Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean - Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World - page 218

of local farmers, transformed an abandoned
farm into a thriving organic coffee co-operative.
They replanted arabica beans, built an ecological
coffee-processing facility and fashioned the
muddy approach into a road. The coffee was
sold back home in the US and with the profits
they built a 26-bed ecolodge with double rooms
and six-bed dorms, designed to showcase coffee
production and provide an alternative income
for local farmers. The lodge is built of handmade
brick and other local materials, electricity is
provided by solar panels and the water is spring-
fed.
Guests can learn about coffee production and
help pick and process the beans; if you wish
you can then accompany the transportation of
the coffee to Matagalpa, where it is sun-dried,
graded, cupped and exported. The co-operative
is now one of the farms on the tourist “coffee
route” ( W www.vianica.com/visit/matagalpa) from
Matagalpa, which also visits other coffee co-
operatives in the region.
Coffee may be the main attraction at FEV,
but you could easily just come here to relax at
the lodge, enjoy the views and explore the area,
home to a variety of wildlife including hundreds
of species of birds, butterflies, mammals, trees
and orchids (see FEV's website for the full list
of species). The lodge organizes locally guided
jungle treks to see howler monkeys, plus visits
to waterfalls and a butterfly farm. However
you choose to spend your time here, you'll be
impressed by the difference this remote, rural
coffee farm and ecolodge has made to the lives of
the local farmers.

Need to know FEV is 160km from the capital,
Managua, and is open all year, though Nov-Feb is
the best time to see coffee production. Week-long
tour packages include four days at FEV and three
days at a homestay in San Ramón. For further
info including prices, reservations and directions
from Managua see W www.incaesperanzaverde.
org; T [phone]. Ten percent of the lodge's
income is invested in rural water projects and local
schools.

(From top) The main lodge at Finca Esperanza Verde; Coffee cherries; The view over the farm at
Finca Esperanza Verde