The travelling Welshmouse

Monday, February 27, 2006

Miraflor, Nicaragua

Waiting for the bus at the end of the 4 day trek with Ali

After the hiking in La Tigra National Park in Honduras, decided to do more in Nicaragua before heading into the lower and hotter climates near the Pacific coast. Went for 4 days with a guide to walk form village to village in the Miraflor area, staying with local families. What an experience it was. So many different climates, from cloud forest through pine forests to the hgher regions. Saw loads of birds and the guide on day one was very knowledgeable about the different species. In the cloud forest there were yet again more orchids and bromillias in the trees, even one which made the trees look like they had long strands of hair.

This is Carlito with the pig


Staying with the families was certainly an experience in itself as their lifestyle is very basic, with a three or four room house - kitchen with wood burning stove, bedrooms and then an outside eating area. There is no electricity, so after watching an amazing sunset and eating dinner by candlelight, it was time for sleep. The families usually have an array of animals...chickens, cows, pigs (at one of the places, the pig walked into the area where the shower was when i was in there!), dogs, cats....and the last family had three pigeons which lived under the beds in the guest room. It was just as well bedtime was so early, as everything wakes up before dawn.

Me and Leni (one of the children of the family) watching the sunset


The walking usually started at 8 am reaching the next village for lunch. Then a later afternoon walk to see the sunset from an amazing viewpoint. The weather seemed to vary considerable; from blue, sunny skies to cool, windy and wet. However, the afternoons were always clear for the sunset. With no light at night, the stars were amazing.

Again, the thing that kept me facinated were the leaf cutter ants...found a colony and watched the whole process from tree back to the extensive network of tunnels in the colony.

The journey back to Estelli, the main town near Miraflor was another experience in itself. The bus was full and so this meant riding on the roof. The last time I did this was on my first visit to India. There you had to duck to avoid electricity wires but that wasn't a problem here. However, the low branches from the trees could have caused serious injurury without concentration. There were three chickens tied on to the roof, and one of them even managed to lay an egg during the journey.

Me and the guide, Ali, on top of the bus


So, now in Leon, near the Pacific coast where it is very hot in comparison to the mountains. Hardest decision next is whether to climb a volcano or go to the beach. Tough life.

1 Comments:

At 8:47 pm, March 01, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Caption for macaws:

Jack knew he shouldn't have taken John to D and D's...

 

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