Ever since I read about Somoto Canyon, I have wanted to visit. As you know, my Somoto Canyon day trip was intended for Wednesday, but I messed that up big time! I tried again yesterday and the day started fine; I got a taxi and held onto my wallet and bag for dear life.
Chicken Bus Win!
Once I boarded and saw a woman carrying actual chickens onto the bus, I knew it was a good sign! Some people go whole vacations without seeing a chicken on the chicken bus, and I got two chickens on my 4th chicken bus! The day was going to be good!
I made it to Somoto Canyon and it is beautiful!
Somoto Canyon Tour
The weather was in my favor and it was a beautiful day for the Somoto Canyon tour, sunny and warm. The tour involves hiking, jumping, and swimming, and all three repeated over and over. A hot sunny day is the perfect time to be jumping into cool water. And the water was clear and refreshing! The jumps were mostly from reasonable heights. The highest height I jumped from was 6 meters, but most leaps were only 2 or 3.
About Somoto Canyon
Somoto Canyon was likely formed by an earthquake ripping apart a mountain millions of years ago. It’s located in the far north of Nicaragua, and only a few kilometers from the Honduran border – my guide, Luis, pointed out a path where people escaped to Honduras to go north to the U.S.
somoto canyon day trip swimming
Everything about the park was beautiful. The blue sky, the refreshing water, the cliffs. I also enjoyed the variety of activities. I’d get tired of scrambling over slippery rocks, and then it was time to jump in and go swimming!
Cows in Somoto Canyon
Some of the sections were not so beautiful: there are farms all along the canyon, and cattle. Cow dung was EVERYWHERE! And damn, cow dung is huge. Fortunately, the tour guide gave me a pair of junky shoes to use so I didn’t care about them.
Long Day Trip
It was a long day. I caught a taxi at 6am, the bus at 6:30, another bus to the tour HQ from Somoto terminal at 9am, got geared up, and started hiking soon after that, was back for lunch around 2pm, and had another set of buses starting at 2:30pm. I was back in my hostel around 5pm.
Last night I had an amazing sleep and I’m so glad I did the Somoto Canyon day trip. It took me a while to get there, but I appreciated the beauty and tranquility of it once I was there. Oh to swim in a canyon. I could do that more often, if it was only closer.
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