Tobacco and Ecology Route

 

In the northern, mountanious part of the country, lies Estelí, where we shall pay a visit to the Miraflor Wildlife reserve, including a trip to the Estanzuela Water Falls, as well as tour one of the many tobacco plantations and factories, currently producing award winning cigars.

 

 

It is located at the entrance to the Segovia region, which makes it a transit and trade exchange site, even though its economy is mainly cattle and agriculture. Main products are corn, beans, coffee, and flowers.

In the rest of the country and internationally it is renown for growing and processing Tobacco. The tobacco factories produce excellent quality for export.

 

For those that have fallen in love with cigars, a visit to this area would be a shame to miss since it here is possible to try a cigar straight from the hands of a cigar roller. No cigar shop in the world can offer that kind of service.

 

 

MIRAFLOR NATURE RESERVE

 

More than a trip into Estelí’s misty mountains, a visit to Miraflor is a trip backward in time. Perhaps this is what Costa Rica’s Monteverde was like 40 years ago before it was populated with four-star resorts and laced with splinter-free wooden walkways. Miraflor is unabashedly rustic, natural, and unpretentious. Declared a protected natural reserve in 1990, this rudimentary tourist infrastructure was developed by locals, with their own sweat and labor and in the absence of any external help.

 

  Miraflor as an entity is totally unique even if, as an entity, it’s a little vague. There’s no town, per se, or even a real center. Rather, the 5,000 Mirafloreños live dispersed throughout the 206 square kilometers of the reserve in a geographically dispersed but socially united community. The Miraflor Reserve is privately owned, cooperatively managed in many parts, and almost entirely self-funded by associations of small-scale producers. Most notable among these is the UCA Miraflor (or in full: the Union de Cooperativas Agropecuarias Héroes y Mártires de Miraflor—not to be confused with the University of Central America), an association of 14 small farmer cooperatives and 120 families living within the protected area.

 

 

UCA Miraflor is primarily an agricultural credit and loan institution, but has also tackled issues and begun programs, such as community health and education, organic agriculture and diversification of crops, cooperative coffee production, gender and youth groups, and conflict resolution. Tourism, Miraflor’s greatest potential, was just an afterthought.

 

Sights and Attractions

 

Miraflor has something for everyone—nature lovers, hikers, social justice workers, organic farmers, artists, horse lovers, orchid fanatics, birders, and entomologists—each of whom will find their own personal heaven here. You can certainly visit parts of Miraflor in a day trip from Estelí, but read on and consider experiencing the unique accommodations. It should be noted that every attraction in Miraflor is privately owned, often by poor campesinos. Your financial support is the driving force that will lead to the continued preservation of these magnificent forests, because, “hey, this would be a great place to chop down the trees and plant some beans."

 

 

 
  Fauna: 236 distinct bird species belonging to 46 different families inhabit or fly through these mountains—that’s nearly 40 percent of all bird species in the country, including four species of the elusive quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno), toucans, the ranchero (Procnias tricaruntulata), with its three dangling chins, and the Nicaraguan national bird, the guardabarranco. Miraflor is also one of your best chances to spot coyotes, sloths, deer, howler monkeys, or one of six different feline species, not to mention raccoons, skunks, armadillos, and exotic rodents.

 

  Orchids: Miraflor is one of the richest and most unexplored orchid viewing regions anywhere. Among the more than 300 identified species is an enormous colony of Cattleya skinniri (the national flower of Costa Rica), not to mention scads of bromeliads and a museum of other orchids from throughout the reserve.

 

  Hikes and Adventure: Short hikes are possible through any of the hundreds of pockets of forest, but ask your guide to take you on one of the more adventurous trips. Although difficult to access, the 60-meter waterfall at La Chorrera is one of the wildest spots in the reserve. The Caves of Apaguis were dug in pre-Columbian times by gem seekers and have been occupied ever since by duendes (dwarves), as any local will inform you. The mature cloud forest of Bosque Los Volcancitos is Miraflor’s highest point at 1,484 meters and is known habitat for howler monkeys and quetzals. If the monkeys don’t snatch away your binoculars, expect fantastic views from El Tayacán, Cerro Yeluca, Cerro El Aguila, La Coyotera, and Ocote Calzado. Furthermore, the forests are replete with mysteries, such as the casa antigua, a 1,200-year-old foundation in the Tayacán area, surrounded by dozens of other unearthed montículos (mounds). Archeologists haven’t even begun to investigate the rest of them.

 

  Progressive Agriculture: If you enjoy inspired agriculture and alternative farming practices, the campesinos at Miraflor will gladly show you their cutting-edge lifestyle, including organic compost, natural pest management, watershed protection, live fences, crop diversification, soil management, reforestation, worm farming, and environmental education. In addition, Miraflor’s small-scale, fair trade, organic coffee cooperatives and cupping lab (in Cebollál) are among the nation’s finest.