3pm Saturday, Jinotega
5am I found myself awake and re-thinking my planned route for today. Taking the scenic route to San Raphael would involve some pretty bumpy roads, plus, when I got there, I would be dragging 35 pounds of backpack with me wherever I went.
The smarter route would be first to Matagalpa and then a connection to Jinotepe, dump everything at a hotel there and travel with just camera and water bottle to San Rafael. I had already paid my room bill, so it was just a matter of dropping my key and flagging down a taxi to the bus depot.
It was actually chilly when I left the hotel at 6:30am- not a sensation normally felt in this country.
The bus for Matagalpa pulled out of the Cotran Sur (south bus depot) at 6:45am and by the time it had covered a mile it was standing room only.
The route was downhill all the way to the town of Sébaco where the road forks left to Matagalpa and right to Managua. The forest-covered hills of the Segovias looked very beautiful in the early light of the morning, although no one seemed to notice but me. Paying a little more attention to the farmland as we approached town, it became obvious that the rice paddies I had seen on the route nnorth occupied a massive area- I would guess about 15 sq. km or more
Arriving in the marketplace at Sébaco the bus was “attacked” from both sides by vendors trying to sell vegetables through the side windows. Delicious looking tomatoes and peppers were selling for around 50 cents to a dollar for a bag of 10. While this frontal assault was happening, other vendors swarmed into the bus trying to sell fried chicken, plantains and pastries.
Heading east, the route was uphill all the way to Matagalpa. En route we passed dozens of coffee processing plants of various sizes. The bigger ones had large concrete pads on which the raw beans were drying in the sun. Behind them thousands of bags of dried raw coffee (about 100 pounds each) were stacked on pallets awaiting shipment. The smaller processors merely placed the beans on large black plastic sheets instead of concrete pads
[February is the areas final month of peak coffee production which typically starts in December]
Arriving in Matagalpa around 8:15am I escaped the madness of the bus station/market, hailing a taxi for the city centre. Needing a decent breakfast, I headed for Café Artesanos where we had eaten once or twice on our last visit. For some reason it wasn’t open so I ducked my head into Matagalpa Tours to see if anyone was there that I knew. Seeing no-one I recognized I made my way to Cafeto [kind of the Nica equivalent of a coffee bar] where a filling ham, egg and cheese croissant plus coffee set me back $2.50.
Fully caffeinated and ready to face the day I hailed a taxi to the bus station. Squeezed in beside two nuns I wondered they might offer a little divine protection as the driver rolled through stop signs and narrowly missed ramming into opposing traffic.
The wait for a bus to Jinotepe was all of ten minutes before it pulled out of the depot for the 34km trip. Again, before we had gone a mile the bus was rammed to maximum standing capacity and had as much stuff on the roof as it had inside.
The initial 4km or so followed the river north and passed areas where densely packed squatter housing covered the hillsides. Constructed of corrugated steel, wood or in some cases just the black plastic from the coffee plants, it was a sharp contrast to the city centre which is fairly clean with nice looking buildings
The road was uphill for the first 27 km, following a route which we had taken in 2009 when we visited Selva Negra [ a coffee farm/hotel set high in the hills above Matagalpa]
Following a serpentine route along the sides of the hills we were at times looking up at massive areas of forest covered mountains, at others looking down into valleys recently planted with beans and cabbage. In some areas groves of coffee bushes could be seen, berries red and ripe, workers hand picking the fruit.
The forests of the area are termed cloud forest due to the humidity and mistiness which often enshrouds them. Various evergreens including Cyprus, Pine and Juniper are mixed in with semi tropical trees. Many of the trees are covered in thousands of bromeliads (air plants) and mosses dangle like bunches of tattered string from the branches.
The final 7km into Jinotega was downhill all the way with signs posted warning of dangerous curves. The engine howled down most of the way as the driver played the clutch to control his speed.
Arriving at the southern bus station I decided to forgo the usual taxi ride to the city centre, choosing instead to walk the 1 km or so.
Situated on a relatively flat plain at the bottom of the surrounding hills (like Esteli) the town is fairly easy to navigate, although distances can be deceptive since the blocks vary in length.
Using Tripadvisor reviews, I had already chosen a hotel, the Hotel Kurias due to its close proximity to the city centre.
400 cordoba a night (about $19) has given me a clean and comfortable room, with wooden tile floor, hot water shower, fan and TV. Some of the furniture looks like it was purchased from a Goodwill store, but I am only looking for a place to sleep and stash my backpack, so it will suffice.
A quick shower- always needed after any bus ride in this country, a change of clothing and I am ready for my grand city tour!
As is my usual habit when I hit most towns, I have 4 basic stops to make, the cathedral or main church, the central square, the market and the cemetery.
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