lindas travel blog: Staying with Dona Lucia and Don Rogelio

The next day Nelson picked me up 08:30 after I had had a nice, and very henavy breakfast with Rosario and Dennis (the son). Nelson had brought to horses, and I was going to ride a lightgrey stallion called Thunder to the next family in El Sontule in the zona alta (highlands) of Miraflor. I had asked beforehand to do a homestay with Dona Lucia and Don Rogelio because of Lucias knowledge of herbal medisine. We rode through some awsome nature, soon climbing up the dirtroad where I had a breathtakeing overview over the magnificent mountains, hills and the valleys between them. All of it gleaming with different shades of green. The landscape changed a lot; from large open grasslands dottet with huge stones, that seemed to have been tossed around by an angry child, and big akasiatrees with their beautiful canopy. There were also other kinds of trees overgrown by bromelias, orchids and and a type of moss they call "old mans beard", they had this ghostly yet dignified look. As we rode on the landscape changed again to thick forrest, and we had to get across a river that had grown huge from the big downpour of rain the day before. Water was cascading down the hillside fastrunning, covering a good piece of road. I urged the horse to cross, and he did so easily in spite of the strong current, on the other side we galloped a short distance before again climbing up a hill. We took off from the main"road", where a bus struggle up and down the dirtroad once or twice a day, depending on how much road is left. Sometimes it might not even come, to ride up into an enchanted forrest of huge trees, all covered in moss and parasitic plants like bromelia, stranger figs and orchid . I had to make a comment about how it is to ride through a Harry Potter forrest. We climed up with the horses through the magical forrest listening for ghosts, pixies, fairies and lost spirits.The forrest has its share of legnends and stories. When the war was forcing people into hiding, some families came up here hiding in caves and in the forrest. Apart from a little bit of conversation everything was quiet, and I was sorry when we came down to Lucias and Rogelios house. Nelson left me there so that I could eat, and rest a bit before Lucia took me to her gardens to show me their organic veggies and herbs. We took in a few veggies and quite a few herbs to make tee. Lucia explained to me how she makes cheese (they make a very salty cheese here in Nacaragua) and how she makes corn flour. Then we cooked dinner together and had a nice conversation. Lucia and Rogelio have 20 cows, many chickens and hens running around, 3 pigs, 2 dogs and a cat. They get their water from a well with a pumping mecanism near the house. The whole community comes to this well to get water. They grow organic beans, coffee and maiz (corn) to sell, and have their small veggie and herb garden.
The next day I was picked up by Uriel, a nice young man to walk to La Perla where I was going to stay in a Posada (guesthouse). No need to say that 2 hour walk was equally beautiful as the trip the day before! After exploring La Perla I took the early bus out the day after. The busride took me through amazing landscapes in the ever changeing Segovia region. Higly recomended adventure!