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We started the day with breakfast at the hostel and then shared a taxi to the minibus station with the older lady Kaley we had mat the previous night. At the station we parted ways as we were heading north towards Honduras and she was heading south. Our trip was a short jaunt to the small cowboy frontier town of Esteli. We checked into Hostel Luna which was a hostel and accompanying cafe that supported local development projects with its earnings. We then had lunch at the cafe and I decided to finally get my hair cut while Shannon scooped out a place for a massage. We later reconvened and did a walking tour of the town, booked a tour for the next day, had some supper and then headed back to the hostel where we read for a couple of hours and went to bed really early.
Somoto
Just down the road from Esteli is the frontier town of Somoto but we were not going there for the town we were going there to “tour” the Somoto Canyon which involves a hike up toward the head waters, a partial walk down the river bank, swimming/floating the river the rest of the way while looking up at the jetting canyon walls on either side of you, then a small boat ride and finally a short walk back to the house we started at. So wouldn’t you know it but the only other gringos on the bus to Somoto to also attend the canyon tour were the Bostonites Christy and Chris we had met in Leon. This tour was a little different than most as there is a family that runs the tours. We ended up having lunch, supper and staying at their small ranch house. The walk was a hot dusty trip up the road, through cow fields and up a hill until we finally hit the river. We started walking along the bank of the river which was made of huge rounded rocks. We walked until the river started to pool, at which point our guide pulled out his blow up dingy. We piled our dry clothes etc. in the dingy and then jumped into the cool water with our life jackets, which helped us float along. The greatest part of this tour was the perspective you had floating down the river as the canyon walls started to rise up to 30 meters or more and the river narrowed to 8 meters across at times. The canyon funnelled us through thin river straights with shear rock walls going up to the heavens. Despite the heat of the day, the coolness of the water sucked the heat right out of us. We later laid on the hot rocks at the end to warm up. We walked back to the family residence, had some beers and a typical Nicaragua supper of tortillas, rice, beans, and chicken in a tomato salsa (steamed vegetables for Shannon). We drank some more beers, talked with the family as best we could and then the four gringos played some cards and headed off to bed as we all had an early day of travel the next morning in opposite directions.
Somoto
Just down the road from Esteli is the frontier town of Somoto but we were not going there for the town we were going there to “tour” the Somoto Canyon which involves a hike up toward the head waters, a partial walk down the river bank, swimming/floating the river the rest of the way while looking up at the jetting canyon walls on either side of you, then a small boat ride and finally a short walk back to the house we started at. So wouldn’t you know it but the only other gringos on the bus to Somoto to also attend the canyon tour were the Bostonites Christy and Chris we had met in Leon. This tour was a little different than most as there is a family that runs the tours. We ended up having lunch, supper and staying at their small ranch house. The walk was a hot dusty trip up the road, through cow fields and up a hill until we finally hit the river. We started walking along the bank of the river which was made of huge rounded rocks. We walked until the river started to pool, at which point our guide pulled out his blow up dingy. We piled our dry clothes etc. in the dingy and then jumped into the cool water with our life jackets, which helped us float along. The greatest part of this tour was the perspective you had floating down the river as the canyon walls started to rise up to 30 meters or more and the river narrowed to 8 meters across at times. The canyon funnelled us through thin river straights with shear rock walls going up to the heavens. Despite the heat of the day, the coolness of the water sucked the heat right out of us. We later laid on the hot rocks at the end to warm up. We walked back to the family residence, had some beers and a typical Nicaragua supper of tortillas, rice, beans, and chicken in a tomato salsa (steamed vegetables for Shannon). We drank some more beers, talked with the family as best we could and then the four gringos played some cards and headed off to bed as we all had an early day of travel the next morning in opposite directions.
hey I found your blog as I was looking up information for hostels in Somoto. Did you stay the night with the family giving the tours? How much did they charge? I'm going there for semana santa and didn't know what places there were to stay. thanks!
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