Travel Tips

We had arranged for breakfast to be delivered to the room, we needed to start the day off on the right note. Marc and Sam went for a swim and to get some info to help us decide where the heck we would go next. We decided to get a taxi to central Managua and then get a bus form there to Matagalpa and either stay there or get a taxi to Selva Negra. The taxi driver said he would take us to Matagalpa for $80. We decided to just go for it. We were too gatvol to think about the cost. We did make a deal that he would take us to Selva Negra though.

It was a fairly long drive, about 2 hours. We passed the buses on the way and decided the $80 was worth it as they were very crowded and with our bags it would have been a nightmare. Plus we would get there much quicker, we were a little worried as we had no reservation (yes I am trying to justify throwing the cash around). The drive was stunning, we saw lots of cowboys along the way, real ones with hats and lasoos and ornate saddles. The scenery was very much like South Africa, lots of mountains and very dry. Matagalpa is a very ugly town its only redeeming feature is a beautiful church. I was holding thumbs that we would get a room at Selva Negra as I didn’t want to have to stay in Matagalpa.

We wound our way up into the mountains and the temperature cooled considerably. Once we reached Selva Negra, after almost sliding back down the steep hill, we managed to get a room for $35 that actually sleeps 5; a double bed downstairs and three little beds (a la goldilocks) upstairs.
Selva Negra (Black forest / Schwartzwald) is a huge coffee plantation that was started by a group of Germans that were invited by the Nicaraguans to start coffee growing back in the 1880’s. There are the apartments where we are staying as well as more expensive chalets dotted around the property all in the German style of architecture, you would hardly believe you were in Nicaragua. You need to have a basic knowledge of Spanish as there is not a soul that can speak a word of English. It was a challenge in my terrible Spanish but good fun and at least I make the locals laugh.

Our driver offered to come and collect us after our trip and take us to Granada, its not cheap at USD130, but much easier and quicker than the bus. We got his mobile number so we shall see.

We had lunch at the restaurant overlooking the lake, luckily we cuold charge all meals to our room so we can pay for everything at the end. We have battled to change much into local currency as there are not many places to do it, lickily we brought quite a lot of USD cash. There is also a lovely kids playground so Sam was there like a shot and made new friends.
After lunch we took a walk to the stables, arouns the lake and up to the church. The church is absolutely gorgeous, covered in creepers and plants all over the roof as well. Tomorrow we will go on a tour of the plantation and we got a map of the trails so after that we will do a few walks.

We all had a bad nights sleep. Sam and I slept on the winky double bed downstairs and Marc slept in one of the rock hard little beds.

We had a really good breakfast and then went on the tour del café y finca. It was all in Spanish but it was nice to get to see the farm which is beautiful.
We thn went back and Sam played in the playground and we went on the swings. There are swings hanging from all the trees around the hotel area.

After an excellent Goulash soup for lunch we went walking. We pretty much did the same route as the tour but this time we could look around more. It was raining a bit but not too bad, the scenery is so lush and beautiful up here.

Another night of trying to sleep comfortably. I tried the little beds and was so stiff in the morning I could hardly move. I got into the wonky bed with Sam in the early hours.
We had a lazy breakfast, it was raining so we couldnt do anything anyway. We got a lady to phone the taxi driver for us and get him to collect us tomorrow morning. I am so proud of myself I managed to do it all in Spanish, was understood and I understood the response. Spanish seems to be a very easy language to learn I understand most of what people sy but I just dont have the vocab to have a conversation. It helps that there is no-one here that speaks english so you have to try.

The rain stopped so we took Sam on a horse and just walked her around to the lake and up to the chapel a couple of times. It was only USD2 for half an hour and she loved it.
We felt guilty about not going walking but it kept raining on and off so we just relaxed and didn’t do much.

We had Filet Mignon estilo Frances (in the French style) and it was out of this world. In general food here at Selva Negra is expensive but cheap by western standards, the steak was under USD10 and I have never had better.