Sunday started off the Nordic Barista Cups’ week-long trip to Nicaragua, and except for a few pieces of lost luggage and a couple of delayed people, it was a great day all around.
The winning team of this year’s NBC, Sweden, was awarded a trip to this beautiful country by the generous coffee sponsor Roberto Bendana and the Nicaraguan coffee association in Gothenburg. And in a twist, one member of each of the other teams was also invited to share in the journey.
Tomorrow the visit to the coffee growing regions of the country begins. Specifically, Monday we head for Matagalpa, but today we were in the colonial city of Grenada.
It was a quick start to the tour, in the most literal way, as we trekked up the side of a local volcano to do a zip-line canopy tour through the jungle and over rows of coffee trees!
Next we headed out on Lake Nicaragua, the largest lake in Central America, on a few boats into a specatular archipeligo of tropical islets. We had drinks on one and went into the lake for a quick dip, (the island, by the way, is owned by the provisional counsel of Iceland!), and then as the sun began to set, we made our way back to Grenada. We had a big meal and then a little jet-lagged, and with a sharp drop of adrenaline after the zip-line, turned in for a good night’s rest.
The day begins early tomorrow, and it’s sure to be another great entry into the already legendary reputation of the Nordic Barista Cup.
