Y bienvenidos a Estelí.

MaggieJo in Bristol had spent a lot of time up in the north of Nicaragua and had said I should visit Estelí, describing it as a ' cowboy town '. The Lonely Planet guide says it has a 'multi-faceted soul'.
There are yoga centres with vegetarain cafes. It has a one-way system that most people abide by. It has a central park in front of the cathedral. It has clean gutters. There are horses tied to lamp posts and the men who ride them have cowboy hats on. There are a lot of pick up trucks and an air of relative prosperity. It lacks the scruffiness of León. It has a bus station with named bays and streets that are numbered. The sky has been overcast since I got here so it is like an English summer's day. It has 2 museums but only 1 is open. There is a library.  Being in the north, it saw a lot of action in the Contra War, and a lot of land hereabouts was given to people in recognition of their efforts, so there are umpteen cooperatives. It is on the Pan-American highway so there are big trucks passing by. The only tourists seem to be backpackers enjoying Café Luna's WiFi.