Canyon and Beach

In May we were able to do enjoy a few things Nicaragua has to offer for tourists. Seth and I went to Somoto Canyon, which is located up north near the Honduran border. It has been locally known for decades, but recently discovered as a touristy place to go. We took a tour of the canyon, which entailed hiking in about 30 minutes and then walking on rocks on the river until you get to a point where the canyon narrows and the river deepens...that is where you have to swim. We would swam a little ways and then it would be shallow enough to walk for a little bit and then we swam again and so on. There was also a great place to cliff jump as you can see by Seth diving in...I jumped too, but nobody took any pictures. By the end of the tour we were both so tired of swimming we were happy to walk the 20 minutes out of the canyon to catch the bus. It was a beautiful place and we would say it is a uniquely Nicaraguan experience...we have not seen anything like this any of our other travels in Central America and it was also a lot of fun.

We also spent a weekend with our friends the Forry's, fellow MCCers who live up north in Matagalpa, at San Juan del Sur. You may recall this town from other entries we have done. We have been to San Juan del Sur to go to the beach various times over our 2 years and 7 months. We spent time at three different beaches (San Juan, Coco and Remanso), as well as enjoyed eating good food and catching up. This beach time was a little different than our other visits because we went with Steve, Colleen and their kids...going to the beach with kids is always different, but fun. It was fun to watch Zach and Nathaniel playing in the waves and rolling around in the sand with them. I don't know if I have ever had so much sand in my swimsuit. Of course, kids don't lay around at the beach so you can't read or stay in the sun as long, so our trips to the beaches were shorter, but it was a good time. Also, the Forry's had their jeep, so it made it a lot easier to leave when the kids needed to, as opposed to the water taxi that drops you off in the morning and picks you up in the afternoon...not too kid friendly. Steve and Colleen will be ending their 3 year term with MCC in the end of July, so it was nice to have the chance to hang out with them in a beautiful setting.