cooling down in the miraflor mountains

So our Cali roomies had planned a wicked house trip this weekend to a new beach spot to get their surf and our swim on.... however Friday morning we awoke with devastating news about the quake and tsunami in Japan...... which provoked a Pacific coast wide tsunami alert. Thus after being glued to the news all morning we learned that all beaches and volcanoes in Nicaragua were closed and so decided the safer move was to head instead to the northern mountains. And were we ever glad we did.

Road trip! In our shuttle service.

Esteli is an old fashioned cowboy town, quite different from the colonial grandeur of Leon or Granada. It's famous for cowboy boots, cigars, coffee and karaoke! Haha, or so we hear. We only did a sleep over there for the 1st night before heading to the real destination: Miraflor (a nature reserve). However, in our time there, we accomplished the most extensive breakfast odyssey of 2011 yet. It took 4 tries before finding a place that was open when it was supposed to be, that was not remodeling, and that had not run out of breakfast by 9:35 am. Success is a dish best served hot!

Esteli street above and cathedral below!

The journey from Esteli to Miraflor consisted of an hour and a half bus ride on a dirt road passing tobacco farms and trekking through a desert landscape of agave cacti, rocks, and ghost trees with Spanish moss hanging from them. We began to wonder if we would really find a magical cloud forest reserve after all. But sure enough as we heard the final pull on the bus horn (which sounded identical to a train) and the driver raced us down the hill at top speed shouting "Las palmas!" which signaled our departure, off we stepped into a quite different, completely stunning world.

We arrived at our charming family farm called Posada la Sonada where we paid 20 bucks a person for lodging and 3 meals - the most delicious and healthiest option of food here yet. Lunch was a vegetable galore plate with avocados, cukes, tomatoes, carrots, green beans, butternut squash, and hard boiled eggs served with a side of chayote, refried beans, rice, and optional meat. Dinner entailed spaghetti and a veggie or chicken taco. Breakfast was omelets, gallo pinto, avocado and tomato, and watermelon and pineapple!

The food was so amazing Matt, Emily, and Andy became one with it.

(see the 3 headed figure above)

The family kitchen and dining area

Perhaps the most vied room was the one and only tree house.

And yes, girls are allowed!

What an unbelievable feat that we caught this rare animal on film!

After eating we went birding and to check out the nature around us. We didn't see any birds but heard a ton singing down at us from their high perches. What we did find was a really cool mirador (look out point) as well as ginormous tree that you can climb up the inside of to the top. Apparently foxes make it their shelter at night.

exploring the family's forest grounds

elephant ear's elephantitus

The breath taking look out point.

the tree

Antonio attempting the inner climb!

So after not really sleeping all night due to the noise of rain beating down on a tin roof, we woke up to the mysterious world of fog. Amazing! Also, these are really unicorns, you just can't see the horn with their heads down.

So this is why they think the easter bunny lays eggs!!!!

There are some egrets really far back there on the top of the tree.... double click to see the 3 white dots (and all other cool photos enlarged).

Day two... woke up in the morning and made our 2nd attempt at birding. This time we were luckier, although we still missed out on the infamous toucan and quetzal. Perhaps hiring a guide would have been smart, or just having more time there.

Wondering the name of this little guy...

Thought it was a trogon.... maybe not, but still super cool!

Thinking perhaps a wood pecker?

Other tidbits and memorable moments of this trip you might have been able to do without but that surely put a funny picture in your head are:

1. Our proper british friend Jenna walking in on Matt while he was dropping the kids off at the pool in the outdoor toilet
2. Navi's pants ripping as she attempts to climb in the back door of the bus, a good 4 foot stretch from the ground. If you do the math, that's like practically as tall as her.
3. By the way.... did we mention it was cold?! Like put your real jacket on cold. (For you tough guys, around 50 degrees). Next time we're coming better prepared, until then it's back to the oven heat of Granada for us!

The awesome Santa Lucia crew plus 2 espanoles super chulos.

We are going to miss them majorly upon our departure!