San Sebastian de Yali
It’s okay if you never heard of San Sebastian de Yali. Up until 10 minutes before I boarded the chickenbus (one out of three) I found myself in that same situation. As blogger Nomadic Matt convinced me Miraflor National Park was the highlight of his trip to Nicaragua, I persuaded myself I could impossibly miss out.
Most travellers visit this natural reserve from Estelí, but as Google Maps mentioned a place called Yali right next to it, that’s exactly where I headed to. Not a lot of tourists have the same way of thinking, I concluded when I exhausted stepped out of the last rattle-bus and saw basically the entire village staring at me. Suddenly it occurred to me there might not even be a hotel here… But yes, I had the choice between a bar/hotel that also rent rooms per hour (wink wink) and a hotel and funeral service. “Better dead than loud”, I thought and opted for the last one.
I paid the 200 cordoba’s ($8) and decided to explore the town. In seven minutes I was done. So I decided to just sleep, as my dreams might have something more exciting to offer than downtown Yali.
At 5AM the owner of my hotel decided to watch The Simpsons. With the intention to entertain the entire street, apparently. Until 8AM I laws lying in bed listening to people communicating by means of screaming, cleaning the house while dropping everything a person could possibly have lifted in the first place and so it seems an entire restructuring of the house. At some point I literally heard them smashing the wall of my room with hammers. Well, maybe they can fix that Stephanie-shaped hole in the door too, because I was outta’ there.
But not before I caught a glimpse of the Miraflor of course.
At 5AM the owner of my hotel decided to watch The Simpsons. With the intention to entertain the entire street, apparently. Until 8AM I laws lying in bed listening to people communicating by means of screaming, cleaning the house while dropping everything a person could possibly have lifted in the first place and so it seems an entire restructuring of the house. At some point I literally heard them smashing the wall of my room with hammers. Well, maybe they can fix that Stephanie-shaped hole in the door too, because I was outta’ there.
But not before I caught a glimpse of the Miraflor of course.
The chickenbus taking me to the entrance took its time. 1,5 hour to be exact. It’s not strange, considering the state this bus was in (I thought a motorbike with a broken exhaust pipe was persistently following us, but nope) and the steep uneven dirt road the thing had to be steered through. I was honestly worried the pregnant girl sitting next to us might have a miscarriage along the way.
When I got there I learned that the only bus back I could take would leave in two hours, the time it would approximately take me to walk back and forth to the national park. So… I decided to just walk the road back to Yali again for two hours, as that area was considered Miraflor too and was stunning nevertheless. Waste of time? No, I had a great day. Is it the highlight of Nicaragua, as Nomadic Matt said? Nah, not under my circumstances. I think you should just go and improve my experience. And bring a tent.
What I learned:
Travelling from Matagalpa: Take a bus directly to San Rafael or via Jinotega. From there take a bus to San Sebastián de Yali.
Travelling from Somoto: Take a bus to Condega (ask the driver to stop). From there take a bus to San Sebastián de Yali.
Bring cash.
Travelling from Matagalpa: Take a bus directly to San Rafael or via Jinotega. From there take a bus to San Sebastián de Yali.
Travelling from Somoto: Take a bus to Condega (ask the driver to stop). From there take a bus to San Sebastián de Yali.
Bring cash.
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- Colonial towns in Nicaragua: León & Granada
- Volcano-hopping in Nicaragua: Isla de Ometepe, Mombacho, Masaya & Hervidores de San Jacinto
- More Nicaraguan hiking adventures: Matagalpa, Mombacho & Laguna Apoyo
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- The most authentic beach place in Nicaragua: Playa Gigante
- Places to avoid in Nicaragua: San Juan del Sur & Managua
- Check out Budget Bucket List's FAVORITE HIKING DESTINATIONS worldwide!
- Corruption at the Nicaraguan-Honduran border
- Chilean greenery at its best: Isla de Chiloe
- Outdoors lover? Head down to Ecuador and don't miss Adventure Sports Capital Banos
- A 3-day trek through the remotest parts of Bolivia
- The 4-day Adventure Sports Jungle Trek to Machu Picchu, Peru
- Getting lost in the undiscovered forests of Brazil: Itatiaia National Park, Cambará do Sul and Ilha Grande
- Green in Colombia: Minca, Salento & Tayrona National Park
- An overnight forest hike in the hottest part of Paraguay
- The green heart of Uruguay: Minas
- Nature at its finest: Monteverde, Costa Rica
- Secluded Couchsurfing in the countryside of Honduras: El Zamorano
- Hiking the Highlands: Glencoe (West Highland Way) and Isle of Skye, Scotland
- A perfect wooden cabin in the middle of absolutely nowhere: Aukštaitija National Park, Lithuania
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