Selva Negra Hotel is located in kilometer 140, between the cities of Matagalpa and Jinotega highway. It is located on the historical highlands, where German immigrants set up the first coffee farm back in the 19th century. Their descendants are the founders of the Selva Negra Ecolodge, which still preserves some centenary traditions. The Resort still keeps interesting historical articles such as the original Railroad with no rails, that was brought to Nicaragua by German Immigrants, and was used for coffee transportation from the farm to Corinto Port, for exporting.
The property that Selva Negra Ecolodge occupies is part of “La Hammonia” Farm which was acquired by Eddy Kühl and Mausi Hayn in 1975 at which time it was strictly a coffee farm. The hotel, a complex of cabins, was built the same year under the name of Selva Negra, the name has been preserved and used ever since for the hotel, roasted coffee, and overall marketing.
In addition to the coffee production and the hotel, alternative sources of production have been developed over the last 30 years whether for in-house consumption or income generation. These include organic meat and milk products including the production of cheese such as Gouda, Manchego, Camembert, Feta; vegetables and fruit crops, pork and sausages, laying hens and meat chickens, etc.
The trails that traverse the mountains are of different lengths and difficulty and require different efforts on behalf of the tourist. The trails have benches in order to enjoy the song of birds, of which there are more than 250 reported to date; see the fresh water streams; hear the roar of howler monkeys, find hundreds of orchids, bromeliads, begonias, big rubber plants, fern trees, willows of amazing height and many protected flora and fauna. Basically one can just sit and be in touch with nature.
The hotel staff is mostly made out of people who live in the property also, wives and children of workers. Some of them have been with us since the beginning in 1975; others have retired but have left their children in their old positions. We work as one big family.
Environmental projects are carried out each year always seeking for new, better, and more efficient systems. Some of these projects include having earth tubs decontaminate coffee wastewater, improved system for treating bathrooms and toilets’ sewage, reforestation, methane gas production, microorganism production to improve soil quality, etc.
