I had been warned that the country slows down for Holy Week and that Thursday and Friday are particularly slow. On the advice of La Selva Negra staff, I took a taxi to Matagalpa (rather the the bus) . I planned to take the bus from Matagalpa to Estelí. However, all the buses had stopped running. I hired the driver to take us to Estilí. On the way, I saw tons and tons of coffee in bags waiting to be exported. I also saw an entire valley of rice.

In Estelí, I could only find one open restaurant. Everyone was in the Cathedral. On Friday, there was a procession . On corner of main street, there were sawdust pictorials portraying the stations of the cross . The priests led  a procession of about 1,000 people. A brass band played music. At each block, the priest prayed and reflected on the particular station of the cross. After the procession passed, the sawdust picture was destroyed.

I visited a 36 meter waterfall, Salto Estanzuela. It is a popular spot full of picnicking locals. I hitched a ride with the local Minister of Health–he was appropriately checking the water for disease. I also visited the Galería de Héroes y Mártires that tells the story of the revolution and the Sandinistas. The displays are simple but moving–photos and articles of clothing of slain revolutionaries. The faces reminded me of my college classmates. They had the same shirts, hairstyles and youthful enthusiasm. The Nicaraguan revolution is generally recognized as a true Central American revolution–a popular uprising of the people against a brutal dictator. The part of the story that has me wondering is the role of the United States. America supported the dictator, Somoza. Estelí is famous because Somoza and his Guardia Nacional made their last stand here–and lost. The Sandinistas seized the city and Somoza fled the country.

I stayed at a good hotel, El Moderno. It was not especially modern, but the people were friendly and the rooms simple and clean.

La Selva Negra is a coffee plantation settled by German immigrants in the nineteenth century. The area reminded them of the Black Forest in their homeland. It now has a hotel, restaurant and resort accommodations. It is high in the mountains and encased in clouds. At 65 degrees, I felt chilly after living for weeks at 85 to 95 degrees. It rains on and off and admittedly, I feel somewhat homesick for Oregon.

The farm is very large and is divided into the coffee plantation, the farm and guest quarters, and the natural area. The coffee is good and marketed in the U.S. by General Foods as La Selva Negra. The farm is organic and recycles virtually everything. Millions of worms in the worm farm chew up the husks from the coffee beans into rich humus fertilizer. Methane from the treatment plant is used for heat and cooking.

The natural area is like a park with trails into the hills and cloud forest. In the upper reaches, I saw quetzales, toucan and monkeys.

I took a taxi to Moyagalpa on the north end of the Island of Ometepe, took a ferry to San Jorge, a taxi to Rivas, a local bus to the capitol, Managua, and an express bus to Matagalpa. Matagalpa is about 2,000 feet in altitude and considerably cooler than the coast. The town is nestled in the mountains and is a center for coffee shipments.

I stayed in the Hotel Alvarado. My hosts are very friendly. The family is a family of physicians. Both Noe Garcia and his wife are physicians as well as a father, mother, aunt, uncle, son and grandson. There is variability in the rooms; we got the one under construction.

I took a ferry from Granda to the Isla de Ometepe. The ferry left almost two hours late and took about four hours to reach the Island. The ferry continues for another eight hours south to Solentiname, indicating just how large the lake is (177 km long, 58 km wide). I arrived in the dark and took a “taxi” to the hotel. We had to stop once to fix the battery. The “road” is a rocky track. I could see one volcano silhouetted in the moonlight.

In the morning I could see the Island, really there are two islands formed by two volcanoes and connected by an Isthmus. While one volcano is dormant and somewhat worn, the other is active and sent up a plume of smoke several months ago. The island is the simple life: families tend small plots of  land with chickens and pigs. Mango, papaya, plantain and other fruits and vegetables grow in abundance. Fish from the lake are widely available.

I kayaked the river connecting the two islands, hiked a trail half way up the dormant volcano and visited two coffee farms. I swam in the lake; the sand on the beach is fine and black in color. I climbed the volcano to a point called the Mirador. It has a wonderful 270 degree view of the islands, volcanoes, isthmus and distant island and shores. On the way down the volcano, I saw some howler monkeys. The dominant male was making his monkey noises. I mimicked him and to my surprise, he answered me.

I stayed in El Encanto and ate most meals there; Jose and Helena are wonderful hosts. Overall the Island experience is very peaceful. I am sad to leave. I think continuing south on the ferry and going down the Rio San Juan would be good.

They have good Internet access and the operating system supports AJAX, so I could access the website I needed. It was fun to walk around and look at the old buildings and churches.