Nicaraguan Adventure - Day 8: Onward and upward we go (1/3/11)

Woke up pretty early due to the roosters all around (I am pretty sure it was around 630) and had breakfast which was delicious. After eating, we pack up, get some pics with the family and then the guide gets there with some horses. 

Ahhh my trusty steed. Let this day of horse trekking up into the intermediate zone be adventurous. 

Some pretty views to distract myself from this grueling day of riding horses. 

Our guide for the day. We talked about his venturing to Costa Rica for school/job but he had to come back because he couldn't afford to live there. He was really cool and spoke decent English (he still spoke mostly Spanish as I tried to follow along).

Kodak moment! I did not fall off this horse so it was a successful day of horse riding.

I assume its a long walk, so we are to put the packs on the horses and walk along with them so we don't get tired, nope! So we get on the horses then we get our packs handed to us, so we have the packs on our back still just now I get to ride a horse (which I don't like doing). We head out and ride for what seemed like forever (4-4.5 h); my butt is not used to being on a horse, especially that long, so I am in pain once we get to our destination and don't want to sit again for a few hours. Tonight we stay in the intermediate zone (first night was the lower zone) and learn about the coffee making process. 

They put me to work crushing what I believe was corn in order to make corn flour. For some reason I remember this being a part of the coffee process but I cant think of why I would be crushing something since the beans are whole when shipped so I feel like this was for something else. Either way, it takes a strong back. :)

After lunch, we see the beginning of the process and then go on a walk with Jackson, a local guy who lives across the street from the place we were staying, who shows us a coffee processing “factory” and explains a little bit of the process (not sure I understood the explanation completely). After that tour, we rest back at the house until dinner. 

The day before, Luis picked a giant orange fruit from a tree on our walk. He was determined to eat a fresh fruit from the land on this trip. 

So as we were hanging around the house, he cut it open and starts eating it. I think it was more of a grapefruit than orange. He enjoyed it, as he juiced half of it into a glass after eating one half.

Before dinner, and after its dark, the family needs water collected from a well that's about 500m away. We volunteered to help carry these jugs so the son, Mauricio, guides us as we have to navigate these fields in the dark and we don't know where we are going. We get back to the house and have a great dinner and hang out and talk with the family a bit while I kept playing with their cat, Mouse, who was a great little kitty.

Mouse and me playing at the dinner table. It was an incredibly affectionate cat.  

Our family for the second night in the intermediate zone. Absolutely wonderful people.