Hello, all! I'm a little behind on posting lately, but below are photos of a short backpacking trip from Estelí to the small community of El Lagartillo (near Achuapa), in Nicaragua. Although El Lagartillo is accessibly by a dirt road, the photos below are places you can only see by foot. This area feels pretty magical with the afternoon mist and rain and chantrelle mushrooms growing wild.
One of the places we passed through is Finca Calamina, where a man named Esteban collects and harvest wild coffee with his wife (originally from France, which explains his fondness for wearing a beret). He is an incredible chef, and made us pizzas from his home-built wood burning oven.
During the 1980's U.S. funded Contra War, Sandinistas fled from Estelí into these mountains and fighting often ensued despite the rural isolation. Esteban's brother was killed by contras, yet he is an extremely kind and welcoming man to U.S. foreigners. The area remains very unpopulated, and the main form of transport is by foot or by horse.
