And here we are at the border with Nicaragua waiting for our passports to receive the approval from the main immigration office. Apparently, we were supposed to send an entrance request at least one week ago, weird that no traveller nor border agent has ever told us.
Finally, we manage to officially enter in Nicaragua and… there it goes the last bus toward Somoto. Well, WELCOME to you Nicaragua! Luckily, the road is all downward from the border of El Espino to the Canyon and the views are truly breathtaking so not really we can cry about much. After a couple of kilometres, the power of the thumb-out get us a ride on a pick-up straight in front to our final destination for the day: Casa Ricardo. This little guesthouse/homestay is located just a slingshot from the entrance of the Somoto Cañon in the community known as Sonis. The place only have a couple but spacious rooms with views on the Cañon + valley below and a very basic bathroom with the shower being just a bucket of water but… all of this comes at the cheap price of 5$/pp and it also includes breakfast!
But Casa Ricardo its not just a guesthouse, in fact it’s also a small cooperative of local guides (6 people) which has been raised up in this area all their lives and now offer guided tours inside the Somoto Cañon. In comparison with all the other tour companies, Ricardo offers dirty cheap tours which also include lunch (very very tasty homemade lunch) and can be completely tailored to your needs. Consider that if you were to show up at the Cañon entrance on the day without any reservation whatsoever, only then you will pay the same fee that you pay with Ricardo. Crazy uh!
As shown in the map above, Ricardo & Co. offer four different tours: (1) Short tour 3-4h @ 12$ (only involve reaching a small part of the Cañon), (2) Medium Tour 4h @ 15$ (best tour, long-trek form the beginning to the end of the canyon), (3) Long Tour 5-6h @ 20$ (very long trek which involve a long walk along the river before reaching the medium tour route) and (4) Lookouts tour 4h @ 15$ (nice panoramic tour for those not wanting to take a dip in the canyon).
The next morning at 8.00am (after a very tasty breakfast) we are ready to start our early-morning tour on the trail number 2. As Ricardo mentioned yesterday, even him suggests the second tour cause its not exaggerate but its long enough for anybody to fully appreciate the canyon. Anyway, during the first 30min we walk a bit on the highway, a bit on some trail in the forest, then down a huge hill from which we see beautiful views of the landscape around and finally end up in front of the entrance of the Canyon.
The experience within the Canyon is simply amazing. Our guide, the brother of Ricardo, is not only super experienced but make us feel as if we’ve chosen the top quality of canyon tours; he tells us about the history of the place together with Canyon’s original name (Estrechura Natacambre), describe us the local fauna and flora, show us where its safe to jump in the water and even treat us with some hidden water slide. During our 4h round loop we walk, swim, take photos (our guide brought our DSLRs in his waterproof bag) climb and take out our daredevil souls jumping off from 10m cliffs: all of this in-between the 100m tall walls of the canyon. Thankfully, it’s so early that we literally have the canyon all to ourselves!
Only in the last tiny bit of the trail, where you have to cross a stretch of the river with a boat, we meet a dozen tourists that are now starting their “Short Tour” adventure.
But the good news are not over yet! After passing in front of the official entrance (apparently we trekked from the exit toward the entrance of the canyone) When we get back at Casa Ricardo, we find an amazing lunch featuring colossal portions of chicken, rice, cheese and beans awaiting for our return. What a beautiful way to be welcomed back!
Tired but willing to see the town of Somoto a bit, we also take a bus into town (after a well-deserved siesta) and spend a couple of hours wandering the streets, checking out the nice museum inside the Casa de la Cultura, visiting the church and enjoying a cheap ice-cream in the main park.
Visiting the Canyon was definitely an unforgettable experience which everybody should put at the top of their to-do list upon entering Nicaragua. But it has to be said, the atmosphere, kindness and professionalism of Ricardo made this experience even more special giving us that “something” other big companies who only care about the money would not give.
PLANNING A TRIP TO NICARAGUA? CHECK MORE POSTS BELOW!
[pt_view id=”86437ac6c8″]