Yesterday we awoke to the many sounds of city life in Esteli, Nicaragua. We were excited to be up early because we were going to Somoto Canyon. As I later found out, Elisha and I had completely different expectations of our day. She thought we were going on a walk along a river that had a nice place for a swim and some good places for pictures.
I thought we were getting strapped into life jackets and sent down a raging river canyon. Maybe we should talk more because if either of those things had come true one of us would have been very unhappy. The guide books tell you that Somoto Canyon was relatively unexplored until a group of Czech scientists stumbled across it in They claim that it was formed 5 โ 13 million years ago. With a built in margin for error like that and no way to prove them wrong, who can argue?
Ever since the Czechs found this little gem it has been visited by increasingly larger groups of tourists each year. The tour itself varies greatly depending on the time of year you visit.
Due to the fast and high waters that come during rainy season the canyon is completely closed to the public for these few months of the year. This time of year it is in between. We did actually walk alongside part of the river, but we also walked in the water and swam down more sections than naught.
One particular section gave you the option of climbing between 4 and 40 feet to jump into the next pool. I jumped from all of the available options, except the 4 footer, that was reserved for Elisha. My ass is still pretty sore from my first jump from 40 feet. I landed a little too far back and the water felt like concrete. Unfortunately when Elisha attempted to put the camera on burst shooting she put it on timer instead and completely missed my 1st jump.
