Week two - Finally seeing a coffee farm!

It doesn't feel like it's only Wednesday afternoon as have already "worked" a good 40 plus hours this week! On Monday I was picked up at 7am, followed by picking up the two Japanese customers that we were taking up to the coffee plantations. They both work for Mitsubishi, who trade coffee, along with hundreds of other things. 

After a couple hours driving we got to Sebaco, Ecom's largest mill in Nicaragua. Here they have a lot of of land (not sure how much exactly) which is used to air dry the coffee that they buy from farmers. There is also a cupping lab, where every coffee that comes in is tested for quality and graded. This then determines the price that it's sold for. 

 We then drove for another couple hours to La Virgen Finca, one of four farms owned by Henry Huick. This was a chance to see my first coffee plant! The farm tour was fun, we drove in john deer quad bikes and at some points the path was very sketchy! After the tour we got the chance to cup some of the coffee that we had seen, I think we must have tried around 50 coffees. It was interesting talking to Henry about the work he does with the farms and the community. They house all of their full time workers, have a school for the children, and feed them three meals a day (although this is apparently a government requirement). 

The school

Cupping session

Cupping session

Riding the farm's bull

That evening we stayed in Matagalpa, which is the capital of the department of Matagalpa, and has a population of 150,000. The city lies 700M above sea level, and with its warm temperatures and high rain fall, the area surrounding it is perfect for growing coffee. Coffee is Nicaragua's largest exported product, so this area is well looked after.

On Tuesday we went to the mill, where we cupped around 70 different types of coffee and learnt how to grade them. I was then picked up by Henrik, who had two clients from Housten with him, and we drove to Jinotega. This is another coffee producing region. We saw three farms, and then started back to Managua in the evening, getting home around 10pm.

Lining up to weight their pickings from the day

Farm visit featuring armed guard

On Wednesday I was picked up at 4am for us drive up to Ocotal, the capital of the Nueva Segovia region. This region sits at an altitude of 500M above sea level and is very close to the Honduras border. We finally got to Ocotal around 9am, and then had another hours drive to actually get to the co-op we were visited. We were very much the middle of nowhere! The point of going all this way is that the team I was travelling were there to give a presentation on sustainability, the NYC market (which coffee is traded on) and what Ecom can help them with. This is the first year that they are buying coffee from this co-op, so they want to make sure that they are educated enough to understand why it is good to sell with them. Everything was in spanish, so I kinda just sat there and listened to any words I knew! After this we visited a smaller farm with the SMS team, and then headed back down to Matagalpa. 

Full on couple days driving all over the northern highlands, but really worth seeing these different areas and meeting lots of coffee farmers. The driving is pretty entertaining, with whoever can drive the fastest being in front. Things I have learnt; If you are overtaking on a corner, just toot so any car coming round the bend will know, use your horn excessively, as well as your lights, and if you do get pulled over, just say you have a foreigner in the car and you will be let off!

Tomorrow we head to Waslala, a very small provincial town in the matagalpa region, around 3 hours away by unsealed road.

Oh, the food. The staple diet here is rice and beans. It even has it's own name; Gallo Pinto. It's eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sometimes chicken or an egg is added just to change it up. I have been following this diet the last two days and I can't say it's my favourite local cuisine ever!