Day 9 - El Cañon Somoto

We woke up early but don't worry, I had a good night sleep so I was in a good mood! It was too early for breakfast, everything was closed. Steve even had to wake up an employee of our hotel for us to pay.

We walked about 1.5 km with our backpacks to get to the bus station and jumped on the 7:30 bus to Somoto, which is about 80 km north of Esteli but it took us about 2.5 hours. The bus was packed and Steve spent maybe half of the ride standing because there were a lot of older people and he would give up his seat to them like a true gentleman. 

This old man was sweet. We tried to chat a little bit and I offered him an apple that we bought at the bus station before leaving and he was very happy. 

When he left, an old woman took his place beside me. She had a small plastic bag in her hand and in the bag, there was a chicken… I mean a live chicken! I guess it's the Nicaraguan version of our North American chihuahua purse!

Steve did his best to take a good picture but it's not like he had a ton of room to position himself to take the best picture!

Once in Somoto, our host, Bryan, was waiting for us at the bus station. He is a British with a Canadian citizenship as well, he spent time in the States and has been living in Nicaragua for 10 years. Finally! Someone who can speak English! It was good to have a little break! I love Spanish but, since I'm the official interpreter and I do all the talking, after a while, my brain gets overloaded and needs a break.

Bryan made us jump into his pickup bed. I know it sounds childish but I always wanted to do that. It was very cool! We didn't go very far, maybe 10 km, but it was very cool!

We dropped our bags in our room at the farm and left with our guides for the canyon. The descent to the river was not easy. Steve was not super ecstatic with this part. Going down a steep hill on slippery rocks was not exactly his favorite activity but once in the river, he was back to normal and very happy to be there. Swimming in the river and seeing the view of the deep canyon from the inside was priceless! Unfortunately, the guide had my phone in a dry bag and I was only able to take a few pictures and they are so not up to what we saw and experienced!

We had a few jumps to make to go forward, that I would qualify as… freakin' high! Even though some innocent young boys, filled with an overload of testosterone, jumped from at least 4 times the height we jumped from! 

I was tremendously glad to see that Steve, with time, was now wiser and smarter… and less cocky.

It was a very handsome moment! Even Youppi hiked his own miniature canyon!

We were only 3 kilometers away from Honduras, which made us reconsider our itinerary. We looked at the possibility of making a small detour there but after some research, we found out that it was too dangerous so, for the love of our moms, we forgot the idea.

After this intense workout, we went back to the farm and enjoyed a very welcomed lunch. It was pass 2:30 PM and the only food we had eaten since the morning was a banana and an apple. 

And now was the time for a beer! We settled comfortably in hammocks, or should I say Steve settled comfortably because I got the broken hammock, and we enjoyed our well deserved beer with our friend, Mr. Dinner...

Not long before the sunset, we went for a walk by the canyon. It was very charming!

We even got a revelation that night! We didn't know why beef, in Nicaragua, didn't taste the same than back home… Steve's theory is that they don't have cows, they have cowkeys! Look!!! Don't you find that these animals are the result of a donkey who had babies with a bull or vice versa?! Anyway, it's just a theory but I think he's right! 

And BOOM! This is the proof! I found the female donkey (ok, I admit it's hard to see like that but I'm sure it's a female) and the bulls!

That night, had dinner with 3 Deutsch guests and Bryan joined us. We had super interesting conversations about politics, the life in Nicaragua, the culture and many other things.

It was a great day! And it was also the day where we had officially traveled from the south of Nicaragua, right by the Costa Rica borders to the north, by the Honduras borders.