TRIP OVERVIEW

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Dates: January 12-20, 2014
Location: San Ramón, Nicaragua
Trip Cost:
$2,500 (Airfare and trip incidentals not included)
Open to Kellogg Fellows, Families and Friends (age 21+)

Community Agroecology Network (CAN) founders Steve Gliessman (KNFP-06) and Roberta (Robbie) Jaffe will lead a 9-day AgroEco® Tour in the tropical highlands of Nicaragua this January. The central goal of the course is for participants to learn what is behind their cup of coffee—from the farm families to the cooperatives, processing of the beans, and the landscape and environment. Steve Gliessman will bring his knowledge of agroecology and coffee farming to the Tour, and Robbie Jaffe will bring her educational experience and knowledge of the food security/sovereignty projects participants will visit. The Tour will be based in communities in the Matagalpa region where CAN has a long history of collaboration, research, and intercultural exchange.

The Tour is designed for adults over 21 who want to travel comfortably while enjoying the wonders of Nicaragua – nature, culture and coffee. Participants will engage directly with farmers and community organizers in the region about the culture, ecosystems and challenges facing coffee growing communities. They will meet Youth Leaders, who are inspiring local food security and sovereignty projects. Furthermore, this Tour will include excursions to verdant cloud forests with monkeys and other wildlife, bird-watching and cultural experiences such as a Nicaraguan cooking demonstration, music and dance, and shopping for Nicaraguan handicrafts.

WEBINAR & EDUCATION

Prior to the Tour there will be a webinar facilitated by the Tour Leaders that will orient all participants to the Tour and provide background readings as well.

ITENERARY DETAILS | JAN 12-20, 2014

Day 1 – Sunday, January 12: Travel from U.S. to Managua, Nicaragua
First night’s accommodations are at the 4-star Las Mercedes Best Western Hotel, walking distance from the airport. All participants will meet at the hotel for a 9pm welcome dinner. For those arriving late, restaurant is open until 11pm. You can ask the front desk for Steve Gliessman and Robbie Jaffe’s room number to meet up.

Day 2 – Monday, January 13: Managua to San Ramon
After breakfast in the hotel, we travel in a private bus to San Ramon. After an introduction to CAN’s partner organization, UCA San Ramon (the Union of Cooperatives Augusto Cesar Sandino of San Ramon) UCA leaders will facilitate a discussion and Q & A about the AgroEco® coffee program, the relationship between CAN and the UCA San Ramon, and our various collaborations together, including the Youth Leadership & Food Security Project. After a short tour of San Ramon town and lunch, we travel to the nearby city of Matagalpa to check into our hotel, have dinner, and rest. Optional Happy Hour on the hotel’s 4th Floor Terrace!

Day 3 – Tuesday, January 14: AgroEco® Coffee Cooperative and Farmer Visit
Breakfast at the hotel in Matagalpa. Then, we travel to the community of La Pita to meet with members of the farming cooperative that grows AgroEco® coffee and tour their coffee farms. We will meet with members of the Denis Gutierrez cooperative for a presentation and exchange, and meet the families we will be staying with the next day!
After lunch at the cooperative, we will learn from cooperative members about coffee farming practices and how Agroecologyis applied in the coffee cropping system. We will also learn about the Youth Leadership & Food Security Project being implemented with the cooperative in La Pita: we will meet with the local youth organizer for the project, visit home gardens to learn how diversified food production is impacting the community, visit the new school garden, and learn about plans to build a new collective composting center in the cooperative that will benefit gardens and coffee production.
At the end of the day, we return to our hotel in Matagalpa to rest, and then have dinner at La Vita Bella Italian Restaurant. Optional Happy Hour at the hotel’s 4th Floor Terrace!

Day 4 – Wednesday, January 15: The Coffee process after Harvest
In the morning we will visit the offices of CECOCAFEN exporting cooperative and the cooperative-owned SOLCAFE coffee mill. At CECOCAFEN Cooperative, we will learn all about the exporting process.
After lunch in Matagalpa, we will stop by the Coffee Museum to learn about the history of coffee production in the Matagalpa region.
In the afternoon, we will drive to SOLCAFE Coffee Mill, where we will experience the milling and sorting of coffee beans and learn about all of the processing that happens to coffee between harvesting and exporting. As part of this experience, we will participate in a coffee cupping (just like wine tasting!), experiencing the complexities of coffee aromas and flavors.
From there, we will stop by our hotel to pick up our luggage, and return to the community of La Pita to meet our homestay families and have dinner in their homes. Accommodations with homestay families in La Pita.

Day 5 – Thursday, January 16: Garden Project
Breakfast will be with our host families. We will then work on a group fieldwork project in a home garden or in the cooperative’s school garden. We will have lunch together. In the afternoon we will take a nature walk in the forest reserve above the cooperative with a local naturalist. Dinner and evening time will be enjoyed with your host family.

Day 6 – Friday, January 17: Traditional food workshop and visit to San Ramon local crafts shop
Farewell breakfast with host families, followed by a traditional cooking workshop with members of the Denis Gutierrez cooperative. Find out how to make traditional nacatamales, and enjoy a festive goodbye lunch with homestay families and the cooperative. In the afternoon, we will stop by San Ramon to visit the local crafts shop there, and then travel back to our hotel in Matagalpa for dinner and rest. Optional Happy Hour at the hotel’s 4th Floor Terrace!

Day 7 – Saturday, January 18: Youth Leadership & Food Security Project in Ramon Garcia Cooperative
Breakfast at the hotel. We travel to the Ramon Garcia Cooperative for a presentation by the cooperative and a visit to home gardens that are part of CAN’s Youth Leadership & Food Security Project. We will enjoy a delicious lunch prepared by Doña Candida at the Ramon Garcia cooperative.
Next we travel back to Matagalpa to rest in our hotel before going out on the town for a farewell dinner with our friends from UCA San Ramon.

Day 8 – Sunday, January 19: Visit to Laguna de Apoyo and Crafts Stands
Early in the morning we will leave for the Laguna de Apoyo, a stunningly beautiful volcanic lake outside the city of Masaya. We will spend the day at San Simean Ecolodge swimming, kayaking, hiking and bird watching, and enjoy a nice lunch on an open-air deck looking out over the lake. In the afternoon we will visit the arts & crafts stands along the Masaya highway, where we can browse and buy beautiful Nicaraguan handicrafts to take home with us. Then we drive to Managua to the Las Mercedes Hotel in front of the airport, to have dinner and relax.

Day 9 – Monday, January 20: Travel day from Managua to U.S.
Enjoy fresh tropical fruits for breakfast before heading to the airport for a smooth trip back home

 

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