Cerro Negro - Leon

We have been to Leon several times as day trips, a few overnights. This particular trip we went as part of a Girls Scout outing to hike the Cerro Negro volcano. Meeting point and time was 9:00AM at the UNO by the exit to Managua, 3 hours from Selva Negra. So, we decided to arrive the night before instead of waking up at 4AM. We stayed at the Convento Hotel, it is a lovely, comfortable place to stay. Central yet quiet. Hanna loved the big comfortables beds as well as all the extra pillows, "fancy" shampoo and hot shower. She loves fancy hotels. We went out for dinner to "Al Carbon" a steakhouse down the street from El Convento. We are meat eaters, we eat our vegetables too, but we love a good steakhouse. We shared a massive platter for 4. All the cuts of meat were very thin and lightly seasoned, accompanied by a range of delicious relishes, beans, baked potatoes, and tostones. Nothing green on the entire plate! We loved it, but all decided we needed to eat a salad soon.

Morning breakfast was big and yummy, loves of fruit choices, pastries, omelets, cereal, etc... Fully fueled we met up with the gang at the UNO and headed to Cerro Negro with our guide, Freddy. The way there is easy to find and asking will get you the whole way, so I won't detail any directions. Now, as a sidebar, I'm afraid of heights, I HATE heights, I hate the feeling in my stomach, I hate my squirmy knees, I hate the feeling of helplessness and desperation that it generates in me, but I like a good hike with good friends in interesting environments. The only thing worse than me being up on high places, is me seeing my kids up in high places. I was set to not go at all! I had heard stories from Don and Henry from when they went volcano boarding with the Boy Scouts, and knew this was not for me. I went to watch and take pictures at the bottom, but as it turned out they weren't volcano boarding, but up and down for a good hike. Now I was interested, still scared, but interested. I still have to walk back down. I made a deal with Don and my friends for them to walk near the kids and let me do my own thing. It worked out great. Keeping up with part of the group kept me entertained and my mind off the worst of it. Even so I had a couple of times that I really didn't know how I was going to get out of there. The ground started moving under my feet, the world started spinning and I thought I was going to faint. At one point I even yelled at one of the girl scouts not to talk to me, cause I really couldn't have any distractions if I was going to take another step. The hike up is challenging, it is hot and steep. Walking on big rocks with only a sample of a path to follow. When you get to the top, the walk becomes easier, the views amazing, but the exposure and "near death" experiences begin. Suddenly the wind starts whipping around, you walk on a small path with a rocky fall on one side and a predice to the volcanic crater on the other. Not the fun part for me at all. The way down was tough at the beginning, but became easier as I got the hang of it. Knowing I was almost done was a great help too.

I survived, and grateful for friends who encouraged me to go on the hike. The kids had a wonderful time and it really is a one in a lifetime opportunity. Hiking an ash volcanoe like this one is truly an amazing thing.

The hike up

The tiny ridge between life and death.

This wing the death side, that is the crater fuming down there.

Those tiny figures out there is Hanna with her besties.

Me, wondering how the heck I got talked into this.

Henry hanging out at the top.

One of the many amazing views

The lava flow from the 1971 eruption

Amazing lava flow marked. Those paths you see are the trails we're following.

What your shoes and legs will look like at the end of the hike.

Those dots on the hills are us walking down

Trip to Cerro Negro and León

We left on Saturday evening to go to León. The plan was to go with the girl scouts to Cerro Negro on Sunday, then return to selva negra Monday night. We stayed in Hotel El Contnvento in León. the hotel is very nice, and so is the place where we went to dinner, Al Carbon. It is a very nice steak and coffee house in león. the atmosphere is nice, and the food was great.

The next day, we went to Cerro Negro to go volcano boarding. we left early in the morning, and met the girl scouts at the ranger's lodge. At the ranger's lodge, i was informed that we were going to be running down the volcano instead of boarding down it. I was dissapointed, because when i had gone last time, we had boarded down. It turned out that i find running to be more fun then boarding, because when you but your foot down, you can slide for a few meters before having to put it back down again.  when we got to the bottom, of the volcano, we took a group picture

it took us almost 40 minutes to get up the volcano, and that's without the wind that we had last time. when i went with the boy scouts, there was a wind that seemed to be desperately trying to fling us into the crater of the volcano and doom us to a really long hike up.

dad took two pictures from the bottom of the volcano, one facing each side. here they are

These pictures are in the exact same place, isn't it amazing? when we reached the top, the view was as amazing as i remember it. we were at the top waiting for the others to come, when Allison(one of the girl scouts) slid a good way down the mountain. we tried everything we could think of to get her back up, but nothing worked. so i decided to go down with her. I had a great time even though it was the two of us, and we ended up without water, we re-joined with the group about an hour later. after that, we went to León for lunch. and then we went to Managua. 

