Welcome to coffee country. You are now officially off the beaten track in already off-the-beaten-track Nicaragua. Matagalpa is pure Central America, a dirty bustling town occupied by lovely people and surrounded by magnificent hilly landscapes. It might take time before you appreciate all this, and it requires a lot of effort. But isn’t anything of value supposed to take quite a lot of energy and determination?
Where Esteli is known for its tobacco industry, Matagalpa is coffee. But if you look at the entire region, there is much more to discover. This was the frontline of the Sandinista struggles in the 80s. There are cloud forests as well. There is some proper food. And… it is rather unprepared for tourists 🙂
CONTENTS
General introduction
Food and drinks
Activities / Things to do
Getting there and getting around
Miscellaneous
General introduction
Not to say there aren’t ANY facilities for foreigners in Matagalpa. There are some hotels, a couple of restaurants catering for an international audience. And www.matagalpatours.com is your go-to agency for excursions in the city or in the region.
What definitely speaks in Matagalpa’s favor is the location. It is the urban centre of the entire region, therefore bustling, rusty and dirty. But it is nestled in between the hills. When you walk up the mountains to one of two viewpoints, the reward is an unrivalled view of the valley.
Geographically, the city squeezes itself in between the hills. Therefore there isn’t always a neat grid of streets. The heart of the city is Parque Morazan in the north. From there, two main roads travel southwards: the Avenida Jose Dolores Estrada and the Avenida Bartolome Martinez. They both run towards Parque Ruben Dario, which marks the southern end of the city center at least. From there it is a ten minute walk to the chaos of the bus terminal (Cotran Sur).
Food and drinks
The best food for all times of day can be found along the Dolores Estrada. Quiet it ain’t: although it is a one-way street, walkways are narrow and traffic is heavy. But restaurant El Balcon for example is on the first floor of a building, shielding you from the chaos outside and presenting decent food.
A bit off-the-beaten track, northeast of Parque Morazan, is La Vita e Bella. It is located in a dark narrow pedestrian street, but serves some exquisite Italian food. And for the more adventurous: Taquero (two blocks southeast of Ruben Dario park) is very local and very good. Six days a week they have a streetside grill for lovely meat dishes.
Drinkwise the Seleccion Nicaraguense is a must-visit. It is clean, modern and presents the best of Nicaraguan coffees. Located at the northside of Ruben Dario park.
Activities / things to do
- Casa Museo Comandante Carlos Fonseca: Matagalpa is justifiedly proud of its role in the revolution. Carlos Fonseca was one of the driving forces. His statue graces Parque Morazan as well, but he also has a tiny museum dedicated to his life and death
- Museo de Cafe: coffee country deserves a coffee museum. Hence this nice place that has an exquisite exhibition about the history of the green beans
- Cafe Girasol: this is basically a cafe / hostel run by an NGO. Lovely people, who sell leaflets with walking tours around the city lasting anything between 2 and 8 hours. From my own experience: not very accurate maps, but nonetheless a good start to explore the surrounding hills
- Selva Negra: we are slowly moving outside Matagalpa. A couple of miles out of town, in the direction of Jinotega, is Selva Negra. An ecolodge where you can sleep, eat, have guided tours of the coffee plantation… or all of these! You can get there by chicken bus or book a tour from Matagalpa
- in the wide region are several unique experiences to be had:
- Biosfera Bosawas: yes, the biggest rainforest in the Americas after the Amazon is right at your feet. No public transport here though, so you need to arrange that for yourself or travel on boats with local traders. No roads, no electricity, no hotels, just some places you can stay at indigenous villages: it doesn’t get much more back-to-basics than this
- Reserva El Jaguar: run by a Nicaraguan family for more than fifty years already, this place in the cloud forest aims to produce environmentally friendly coffee. You can sleep there as well: www.jaguarreserve.org
- North of Matagalpa (and Jinotega as well), after a two hour drive you will find the village of Penas Blancas. This entire area is lush, green, with cloud and rain forests everywhere and hiking trails cutting right through it. One of the more interesting places to stay are the cabins of Macizo de Penas Blancas, run by non-profit A Sustainable Culture. The driving force behind this organization for environmentally-friendly agriculture is Alan Bolt, who is openly gay and has done amazing work with the community in terms of gender, diversity and masculinity ‘advocacy’. More info: www.asustainableculture.org
Getting to Matagalpa and getting around
- From / to Leon: there are usually two minivans a day. They leave when they are full, which might mean BEFORE the scheduled departure time. So be early
- from / to Jinotega and Esteli: lots of chicken buses
- From/ to Managua: also every 30-60 minutes. The faster expresos are recommendable
- From / to Masaya: if you want to avoid Managua when coming from Granada, Masaya is the place to change chicken buses
- Within Matagalpa, you can walk everything. At night, don’t venture too far south of Ruben Dario park or north of Morazan park, especially when there are no people on the streets
Miscellaneous
- Weather: due to its elevation and location in between the hills, temperatures can vary widely during the course of a day. When sun is shining, temperatures easily reach 30 degrees. In the evenings, it cools down quite a lot. When you venture into the surrounding rain forests, it can get really chilly at night, thus be prepared for all kinds of weather
- Safety: generally good. Just take care at night on lonely streets outside the center, as mentioned above
- The northern highlands: to get the full flavour of these beautiful highlands, take some time and also visit other villages in the area. Jinotega (city of mist) is well worth one or two days at least. And Esteli, closer to the border, is tobacco country. The feel of these places is completely different from the colonial gems Leon and Granada, which are also much warmer