Geography of Coffee -- Coffee Brewing and Preparation
Geography of Coffee
Matagalpa Study Tours
James Hayes-Bohanan , Ph.D.
Bridgewater State College Geography
UPDATED February 26, 2008

Students in Coffee harvestI am planning to lead another Matagalpa Tour in January 2009, again near the end of the harvest. We have had good trips with Managua-based, "regular" tour operators, but we are now in preliminary discussions with Matagalpa Tours, which will be able to give us an even richer experience. As before, this is not a trip for those who need all the comforts of home. It will be the trip of a lifetime, though, for students who want a real-world experience with coffee, from the soil to the bean to the export processing, and who want a first-hand understanding of the sustainable agroforestry in one of the most fascinating cloud-forest regions of the world.

As with past courses, any student can take the January 2009 class (which will have some mandatory pre-tour and post-tour meetings). The class is conducted in English and no prior geography courses are required, but those planning to take the course would benefit from studying Spanish and taking geography course  or two beforehand.
Cafezinho - Brazil
Cafezinho in Florianópolis
Matagalpa Tours -- To know the unexplored of northern Nicaragua
"To know the unexplored of northern Nicaragua"

As the course draws closer, you can get more detailed information and fees and apply to participate by contacting our International and Exchange Programs office: www.bridgew.edu/international. Meanwhile, feel free to contact me with questions about the trip.

BSC student with coffee kid
The Coffeeland Landmine Victims' Trust connects the coffee industry to landmine victims throughout the coffee-growing areas of the world. Unfortunately, this includes the Contra War area of Nicaragua. I look forward to working with the Trust during the 2009 study tour. Our journey will take us back to Ben Linder's grave in Matagalpa, but this time we will also go to the Ben Linder café in Leon. This café was established with the help of Deans Beans. It honors the martyred North American engineer while helping farmers and victims of land mines. It is also a source of something rare in commercial establishments in Nicaragua: a decent cup of coffee!

See the Managua to Matagalpa page for stories from our 2006 journey to the coffee lands of Nicaragua or the Matagalpa Reprise page for highlights from 2007, including a lot of insights I missed during the first trip.

Coffee families - Matagalpa (c) Matt Kadey
Canadia journalist Matthew Kadey joined our 2007 tour. He took excellent photographs and published "Nicaragua: Ecotourism allies with fair trade in Central America " in Fresh Cup magazine.

See more professional photos from throughout Matagalpa on Matt's Flickr account or see my less-than-professional photos in my 2006 Flickr set or my 2007 Flickr set.

Coffee is hard work!
 

Dr. James Hayes-Bohanan
Chair, Department of Geography -- Bridgewater State College
Bridgewater, Massachusetts USA / EEUU / EUA