Esteli and the Impressive Somoto Canyon

Travel for us, as you know by now, is nearly always taxing as the language barrier makes getting around difficult, not to mention always having to be completely aware of all your surroundings as the giant backpack you're carrying doubles as a target for thieves. This time was different though as we travelled with a sense that angels were watching over us. It started with our taxi driver in Leon, I was so comfortable with him I almost fell asleep as he took us to the bus stop. Next, the chicken bus ticket man moved someone so Travis and I could sit together just before it pulled away 15 minutes earlier than the departure time, which if you have ever been to a developing country before you know that nothing leaves early or even on time. Along the way a big man whom we had a bad feeling about from the moment we saw him stood leaning over Travis on the packed bus, we kept looking up at our bags ready to jump up if he tried to grab one. After a while he moved back to the front and three locals quickly told me his hand was in my bag. Grateful for their help I checked the top of my bag and saw that his attempt to steal from us had been in vain and once again we were made thankful for the divine protection over us.  

Esteli is up in the northern highlands of Nicaragua and the temperature is much cooler than Leon. With the climate being so comfortable it reminded us of Boquete in Panama so we settled in for the week. Our Swiss friends met up with us and we decided to spend an afternoon checking out another waterfall together. As we travelled up a rough gravel road on the chicken bus talking and laughing, the bus came to a very unexpected stop. Travis was nearest to the front and told us that some locals on a motorbike were blocking the road. However, before Travis could even finish telling us why we had stopped, 7 men had quickly jumped out of the bus and proceeded to confront the men blocking the road. With a bunch of angry locals and Travis standing firm in front of me I didn't feel like this potential robbery was going to get very far. After a few minutes the bus was moving again and the potential crisis had been averted. The waterfall was nothing fancy and the water very cold but as always we had fun together. We went for a quick swim behind the waterfall, took some pictures and quickly swam back to shore. Upon exiting the water we were rudely reminded of how uncomfortable goose bumps can be. 

The next day was our big adventure, the reason we came all the way north. The four of us traveled by bus for two hours to the hamlet of Somoto, close to the Honduras boarder, where we were loaded into the box of a little truck to finish our journey. From the local family run farm, we were given our life jackets and headed out on foot for two kilometres to the famous Somoto canyon. Just ten years ago this canyon was discovered by the outside world and we are quite thankful it was. The canyon was impressive and awe inspiring, with the canyon walls reaching heights of 200 feet. We floated down the cool waters and jumped in multiple times, yes jumped. With Travis' instruction and encouragement I was able to do a little cliff jumping. I say a little because I only jumped from about 2 metres, which still beat my previous jump by nearly two metres. We had such an enjoyable experience together and with our friends, which as always, included lots of laughter and funny moments. With this being our last activity for Nicaragua, we felt satisfied that we had truly seen the country and we began to prepare for El Salvador.