‘This is Nicaragua’ he said, ‘The bus driver probably didn’t feel like coming past today’. We were patiently waiting for the bus to pass by the Rancho to take us back to Chinandega. The same bus we had seem come into the village a while ago, where it’s supposed to wait a while then turn around and come back past. But apparently it wasn’t coming back today. I was heading north to the town of Matagalpa, set in the highlands of coffee and cigar production. This involved three buses and a day of travel as per usual. Today half of the hostel was attempting to leave town. The owner offered to drop us all at the highway intersection but was concerned no buses would pass there either. Not really having an alternative, we all piled into his pickup, me in the front holding one child, the baby on his lap helping to drive and the back full with a group of Dutch lads.

I’ve never been so glad to have other people to travel with as that day! Nine of us waited on the side of the road with some local women who were also trying to hitch a ride. Below – our saviour :

Eventually a truck stopped – we shared it with some bags of huge fish, heads poking out, and an old man with no teeth and a machete almost as big as him. This is local transport in Nicaragua! 

Below : spot the machete…

We stopped to let people off when they banged on the side of the truck and squeeze in more people – this was hands down the most fun journey of the trip so far! 

Below : my bag sitting tight.

We went our separate ways in Chinandega and Anja and I eventually made it to Matagalpa – by coincidence we had booked into the same hostel. I passed some time chatting to an old man about The Beatles – they are extremely popular in Nicaragua and the main conversation striker followed by, believe it or not, Brexit. This is because music was an integral part of the Revolution and the Beatles were smack in the middle of it. They didn’t understand the lyrics but they didn’t need to. I’m very proud of holding a conversation about Brexit with an old man in Spanish! Below is one of the many bus stations of the day.

Matagalpa is a beautiful working city, surrounded by rolling hills and coffee and tobacco fields. Hardly any tourists to be seen, it felt like a ‘real’ town. 

It’s also the birthplace of Carlos Fonseca, one of the key Sandinistas (“the intellectual one”). There are murials and tributes all over town including the police station:

Anja and I decided to do our own thing instead of the organised tours, preferring to seek out a real Nicaraguan coffee farm rather than a large scale foreign production (such as the German owned Selva Negra). We set off instead for the nearby town of San Ramón.

Not before making a stop at the Castillo de Chocolate where they make the famous chocolate that I’ve tasted all over Nicaragua. Unbelievably there are only three women who make the chocolate, all by hand. Including cutting the silver wrappers and glueing on the ingredients list.

The bus to San Ramón was the friendliest yet, maybe because it’s off the beaten track. We were looking for a tourism office to arrange a visit to a coffee farm. Then commenced an afternoon of finding various people in various locations like a treasure hunt…

San Ramón is a lovely little town, a main streets, some small shops and a square around the church. 

We asked a security guard for directions, who took us to a man’s house who would apparently know. He did – we found the office but Darling, the  woman who runs things, was apparently in the cafe down the road. Where we had just had lunch. 

Back we went and asked for Darling. Nope, they young boy said, she’s gone out for a few hours. Luckily with Spanish we could communicate our intention and he made a phone call. Apparently we needed to go to ‘La Reyna’, where there was an old gold mine. There a lady called Elizabeth would be waiting for us…

We hopped on the next bus not really knowing where we were going – it turns out La Reyna is a cooperative community, with several families growing coffee and frijoles (beans). They also host visitors overnight. It’s a wonderful way to provide sustainable income in the community. 

We walked along a dirt track wondering how we were going to find Elizabeth but magically a rickety wooden sign ‘information’ appeared pointing to a house on the hillside. And there was Elizabeth:

And Elizabeth was lovely! She explained how the cooperative works and organised for a young girl Bettina to come and take us on a walk up the mountain, around the coffee plantations and show us the process even though it’s not coffee season – all this and she’d get us back in time for the one and only bus back!

The land here is beautiful. We went to an old couple’s home and helped to roast the beans over a fire and then grind them – harder than it looks! We even got to enjoy our hard work with a fresh brew, with the chickens and dogs.

This was one of the best days I’ve had here in central America. When you make an effort to get off the tourist trail you are rewarded with authentic experiences and genuine people 😀