Text : Lonna Harkrader
Finca Esperanza Verde Ecolodge and Coffee Farm (FEV) has been developed since 1998 by Durham-San Ramón Sister Communities, a US based ngo, and their partners in San Ramón to create economic development and conservation of the mountain rain forest through sustainable tourism and organic, shade grown coffee cultivation. All the staff are from San Ramón, a rural municipality of 30,000 people most of whom are engaged in subsistence agriculture and coffee farming. One hundred percent of income from tourism and coffee at FEV is invested in the local economy. Guest houses, FEV staff, cultural performance groups, and the Tourist Guide Club run by high school and college students greatly appreciate the income tourism brings to their economically depressed community. Ten percent of ecotour income is designated for rural water projects and construction of rural schools.
FEV offers 2-7 day ecotours which include a daily program of exotic activities including picking coffee (Dec-Feb) and cultural immersion experiences ranging from discussions with the local people about social issues to cooking classes and an herbal medicine tour, bird watching, hiking to see Howling monkeys and a stay with a guest house family in a small town. Ecotours are designed for school groups, bird watchers, family reunions and people supporting sustainable tourism. Finca Esperanza Verde Eco-lodge, built of handmade brick with solar electric panels on all the roof tops and two solar refrigerators in the kitchen, has a 100 mile view across the Dariense Mountain range. It is a cool, green and tranquil paradise at 1,200 meters/4,000 feet elevation. The farm sleeps 26 in 3 double rooms with private baths, 2 six-person cabins with flush toilets and showers, and a dormitory which sleeps 8. Solar electricity quietly powers FEV. Awards : Best Ecolodge in Nicaragua-2004, Smithsonian magazine’s Sustainable Tourism Award for Conservation-2004, and TO DO ! Award for Socially Responsible Tourism-2004. FEV was chosen in 2005 as a model of poverty alleviation through sustainable tourism for a study seminar organized by the World Tourism Organization, a UN agency.
The project has prompted villagers to become entrepreneurs, launching micro-enterprises such as cooking classes, workshops where tourists turn a pile of tropical seeds into attractive necklaces, a network of guest house families, and Nicaraguan folk music groups. The income is quickly converted into new shoes for school, musical instruments, and improved health care.
The ongoing hope for eco-tourism in San Ramón is to protect the mountains from deforestation through increased appreciation for the economic benefits eco-tourism brings. The words of Ernesto Gonzalez, naturalist guide at Finca Esperanza Verde, are a perfect expression of this attitude shift, "When I first started working at Finca Esperanza Verde, I was like other farmers around here in my lack of appreciation for the natural world. I would whack into trees with my machete as I walked along to pass the time just like all the rest. Now I have changed. The tourists and natural scientists who have come to San Ramón have shown so much respect and fascination for the natural world I used to take for granted, that now I, too, value the wildlife and plants around me. It is like a new world before my eyes. And the income I make as a naturalist guide, which I have been trained to be thanks to this project, helps my family have a better life."
Localisation
Directions by bus : In Matagalpa at the Guanuca bus station (a taxi ride from the main bus station), take the bus marked Pancasan/El Jobo which passes through the town of San Ramon. Get off in Yucul (25 minutes from SR). Follow signs to Finca Esperanza Verde, (1 hour walk). By car : FEV is a 40 minute drive over gravel and dirt roads from San Ramón by vehicle with medium clearance. Once in Yúcul, turn left off the main road. Follow signs to FEV.
Contact
Yelba Valenzuela
Apartado 28, Matagalpa, Nicaragua
Tél. : 505 772-5003
Fax : 505 772-5003
E-mail : herma@ibw.com.ni
Website : www.fincaesperanzaverde.org ; www.durham-sanramon.org
Language : Spanish or English
Durham-San Ramon Sister Communities,
1320 Shepherd Street, Durham, NC 27707, USA ;
E-mail : info@durham-sanramon.org ;
Tel. : 919 489-1656