Nicaragua : Estelí and Somoto 

Travel companion : Anja

Leaving Matagalpa behind, I continued north with Anja to the town of Estelí. Another liberal town that has been badly scarred by the war – in the 80s the US backed Contra would attack from the mountains. 

Although Estelí is a friendly working town, the real draw is the surrounding Miraflor nature reserve. Through the Tree Huggers not for profit group we arranged our own trip into this community. On horseback we could visit the mid level and highest communities, learn to make tortillas and hike in the cloud forest, plus lunch in a family’s home for about $28 each. 

The next day we woke up to torrential rain but soldiered on in the dark to the bus stop at 5am, our shoes (walking boots where are you when I need you?!) already soaked through and clutching our packed lunches. 

The road was the worst road I’ve been on and that’s saying something. The poor buses simply go until they break down, which is frequent. 

Our guide turned up late – the poor guy had to come via motorbike in the rain at 4am to get the horses ready for us. The organisation hires local community guides and the income can provide for a family for a week. He spoke with enthusiasm about the anti littering project he’s involved in, meanwhile he works on the land. Previously he worked in t-shirt factories, selling clothes, tried to make it in Costa Rica and Panama for a better life for his family. There are some extremely resilient and determined people in Nicaragua.

The rain lifted and revealed that we were high above the clouds. We rode up to the higher communities and saw the difference in living conditions – there is no electricity and the conditions aren’t right for growing coffee, only potatoes. It was extremely valuable to see this rural side of Nicaraguan life.

The final challenge of my Nicaraguan journey was the Somoto Canyon. My understanding was that this entailed an easy enough hike and some pleasant swimming and floating through the canyon itself, with some OPTIONAL jumps into the water. After a two hour chicken bus ride we arrived at Henry’s house, an unexpectedly tall local man who has made a business out of Canyon tours. ‘Everyone ok with a 5 metre jump right ‘ he said casually. Turns out due to the rain the conditions had changed and this jump was now non negotiable as ‘there’s no way back’. Going with the ‘Live each day as if it’s your last’ approach I decided to do it (plus surely there must actually be a way back in case of emergency). 

Then commenced 4 hours of hell. The rain had raised the water level to swirling dirty yellow rapids. ‘Float! Float!’ shouted Orvin. Suddenly I realised ‘floating’ actually meant white water rafting without the raft, just trying to keep your head above water and not get smashed by rocks. 

After a few ‘floats’ it became apparent that we really couldn’t go back. How they haven’t been sued yet by an American tourist I have no idea as we didn’t sign anything. When the time came to jump in, (definitely more than 5m and necessary to avoid a rapid whirlpool) I had lost it completely. The only reasons I jumped were a) the rest of group were now waiting and shivering in the water shouting encouragments of ‘You can do it Marianne!!’ and b) tour guide Olvin kept his promise to hold my hand and jump in tandem, me attached to him like a limpet. In fact he had held my hand and dragged me most of the way. 

When we finally got to dryland, Olvin remarked ‘Oh you’re smiling! You’re pretty now – you weren’t earlier when you were shouting “3 more hours of this?!”‘ He nicknamed himself my ‘boyfriend and life saver for the day’. 

And that’s the last chapter in my Nicaraguan story – for now! Next stop the Honduras, after a two day failed attempt to buy a bus ticket…