This friendly community is surrounded by coffee farms managed by three working cooperatives. Sontule families once worked for just four prominent landowners, who owned Miraflor and compensated their workforce only with room and board. When the Sandinistas took power and nationalized the land, it was the women of Sontule who started Miraflor’s first farming collective. Stay here and you can learn all about it, join in the coffee harvest, or hike or horseback-ride up to cloud forests.

The community has English-speaking guides and a birdwatching specialist.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. La Perla

0.73 MILES

A fine place to immerse yourself in the collective-farming world of Miraflor, this small village is in the high zone, which means there are hundreds of…

2. La Pita

2.85 MILES

There are not many activities for visitors in this village, but it has some fine homestay options and it's only a 30-minute walk from Cebollal. It's also…

3. La Labranza

3.17 MILES

Best known locally as the birthplace of poet and revolutionary hero Leonel Rugama (to whom there is a small monument here), this small village has some…

4. Coyolito

3.42 MILES

The lowest settlement in Miraflor, Coyolito is also the warmest and closest to Estelí. It offers magnificent views, especially from the Mirador La Meseta,…

5. Mirador La Meseta

3.76 MILES

This lookout point near Coyolito is perched at 1100m in the dry zone and offers fine views down the valley.

6. Laguna Miraflor

4 MILES

The lovely lake that gives its name to the entire area has an attractive position surrounded by farmland. Sadly, however, the use of chemicals by some…

7. Cebollal

4.08 MILES

The first settlement to cater to tourists, Cebollal remains the most popular. You can stay with one of many families or in more comfortable cabañas and…

8. Pozo La Pila

5.44 MILES

A small layered waterfall feeds this lovely, round swimming hole enclosed by rock walls. The water flows from a local spring, so it's clean, and unlike…