Esteli, Nicaragua Review

People have this image of Central America as a hot, sticky, swelteringly humid jungle. Much of it really is exactly like that, but not all of it. Esteli Nicaragua certainly isn't. It's more of a cool, misty kind of humid jungle.

Esteli is one of the coolest parts of Nicaragua and its so cool because of its elevation and its valley setting, sheltered from the ravaging rays of direct sunlight. Esteli is rural and the best things to see and do in the area are to explore the coffee growing plantations of the mountain highlands, where you can see traditional growing practices and where you can find the freshest, deep-roasted, crudely ground coffee you ever tasted...it's just so richly flavorful that it's guaranteed to spoil you for life.

The area is also famous for its cigars. Back in the late '50s and early '60s, when Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba, many of the famous tobacco growers and cigar rollers were forced to flee the country. Some ended up in Honduras, some in the Dominican Republic, some in Costa Rica, and yet others in Nicaragua. Almost all of them gravitated to Esteli, where the climate and soil were just right for growing a perfect smoking tobacco leaf. A few of the cigar producers fear competitors stealing their secrets, but most don't and welcome visitors to come see how cigars are made and perhaps to sample the closest thing to a real Cuban cigar that you can get without a trip to Havana. 

The city of Esteli is where you'll find the best choices in hotels and restaurants, and its a fairly small city with a friendly vibe.

Nature lovers will find lots to see around Esteli and there are some smaller nature reserves as well as the large Miraflor Nature Reserve which is a cooperative cloud forest reserve known for its myriad types of orchid and its black lagoons (along with a few local tales of swamp creatures and the like).