Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 8886-1016, 2279-9219;
www.jaguarreserve.org
)
Both coffee enthusiasts and nature
lovers will be enamored with this fantastic private reserve with comfortable
cabañas
(dorm/room per person including three meals US$35/75) and family-friendly trails (read:
nothing too long or too steep) as well as strenuous ones through primary cloud forest and
past coffee stands to spectacular
miradores
(lookout points). It's outside town on the road
to Lago Apanas. Advance reservations are essential.
Finca Kilimanjaro
( 8838-9418, 2782-2113; fincakilimanjaro@hotmail.com)
This working farm at 1300m near
San Rafael offers a wide variety of activities including horseback riding, hiking, cow
milking, swimming, and harvesting during coffee season. Day trips (US$35 per person)
include lunch, transportation from Jinotega and a short tour of San Rafael. If you want to
stay longer, overnight packages (per person including all meals with/without transport
US$50/45) are also available. Reserve at least two days in advance and bring warm
clothes.
FARM
La Brellera Canopy Tour
( 2784-2356; labrelleranatural@yahoo.es; per person US$18; 9am-4:30pm)
Tired of coffee?
Head just 4km from San Rafael to La Brellera to traverse 1500m through pine forest via
nine platforms, eight cables and two hanging bridges. For an extra US$7 you make the re-
turn trip on horseback.
ADVENTURE TOUR
FATHER ODORICO D'ANDREA
Father Odorico D'Andrea was born in Italy in 1916, and annointed as a Franciscan friar in 1942.
He found his way to San Rafael del Norte 12 years later, where he not only constructed the mag-
nificent temple but also got the first roads, running water, schools and clinic into the region. His
efforts never sat well with the government; in 1959 he had to flee Somoza's forces, and he later
became an outspoken critic of the Sandinistas, though he always worked for peace. And he lived
to see it, just barely. On May 3, 1989, in La Naranja, he gave the Eucharist to Sandinistas and
Contras together. He would die peacefully a year later.
Sleeping & Eating
Casita San Payo
GUESTHOUSE
$$