Volcano Running

We went Volcano Running!
You probably are like "What did you hurl yourself into a volcano and try to run out of it!" The answer is no we did not do that. Let me start at the beginning "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit" Sorry wrong beginning. We left Selva Negra in the after noon on saturday with the new book on tape Sculldugry Pleasant. Then we got to Leon and got to our hotel El Comtempo. Then we ate dinner at El Carbon and got the platter for four witch looks like this

The next morning we woke up and had breakfast at El Contempo, the breakfast buffet is amazing. Then we met my girl scout group with my friends in Nicaragua Emily and Jonna (aka Jo)  after the drive we got to the volcano and took the is picture

then we hiked up it it took like 45 minutes to get up there.

On the way me Emily and Jo picked up Bob the rock here is a picture of us and Bob 

We hung out at the top and looked around

This is a picture of the volcano from below

Then we got to run down that volcano it was so fun me Emily and Jo went last and just ran down if you jump it fells like there is no gravity but when you land you usually fall on your but.

Tisey visit including the Esteli stone man and the Cascada Estanzuela waterfall

We went to Esteli and the waterfall on a whim. In the morning, we got up expecting to do school, but mom and dad told me that we weren't doing school and we were going out. mom and sis(long story, I use sis to refer to Hanna) had been here before, but me and dad hadn't. so we left at 8:30 to get there by 11:00. we had lunch at an italian place called casa vecchia.Here's us at lunch.

After lunch, we headed off to go see the stone man. We had been on the same, dirt, bumpy road for what felt like an hour, we had finally reached where we could get out of our car.We walked a kilometer to see him.

When we had finally reached the stone man, he was already out on a tour, we had to walk and see the rocks on our own, it wasn't a punishment though, because the view and the sculptures were amazing

Once we had finally caught up with the stone man, he told us about the final and biggest sculpture and how he had made it.

On the way back, we saw some mini pineapples, they were just starting to show, and they look really cool.

After that, we left the stone man and went to go see the Estanzuela waterfall. I was expecting something less grand than it was, and boy, was i surprised!

here's a picture of sis in front of the waterfall. Around the waterfall was an area where you could get closer without getting wet. i chose to go that way whereas sis chose to go into the water. here's a picture dad took of all of us next to the waterfall.

After having visited the waterfall, we went home. Nothing eventful happened on the way back, so there's really not much to write about

Tisey-Estanzuela

We got up on Wednesday and mom and dad said we were skipping school to go out. We were in the car for two hours which most kids would consider relay boring.Tip listen to audiobooks in the car it makes even the most wild kids want to get in the car. We passed lot's of very amazing  views and wildflowers.

We finally made it to lunch, I was hungry.We had lunch at an Italian (Italian I love Italian) restaurant called Casa Vecchia. After we went to see the stone man, he carves pictures into stone, he is relay hard to find but it's worth it.

From the time you see it it looks like a mountain farm, the gate is closed so park up the hill there is a flat spot to park. The little gate (the one I am not sitting on in the picture above) opens so just walk down the hill. Last time I went no one knew who or where he was so, I will try to give you directions the best I can. After you open the gate walk down but don't turn any where, then you will see another gate I think it's brown, go through that gate and then keep going straight. NEVER TURN then you see a wooden gate in green and go through, then you will see like a turn to the right and see a sign and a house that's when you turn that way. You walk in you see some cool stone carvings.

Then you get on the mountain and you see the real wonder. The cravings look real it's amazing to just look at the carvings. My favorite carving is the elephant it looks really cute so if you go please give elle (Yes I named the stone don't judge me) a hug for me.

We went to a waterfall after and I thought I was gonna be to cold to swim. When we got there though I decided that I could swim in my clothes. This is an example of my craziness.

So I ended up walking back to the car wet. After we went back and stopped in Matagalpa for some Kiss Me ice cream this is relay good ice cream I totally recommend it.We got pizza from  La Vita Bella it's down an alley in matagalpa it is hard to find for the first time so I will help you all I can it is next to a pharmacy with carton people on the sign. Your welcome.

