As soon as we stepped off the bus, a guide had already came up to us and "claimed" us. He led us to the map of the canyon and asked us which path we wanted to take: short, medium, or long. The other team we are staying with had done the medium one the day before and said it took about 3 hours. He told us the long one was 5-8 hours. We opted for the long. So, we hopped into a pick up to take us to the start. We were each given a life jacket to float in the river when the time came.
The adventure started off as hiking. Then we were forging the river and hiking some more.
Then we were waist deep in the river, walking down stream. Some of us decided to float at that time. As we climbed over boulders, hopped from rock to rock, and waded in the river, we just took in the beauty all around us.
We eventually came across a cliff jumping site, so we all jumped. It was only about 10-15 feet. We continued down the river, further into the canyon, stopping for water and food every now and then.
At one point, our guide told us there was a cave just over the one side of the canyon if we wanted to climb up and see it. We all were excited, thinking it was something spectacular. When we finally made it up the canyon side, essentially blazing a trail as we walked, we came to this cave that you had to crawl into. Once inside, you could stand up. But we weren't alone in that cave. The cave ceiling and walls were covered in bats. Needless to say, I didn’t stay that long. We climbed back down into the canyon to continue on our adventure.
We stopped for our lunch of Snickers and Ritz and enjoyed the scenery as we ate. We then continued down canyon, meeting a group of Americans along the way who are working in a ministry in Managua. We stopped a few times for cliff jumping and diving sites, most only being 10-15 feet high. We then came to a stretch of the river that had a strong current and whipped around turns and through rapids. We all floated through it. It was better than any water slide I've ever been on! Our guide even moved a few boulders for us in the rapids parts to make it a smoother ride.
Then we get to the Big Kahuna: a 30-foot cliff jump into 60-foot deep water. Not only that, for those that were really daring, there was a 60-foot jump. Looking at it from the bottom, it didn’t seem that high; so, Ed and I climbed on up to assess the situation. When we got to the top and looked over the edge, it looked a whole lot higher. We both knew we were going to do it, but it took about 15 minutes of mental preparation. Christopher and KK climbed up after us and jumped before us. With my legs shaking violent enough for the people down below to see, I tried to muster up the courage. Then, a peace came over me. I stopped shaking and I felt ready. I ran through everything our guide told us about how to jump: arms straight at your side or crossed over your chest, legs crossed, muscles clenched. So, I jumped! I screamed the entire way down, remembering to breathe right before I hit the water. I was still wearing my life vest, so it didn’t take me that long to resurface. It was so much fun!
We then continued our float down the river, floating through rapids and still waters a like. After about an hour of floating, we climbed into a boat to take us a bit further down the river a bit quicker. We hiked a good bit more and then we were out of the canyon. We got one last look at the canyon as we ascended to return to our starting point. We had just missed the bus back to Somoto by about ten minutes, so our guide helped us make other arrangements. A friend of his was driving in that direction and was willing to drive us. While we waited for his friend, we bought some nacatamales from the locals [much better than the ones we had in Managua].
We walked to the road to meet him and his friend drove right by us. So, we were stranded. We had just missed the bus to Somoto again and it would be at least another hour for the next bus to come by, which would be too late for us to catch a bus back to our town. Our guide was such a blessing and stayed with us as we tried to figure out how to get home. We resorted to hitchhiking, but were blessed with a taxi! We fit all seven of us one taxi and drove the short drive to the bus station in Somoto.
When we got to the bus station, we asked around when the next bus to town was. The lady we talked to told us there was no more. She told us we could take this last bus that would get us to the end of the road to town. So, we bought some snacks in a pulperia until the bus was ready to depart. We all got seats this time and were comfortable on our ride home.
We arrived at the all too familiar intersection and tried to get a taxi to town. The taxi driver that stopped tried to charge us a ridiculous amount, and someone spotted a pickup truck heading into town. We asked if we could hop in and he drove us to the center of town for free. As we got out, we asked him if there were any good restaurants in town and he told us to hop back in and he drove us to a bar/comedor: the perfect end to a birthday celebration! 🙂
