After a few delays with flights in the US, Wayne arrived one day later than we expected. I met him at the airport where he came through looking like a true Dutch-Canadian. The socks with Canadian flags and the immigrant suitcase couldn't have given it away. How fun it was to see him! Although he was sleep deprived we began our trip from the airport and headed north to Esteli. Rebecca and Katie the two girls in the picture came with us.
We weren't sure on the accommodations at the place we were heading, but we were ready for an adventure. In the mountains just south of Esteli is a small village called La Garnacha. There are 26 families living in this community. They are trying hard to start tourism in their town which provided for some interesting experiences. We slept in small cabins they built to accommodate visiting guests. The first morning there I inquired about riding horses as they had advertised. They gave me the answer I was looking for which is very typical in Nicaragua, "Yes we offer horse back riding. When would you like to go?" After some talking he told me they would need an hour to get things ready. Fine, we would wait. Fifteen minutes later a little boy comes up and says they are ready. Great, but there were no horses in sight. He told me they only had two. We were four so I asked him if possible four horses would be better than two. Again he gave me the answer I wanted, "Okay, I'll be back." After 10 minutes the same boy comes walking up with two horses in tow. The real story is that there weren't more than 2 horses, so we took turns riding these. As we rode down the street the little boy ran behind us hitting the horses back to get it running.
I'm not really a fan of horseback riding. I don't trust a horse and feel very out of control. As much as people tell me you need to let the horse know who is in control, I don't believe it's going to work that way. They always just seem to do what they want to do. Pedro, the little boy who brought the horses, told me the brown horse was fast. In that case it wasn't hard for me to decide that the grey horse would be for me. Wayne took the brown horse and turned a few heads when he raced at almost a full gallop through town. You can see in the picture that his horse is moving at a much faster speed than mine. 
I loved the simplicity of life in La Garnacha. Both nights we were there we watched the sun go down behind a mountain range.
One morning we woke up early enough to watch the goats being milked. They have 9 goats which produce 2 liters of milk a day. The goats are only milked in the morning. Their milk is then taken to the 'diary' where it is processed into cheese. The town is famous for its cheese making. After they milk the goats, they put the kids in the pen to suck the remaining milk from the utter. 
This picture was taken in Esteli on Good Friday. There are lots of traditions and celebrations surrounding Holy Week. This is a picture designed from colored sawdust in the middle of an intersection. This was just one of many.
I'm not really a fan of horseback riding. I don't trust a horse and feel very out of control. As much as people tell me you need to let the horse know who is in control, I don't believe it's going to work that way. They always just seem to do what they want to do. Pedro, the little boy who brought the horses, told me the brown horse was fast. In that case it wasn't hard for me to decide that the grey horse would be for me. Wayne took the brown horse and turned a few heads when he raced at almost a full gallop through town. You can see in the picture that his horse is moving at a much faster speed than mine. 
One morning we woke up early enough to watch the goats being milked. They have 9 goats which produce 2 liters of milk a day. The goats are only milked in the morning. Their milk is then taken to the 'diary' where it is processed into cheese. The town is famous for its cheese making. After they milk the goats, they put the kids in the pen to suck the remaining milk from the utter. 
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