Tisey - Estanzuela Nature Reserve and Esteli

Date of trip: November 11, 2015

We have visited Esteli many times, it is close to us and it makes for a nice ride in the country. From Selva Negra we make the circle route which is nice not to retrace our steps. We left Selva Negra around 9:00 and arrive in Esteli at 11:00, going trough Jinotega (9:40), San Rafael del Norte (10:00), La Concordia (10:20) and finally Esteli (11:00). This is the longer route, but such a beautiful country feel that we prefer it if we're not in a hurry. You will pass right next to Lake Apanas, one of Nicaragua's many beautiful lakes and also a hydropower generating lake. I don't know much about the project, but it is on our todo lists.

The road this way is with stone pavers (adoquinada), with narrow one car bridges, filled with small farms, small country towns, and country lifestyle. On this trip there was quite a bit of construction but didn't delay the trip very much. The weather was beautiful which affected our mood of the trip.

Our first stop was the Casa Vechia restaurant in Esteli for lunch. Very good Italian food, good simple service and decor. I enjoyed a pasta dish with grilled chicken, capers and olives in a tomato sauce accompanied with two slices of toasted, buttered Italian bread. We found the restaurant through a trip advisor review and they had lots of great comments. After lunch we went for a nice walk along the main streets and enjoyed some of the hustle and bustle of the city.

We didn't linger too much since our goal was Tisey-Estanzuela. We headed towards Don Alberto's place. I had had the pleasure of visiting him previously with a niece visiting from upstate NY. Don Alberto is a local guy who started chiseling out rocks about 20 years ago. He has become a bit of a sensation among backpackers and people looking for out of the way places. This is definitely an out of a the way place. The first time I went I was sure it was all a hoax and someone was waiting with a hidden camera somewhere. But that is part of the adventure and beauty of living in Nicaragua. We had read and heard so many unique things about Don Alberto, that I figured I could just ask anyone and they would point the way, but just when I needed someone to tell me where he was, he became like a figment of my imagination that noone knew anything about.

Anyway, we made it the first time and the second time too. You take the road into Tisey-Estanzuela and veer off at the Empalme la Garnacha. Garnacha is another wonderful place on our todo list in this area. I wish I would have written down how many kilometers after the Garnacha, but I would guess about 4KM. You will have to leave the vehicle on the side of the road. There is a small wood sign (NEED PICTURE) marking the entrance down through a fenced gate, which you then follow down and veer towards the left down a bit of cattle pasture, and through a second fence. Then you continue down a rocky, water damaged path until you think you're definitely going the wrong way, and you will find your third and last fence. Shortly after you will find Don Alberto's house on the right hand side. If he's not sitting on the rock waiting for his next guests, he's probably already walking with someone in the paths that lead to the amazing stone carving on a rock exposure and the priceless view. His personality is priceless and his look is very unique. More to the charm of this adventure. Please remember to tip him, he doesn't charge a set rate, just asks that you donate as much as you think the trip was worth it. We gave him C$500 as a family.  It is a long walk all downhill, then all uphill again. Hanna racked up 218 floors on this and then going to the Cascada de La Estanzuela.

From here we continued on the same direction (away from La Garnacha) headed towards the waterfall. This was a new destination for us, but the way is pretty obvious (if you've gotten used to driving in Nicaragua), you simply follow the road most used. You don't HAVE to have 4-wheel drive, but it is definitely recommended. The road had quite a bit of water damage and it is slow going, but the reserve is so very pretty and clean! Clean! This was my biggest amazement of the reserve, maybe not US National Park standards clean, but for Nicaragua it was amazing. It is forested, very little damage due to wood theft and the trees are so beautiful and refreshing. It is noted that the communities understand and respect it. I wish I knew why this model can't be replicated in more places in Nicaragua. Once we found the waterfall, we payed C$25 per person to park and walk in. Once again a climb straight down, short 10 minute walk. The waterfall was beautiful and again, looked clean. There was some trash (snack containers, plastic bottles and such), but after living in Nicaragua so long that qualifies as clean. Hanna was the only one that went swimming, she is definitely my water kid. We had decided to leave the suits in the car, since it was a bit chilly and figured noone would end up going in, but we should have known better. Hanna ended up going in with her jeans and Tshirt, and changed in the car to her suit to stay dry. We exited back to the Pan American through a different exit, which was right at the entrance to Esteli. I don't think I could find this entrance again, but asking around the area, I'm sure they would point it out.

From here we headed back towards Matagalpa via Sebaco. There is many farms here too, but this are industrial giant rice farms. To me and my family this makes for a more boring view. The return trip is about 1.5 hours directly to Selva Negra, but we made a very crucial pit stop in Matagalpa. KISS ME, the best ice cream shop. Local flavors like Guayaba Cheesecake, and Flor de Coco (with Flor de Caña), and coffee are among our favorites. While we ate our ice cream, we ordered pizza to go from Vita E Bella, one of our favorite restaurants in town and then headed back home.

