A Little Slice of Heaven
Journey to the lush mountains of Matagalpa, Nicaragua, as I recount life on my family's fourth-generation coffee farm. From the chilly mist of rainforest mornings to the rich aroma of...
It must have been around the year 1966 - for my brother Roberto hadn’t been born yet - I would sleep with my younger sister Lily in a room on the second floor of the wooden hacienda my maternal grandparents had deep in the beautiful and luscious mountains of Matagalpa. These mountains are located high in the North central region in the land of Lakes and Volcanoes, Nicaragua, in the heart of Central America.
The weather always merited a sweater on top of our PJ’s or clothes and rubber boots to walk in muddy dirt roads. Today, the weather is still mostly rainforest but global warming has had is effects - during winter months (Nov-Feb) temperatures are generally chilly (chicalai in Nahuatl) mixed with gentle fog and mist. It can range anywhere between 65-85 degrees Farenheit.
The sounds of early waking wild and farm animals alike, mixed with the sweet voice of local indigenous people would enter thru open windows caressing me to wake up. It always felt like a piece of heaven!
My maternal grandfather Esteban McEwan was a first-born generation Nicaraguan, son of Scottish immigrant Steven Foster McEwan & beautiful local girl, Claudina Blandón. Esteban married my Nicaraguan-born grandmother, Mina Callejas, who was from a city in the North Pacific part of Nicaragua, Chinandega, where my mother was later born.
My grandfather met my grandmother during his military service. As a young couple building a life together & having children my grandfather eventually decided to leave his military life and become a farmer - he died at 72 years of age leaving my grandmother & family 11 farms (cattle, citrics, coffee). Great job for a first generation Scottish-Nicaraguan man!
After six decades of life, I’ve returned to those enchanting mountains where the ferns grow huge on their own by the side of the road; where the smell of coffee permeates the “cocina de mozos” ~ or worker’s cafetería like my cousin Brenda, who grew up in the US, calls it. I’m back in that little piece of heaven for good. I invite you to join me every month to share with you about the beautiful environment on which our coffee grows, the people that grow it for you, the yearly processes and the passion we all feel for our little piece of heaven.
Welcome to El Quetzal Estate
