Selva Negra

Selva Negra was AWESOME. And it was cold. I put on a long sleeve shirt and a jacket. I´m not kidding, it was blissful. The place we stayed is on a little lake on an organic coffee plantation. I got to go on a tour of the plantation, its pretty cool...all shade grown coffee. I had never seen coffee plants before. By far the best part was riding horses. Exhilerating. Helen (one of the participants) and I decided we wanted to give it a go, so we went down to the stables and got our horses. I assumed that the jefe of the horses was going to go with us...but after Helen and I got on the horses started to walk and we asked him if he was coming. No, he said, the horses know the way. So the horses started to walk and Helen and I were laughing or heads off and the fact that we were essentially just let loose on the plantation with NO idea where we were going. Then the horses stopped walking and wanted to eat grass. They walked a little farther and then just stopped in the middle of the road. Then we heard the blissfull clip clop of another horse, and there was the jefe, with another couple. Once the horses saw their master they shaped up and we went all around the plantation. I even galloped! Helen took pictures, so I will post them soon.

I would like you all to reflect on a very North American concept that I didn´t realize until yesterday. There was a breakfast buffet. (very exciting) so we got our little cards for the buffet and went up to start. Now, when I hear buffet to me that means all you can eat buffet. No issues in coming back various times. Not so. This buffet was a one time only kind of a deal. It´s a miracle we asked before filling up on stuff. But the BEST part about the buffet was that there were pancakes. Yes, pancakes. With syrup, Aunt Jamaima to be specific. It was a glorious breakfast.

On our way back to Masaya we stopped at an organic farm in Chawitillo (I´m sure that is a misspelling). We didn´t get to go see the farms because apparently it was too late in the day and the mosquitos were too bad. Don´t worry, I still got attacked. Anyway, they grow and sell their own fruits and vegetables, and we got to try some of their stuff. It was amazing. I bought a jar of Papaya jelly...it is awesome, I had it on toast this morning.

I was happy to get back to Masaya and rest, I was exhausted from the long trip and so much activity.