes while third grade was sold to Nescafé, to create the gastronomic delicacy we all know as instant coffee. We also learned that coffee beans are flavoured by the plants have as neighbours. Plant coffee trees near citrus and you will get citrus accented coffee beans. Plant coffee near cacao and you get chocolate. One large North American coffee chain (you know who…) doesn't care about the beans natural flavor, as they add their own flavours during the roasting process.
For more in-depth information, the Coffee Museum was also worth a visit. It provided information so detailed you could start your won coffee farm, but also gave a nice overview of the history of coffee in Nicaragua.
Once our coffee education was complete it was time to learn about chocolate. El Castillo del Cacao is a tiny chocolate making factory that produces high quality chocolate from local cacao. Think Willy Wonka’s Chocolate factory, but smaller. Much smaller. There were two staff members on shift (much to our disappointment, they weren’t Oompa Loompas) who made a batch of chocolate bars from start to finish, including wrapping the finished product and sticking their labels on with glue sticks. It was a low key production, but very informative and well worth the visit (Especially the Spanish hot chocolate and samples at the end of the tour).
Reserva Natural Macizos de Peñas Blancas was "possibly the most enchanting nature reserve in Northern Nicaragua, boasting mossy, misty, life-altering primary cloud forest". Or so the Lonely Plant told us. In fact, we got lost and never found the place. Instead, we spent 6 hours driving up and down bumpy dirt roads. To be honest, we should have learned our lesson by now.
1. If all the locals look at you like you are from Mars, it probably means they don’t often see tourists, and you are going the wrong way.
2. If you do find you self lost in Central America, don’t bother asking for directions. Locals don’t want to be rude to you (you are a guest in their country), so even when they don’t know the location of the place you are asking for, they will point you in ANY direction, just to be polite.
Reserva Natural Macizos de Peñas Blancas was "possibly the most enchanting nature reserve in Northern Nicaragua, boasting mossy, misty, life-altering primary cloud forest". Or so the Lonely Plant told us. In fact, we got lost and never found the place. Instead, we spent 6 hours driving up and down bumpy dirt roads. To be honest, we should have learned our lesson by now.
1. If all the locals look at you like you are from Mars, it probably means they don’t often see tourists, and you are going the wrong way.
2. If you do find you self lost in Central America, don’t bother asking for directions. Locals don’t want to be rude to you (you are a guest in their country), so even when they don’t know the location of the place you are asking for, they will point you in ANY direction, just to be polite.