Sweating it out in paradise

I am here on Isla de Ometepe, in the hot hot humid air. it is absolutely gorgeus though. Huge island in the middle of a gigantic freshwater lake. I am staying at Finca Ecologica Zopilote, a big organic farm with tons of backpackers from all over the world staying there in bunks and cabanas and hammocks and tents. There is a lovely communal kitchen where we can make our own meals and shop that sells all sorts of farm products. Also, there is a big wood fired oven where they make bread every few days and pizza three times a week. I haven´t been here for a pizza night yet, but I´ve heard they are amazing and people from all over the island show up.

As part of staying ther I am doing a volunteer stint (20% off the cost of accomadations). So far it has been pretty cool. This morning we helped this older Italian guy make a new bed. It had already been all dug out, but the soil here is so rocky and harsh that they have to sift through it and then add compost and rice hulls and put it back in there to make a bed that grows a lot of things. It was really labor intensive (no wheel barrow, very small sifter), but we got it all done and it was super nice to be dirty and tired and getting calluses on my hand again. Plus a major feeling of accomplishment to have actually done something after so many days of being at farms but not actually part of them.

In any event, I think I will wrap this up because it is ungodly hot in this computer room and there are some Canadians here who offered to buy me a drink. 4 more days on the island and then back to Chontales.

Report from the rainforest

Well I´m actually down in the valley at the moment, but heading back up to new mountains soon. During my absence I moved from Selva Negra to Finca Esperanze Verde, where there was no internet, so I will try and catch things up quickly. Esperanza Verde is another coffee farm, but farm more remote and much more Rainforest, less farmstead. It is owned by a Sister City organization between San Ramon, Nicaragua and Durham/Raleigh, NC. With a more remote location came less english skills in the staff (and the tour guide on the coffee tour) and fewer guests. In fact, I had the entire place to myself last night and only shared the lodge with one other family the two nights previous. Nothing like paying Youth Hostel prices and having the entire bunk house to oneself.

On the coffee tour there I got to pick some of the coffee and then they put it through the wet mill (thats the first part of the coffee process). Picking coffee is way hard, let me tell you. And yesterday afternoon I spent a lot of the day watching them sort through the beans, taking out anyones that are a little small or a little burnt, etc.... I thought it was hard and time consuming to sort my culinary beans, that is nothing compared to this high quality coffee process. The hardest part of the coffee picking is that the trees actually get pretty tall, and so you have to bend the whole bush over to get the beans at the top.

What else what else...I also saw a sloth! And some birdies! But here´s a confession of my one major vacation snafu so far: I forgot to bring my binoculars. I know, really dumb. Don´t tell Hutch (my Natural History Prof, for those not in the know).

Also, there is a butterfly house and butterfly breeding program at Finca Esperanza Verde and it is pretty. (I mean, what else can you say about butterflies?) The youth hostel is right next to it and so I pretty much just went and looked in it all the time. There was also a waterfall and you could swim in it! It was mostly too cold for swimming, but if you hiked a whole bunch in the hottest part of the day and then went straight there it was totally refreshing.

After this and picking up some food I will be headed out to Finca Lindos Ojos in the Miraflor Nature Reserve, which is going to involve some serious buses.

The buses! I haven´t told you yet about the buses! So you remember that Blue Bird school bus you rode in 7th grade? Well now it is pimped out and being used for the Matagalpa to Esteli bus route. From what I gathered this is the list of priorities when converting an old school bus into is 1) Add a bitching sound system, 2) Add bumper stickers that say "God has blessed this bus", 3) Add luggage racks and bars for standing room passengers inside, 4) Paint route name and Jesus/Mary on the back, 5) Paint route name and flames on the front or 5)b) Paint route name on front and paint whole bus in bright awesome colors 6) Add more bumper stickers inside proclaiming that God is looking out for the bus and passengers, 7) Add novelty horn.

Anyhow, now for that food and bus. Hasta Luego!

La Laguna and Coffee Land

So I didn't get to Montana Selva Negra yesterday like I said I would, instead I followed Colin to a cute Cabana on La Laguna (huge volcano crater filled with clear fresh water and surrounded by peaceful forest) which was FILLED with other Peace Corp folks. After a day of swimming, chilling in hammocks, watching The Office (I know I know, but these Peace Corp folks don't get to have a TV and DVD player that often) and grilling delicious eats though, it was time to move on and finally get separated from my fab translator and guide (thanks Colin!) to do some solo traveling.

Thus far I have had fantastic luck with getting on and off all the right busses at all the right times, and thus have made it to a world full of coffee, organic veggies, German Chalets (go figure), monkeys, birds, and other fab cloud forest stuff. Having only been here for a couple daylight hours I can't report much yet, except that the food is delicious and clearly very German inspired (I'm going to get fat if I stay here too long).

More to come tomorrow after I do my farm tour and wander the lovely hiking trails.