Selva Negra

Today I woke up early to try to find the tour agency, Matagalpa tours. I had called the night before and was told that they didn't have any tours scheduled but I could come by and check tomorrow. So  my plan was to get up early and get to the office at 8 am (when they open). Well I got up early but didn't get to the office until after 8 am. When I got to Matagalpa tours they told me they had a tour earlier and wouldn't have any other tours today but I could try again tomorrow. So I asked them  if there were any other tour agencies. I was directed to Nativos tours which my hostel had also mentioned just not by name. So I went to find Nativos tours. I actually almsost walked past it. I stopped to take a picture of a mural on the side of the building and it happened to be the tour place.

mural on wall of nativos tours

The door was closed so I knocked on the door. I knocked twice before it was opened. I met Guillermo.


Guillermo the tour guide :-)

I asked about tours and was told that I could get a tour today and the price would be the same even if it was just 1 person. I was told to come back at 11:30 (1.5 hours later). I went back to the hostel and relaxed for a bit then I got dressed and got ready to go. Then around 11:15 am I walked back to the tour place. I met Carmen, a girl from Germany, who was going on the tour also. We began our tour in the city. Guillermo showed us murals and the cathedral. Then we jumped on a bus to Selva Negra. We got off the bus a short while later and began walking toward the entrance for the jungle. We were picked up by a truck (the kind that you can put cars in back) and got a ride to the entrance.
We hiked for at least 5 hours and I got to see monkeys.

Anyone that knows me well knows I love monkeys. So I was super happy. I got to talk with Carmen and Guillermo. I actually taught Carmwn about Soca and dancehall queen contest (last one not so good). We had some really interesting conversations and they are really cool people. Then around 5 pm we left the park. We missed the first bus because of Guillermo but caught the second bus back. When we got back to town Carmen went to buy some stuff for her trip (she was leaving Matagalpa tomorrow). I went back with Guillermo to pay the rest of my tour and to wait for Carmen so I could show her Soca and Dancehall. When she came back we spent sometime listening to Soca and watching dancehall videos until we had enough of the videos. If you don't know what the dancehall queen contest is you really don't need to waste your time. Guillermo had told Carmen and I that he would let us make a video of him making howler monkey sounds and he would attempt to do some dance/dancehall moves. When we asked him to show us (we were goig to videotape it) he told us he was shy. I had told him if he did this I would rate his tour a 5 but unfortunately he lied. I walked back to the hostel and watched tv until I went to bed.  I had a great day. Met great people. Now I'm ready for the next adventure!