Typical sighting of the "proper" of a bicycle

Hanna with orchid gift from Don Alberto

Views from the road Concordia-Esteli

Other things we have done on previous trips in the area are:
1- A trip around Lake Apanas,
2- Fishing in Lake Apanas (with boy scouts)
3- Black Ceramic Cooperative (with boy scouts)
4- Finca Neblina del Bosque - Miraflor  (with girl scouts)
5- Zip lining in San Rafael del Norte
6- Cigar factory tour in Esteli
7-Artisan shopping (recycled paper & marmolina stone)

Hopefully we will get around to blogging about those trips another time.

About me - Mom

My kids told me that the previous post wasn't about me and that I need to write something more personal.

I'm a 44 years old mom, born in Managua. My family purchased the land that is now Selva Negra in 1975, although both my parents are 4th generation coffee producers, their ancestors sold their land to other relatives and/or out of family hands. My parents wanted to get back into the family business of coffee and purchased Selva Negra. Unfortunately in 1979, we left the country, and moved out of Nicaragua. I lived in Costa Rica, Miami, Houston, Miami Springs, Tallahassee, Akron, New York City, Ithaca, and Stanley, NY before returning to Nicaragua. My husband and I met in Akron, OH while on a systems consulting project and moved to NYC together where I got my masters in tourism at NYU. We set our roots down in Stanley, NY a beautiful part of New York State where Don's family is from. After both our kids were born and we were thinking we were settled in for a long run, my mom told me that if we didn't come run the hotel she would close the doors, she was tired.

So, that is what brought us to Nicaragua, and to Selva Negra. Now instead of road trips to Vermont, Pennsylvania and Canada. We're headed to Ometepe, Boaco and Rio San Juan, our hopes is to take you with us and provide a resource we have lacked when planning our own trips.

I love to travel in order to experience different cultures, ways of thinking, scenery and attitudes. I love good food and good restaurants, but with nut allergy kids it's always a challenging issue finding places that understand allergies and are tolerant to our needs. I love to host our friends and family, it gives us a good excuse to explore Nicaragua and show off some of it's gorgeous places and people.

I hope my kids approve of this post as more of a personal one about their mom.

Hosting friends from NY at Selva Negra

About Me, Henry.

Hello, I'm Henry. I live in Selva Negra, and I am home schooled by my parents. I moved here four years ago and have since grown to like living here very much. I do have a Nut Allergy,  so we have to be sensible about where we eat. I like surfing, and I have my own surf board. my favorite place in Nicaragua is Ometepe island. I am in the Boy Scouts of America in Nicaragua, and that's how we went to Ometepe, so I had  a blast. I hope you enjoyed this snippet about me, and that I didn't bore you. The only thing I ask of you is to comment! I love reading comments, and like to hear what you think of what I've written. Oh, and here's a picture of me.

                                         Comment!

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About Me, Hanna

Hi I'm Hanna I'm a 11 year old girl and I love to travel. Just a heads up though I'm a little crazy. I enjoy travel that includes water as in oceans, lakes, rivers and waterfalls. I also enjoy travel with animals in it mostly cute animals. I'm a picky eater but I love Italian food. Just to let you know I call my brother Henry Heno (Long story with that name). I live on the Selva Negra ecolodge with is amazing in my view.We used to live in upstate New York but we move here around five years ago. My favorite place in Nicaragua to visit is Jinotega because of the AWESOME canopy tour. I am also in the girl scouts and we will write about some of the trips we do with them. Like going volcano boarding the weekend (super excited).I'm also home schooled by my parents. We have tutors sometimes but currently we don't have one.

Transparency Statement

Transparency Statement

I'm the manager of Selva Negra Ecolodge, my family is the Kuhl family, owners of the ecolodge and coffee estate. Therefore this is the best family destination in ALL of Nicaragua. ha ha. Now that that is out of the way, we will also be writing about the many things we do in Selva Negra that we hope you will join us.

Who Are We?

We're a Nicaragua-American family now living in Nicaragua and we love to travel. This blog was born out of two needs. 1)There is little information available about many places in Nicaragua that are great day trips (or short weekend trips) for those living here. 2) We're a homeschool family and this is a great purpose for a family blog.

We will start with our latest trip and then try to backtrack to those we remember in the past years. You will get points of view from each of our family members. Henry - 13 year old boy. Hanna 11 year-old girl, Karen 43 year old mom, Don 43 year old dad.

Hope you enjoy our blog and that it is useful to you as a resource of family related activities in Nicaragua.

The Kuhl-Sloth Family