Estelí in northern Nicaragua is a great place to wander around if you are interested in murals and street art. Although I’d done a fair bit of wandering by myself, I decided to do the mural tour offered by Treehuggers on my last morning in the town. Juan (from the cigar tour) was my guide […]
Mural tour – Estelí Read More »
One of the key things I wanted to do while in Estelí was visit Don Alberto Gutiérrez, a bit of a recluse who has spent the last 40 years carving all sorts of designs into the stones on his farm in the Tisey-Estanzuela Nature Reserve just outside of town. Once again, I arranged a day trip through Treehuggers, and
Stone Carver of Estelí – Don Alberto Read More »
One of Estelí’s claims to fame is that it is the largest cigar producer outside of Cuba. Cigar manufacturing is the biggest employer in the region and the surroundings are filled with tobacco plantations and really cool looking drying and fermenting sheds that are absolutely enormous! So, when I found myself with a free
Nicaraguan Cigars – Estelí Read More »
One of the really quirky things about Nicaraguan towns is the direction you are often given to find things you are looking for, like a restaurant you’ve heard about and want to eat at. Although most of the larger towns have proper street names like 1 Avenida NE (1st avenue north-east) and 3 Calle SW (1st street SW) of a
Street directions in Nicaraguan towns Read More »
Along with going to the cinema, another of the things I love to do when travelling is to experience different massages. Last time I was in Nicaragua, I had one of the weirdest massages ever. The pummeling that usually heralds the end of a massage – well that was the entire massage. For an
Massage in Nicaragua Read More »
One of the really cool things to do in Matagalpa is visit the local chocolate factory (“El Castillo del Cacao” – “The Castle of Cacao”) on the outskirts of town. I actually did this independently (ie not on an organised tour) when I was here in 2013 (hence why this post is a little vaguer than
El Castillo del Cacao – Matagalpa Read More »
I am so thoroughly addicted to “Club Social” biscuits here in Nicaragua (a fairly plain cracker) and turns out they make an excellent substitute to bread when one needs a very early breakfast (ham, cheese and tomato “sandwich”) before heading out for the day’s activities. The early start was to catch the bus from Estelí
Somoto Canyon Adventure Read More »
Another thing I love to do while travelling is try the local dishes of the country I’m visiting. Nicaragua has quite a few of these (and I’ve tried almost all of them) but the specialty of Matagalpa in the northern highlands is the Güirila. There are several places to buy Güirilas, including some restaurants, but most people simply
Güirila – typical food of Matagalpa Read More »
One of the new activities offered by the Finca Esperanza Verde since I was there last time was the opportunity to do a jewelry making workshop with Las Mujeres del Plomo – a women’s collective in the nearby community of El Plomo. Those of you who know me know that I love jewelry, and my
Jewelry Making – Finca Esperanza Verde Read More »
The Finca Esperanza Verde is actually a working organic coffee farm and this time around I arrived right at the end of the flowering season. Each of those little green nodules that are left once the flower has finished will turn into a coffee bean. The last time I was here, I did the coffee processing
Coffee processing – Finca Esperanza Verde Read More »
