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Published: February 14th 2006
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School Children in San Rafael del Norte
I had a blast with my camera in San Rafael del Norte. The children, of which there were many, would see my camera and loved to pose for photos then run over to see the picture. I have many photos of them. These girls wanted to show off their mochilas (backpacks)actually this is only one of many poses they had me photograph. The school children throughout Nicaragua wear the same uniforms to school, both public and private. Education is free if you can afford the uniform and school supplies, sadly many children are so poor they cannot, therefore they do not get educated. We met a man from the UK who has brought sewing machines over and started a coop teaching women to sew uniforms for the children who cannot afford them. The poverty in this country is very severe and so much help is needed. Hola Familia y Amigos,
We have been deep in the mountains of northern Nicaragua for the last week. Wow, what a great time we have had. We spent a few days in a small ranching and farming town called San Rafael del Norte. It is a very small town with a very grand cathedral. The church was beautiful inside with wonderful statuary and murals. It was quite impressive for a small town. Then above the town was another beautiful chapel and a retreat facility. The caretaker showed us around the grounds. The gardens were very lovely full of beautiful flowers, we saw our first fern tree here. The walk up the hill to the chapel was really something. You climb many steps visiting the stations of the cross on the way up. What a spectacular view of the town and the surrounding mountains as you climb. There are may pines growing all around. At the top is the chapel and the tomb of an Italian priest Father Odorico d'Andrea, who lived in the town from 1953 until his death in 1996. This priest must have touched the lives of many for in this town he has been elevated to
Terry Admires the Petroglyphs
We walked down a road out of the town of San Rafael to a popular swimming hole below the Recreativo Los Encuentros Restaurant which was closed for the day and found these great carvings in the rocks. A couple of boys found us down there and told us of the plans to build a small dam to enlarge the swimming hole. As we talked with the boys the owner of the restaurant found us and told us of his plans for the swimming hole. It turned out his cousin had carved the crocodiles last year and had plans for more carvings, but he passed away before he was finished. Orlando, the restaurant owner, and his daughter Elgin gave us a tour of their gardens, which were beautiful. We will look forward to returning to this spot again to see their progress and eat at their restaurant. He tells us that on the weekends people come from miles around to swim, eat, drink and dance, and with the new reservoir he is expecting even larger crowds. What a surprise in the middle of nowhere. Nicaragua is full of pleasant surprizes! Sainthood even if the church does not recognize him as a saint. You see his image everywhere in town. There is a big statue of him in the town park and also another at the entrance to the town. The town apparently has very strong faith. We stayed two nights in the town and walked the back roads into the countryside. The climate is much cooler in the highlands. We are definitely mountain people for we felt very grounded to be in the mountains as opposed to the beach.
After we left San Rafael we took a bus into Jinotega, a small city nestled deep in the mountains. We only spent a day in Jinotega as there is not much to see in the Town, aside from the church and the cemetary. We had planned on hiking the hills around town but it was quite cool, rainy and muddy so we moved onto our next designation, a really cool cloud forest preserve and coffee farm called Selva Negra. What a magical place this was. It is a wonderful example of a self sustaining community. I would highly recommend this place as a destination for a really special vacation. I
The Chapel at Selva Negra
Here is a photo of the enchanting chapel at Selva Negra. The chapel was built for the wedding of the owners daughter and is now rented out for weddings, etc. We felt as if we were in a fairytale at this place. Check them out at selvanegra.com. What a magical place don't even know where to begin to descibe how special this place is. The grounds are amazing, with many small chalets to stay in. They have accomodations for large groups, a beautiful small chapel built of stone and covered in orchids and other flowering plants. What an idyllic place for a wedding. This place would be wonderful for a honeymoon, and it is very reasonably priced. Check them out at selvanegra.com to read all about what they have created on this beautiful mountain. We stayed three nights hiking all the trails through the cloud forest and touring the farm. All the food they serve in their restaurant is grown on the farm. The buildings are all built in a german style and they serve really good german food. The saurkraut and sausages, all made at the farm, were absolutely FANTASTIC! The owners were really wonderful people and made everyone feel at home. Several large groups came through while we were there, church missionaries, students, and then a few of us solo travelers. They have accomodations for many people on this farm and you don't even notice there are so many in the area. What a place! We will definitely spend
Resident Geese at Selva Negra
This photo was taken from the door of our room at Selva Negra. Notice the Chalet across the way. One night while we were there a group of college kids stayed in this chalet, must have been twenty of them. Like I said this place can accomodate large groups easily. We saw several busloads of people come in in the few days we spent there. I am sure each person had a memorable experience here. more time in this area. The owner suggested that the mountains around him would make a great place to retire and stay young, we will be looking into that more. We spent three nights and ate three great meals each day with beer and wine, and only spent $300 on everything, food and lodging. Quite a bargain compared to prices in the States. The cloud forest was incredible, what a collection of plants, trees, orchids, ferns. We were in heaven for sure. We hated to leave.
But we moved on, and now we are in the lowlands in the city of Leon. A large city in the hottest spot in Nicaragua. We went from the coolest to the hottest, what were we thinking! But we had errands to take care of so the city seemed the best choice. Leon really is a nice city and very pedestrian friendly. There are many beautiful and ornate churches all within walking distance. They were all built in the 1700s and are real treasures. The colonial architecture in the city is quite lovely. We are staying in an old colonial hotel with a beautiful courtyard and really nice antique furniture. We will spend
Miles of Mums
Here is one of the few photos of myself, as I have been behind the wheel of the camera most of the time. They grow miles of mums at Selva Negra that they wholesale to flower shops in Managua. The restaurant always had fresh cut flowers adorning every table. They also grow many ornamental plants. The gardens on this farm were gorgeous and the roads were all lined with ornamental plants. What a labor of love. two nights in Leon and then head to the northern beaches of the Pacific next. Tonight, valentines day, there is a band playing at the gringo hostel, a Big Band from Germany, we will check that out for some fun. There are many volcanoes to visit from this town, but we have been hiking so much in the mountains we are not sure if we want to go climb a volcano right now. Maybe after a day of two on the beach we will feel up to it.
Well enough for now. We have been in pretty good health, I have been battling a cold, but otherwise we have been fine. The probiotics and herbs I brought along to stay well seem to be doing the trick for us. Hope you all are doing well and enjoying the winter. We have not been watching any television, other than football, so we have no idea what the weather has been at home or what kind of news has taken place in our absence. Can't say that we feel we have missed anything. We have one more month here, the time has really flown. We still have so much we want
Iglesia de la Recoleccion
One of many of the beautiful old (1700's) churches of Leon. A lot of colonial history in this city. to see, looks like we will run out of time. Darn that means we will need to return next winter to see the rest. Our Spanish is improving, we are going to go back to San Juan del Sur for one more week of school before we head over to the Atlantic Coast.
Until next time,
Love from Kathy and Terry
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Di
non-member comment
Awesom
It is a beautiful place you have shown us. Thanks for sharing your vacation with us, I wish I was there with you. Happy Valentines Day to you both. You seem to be in a great place for it. Love you, Di