To start off, check out a pic of our awesome super-bowl party:
The one and only, Bridget, hosted a great party to watch the game. There are a few visiting brothers here in this pic: The two up front in the middle are a couple bethelites, Joe and Louis, who stayed in our place for a few days. Then, the dude on the floor in the back is Chad. Friends with Bridget, he stayed with us for a while also. Awesome dude, originally from Minnesota, same place as Bridget, and moved to DR. But he travels everywhere because he's involved in international hall construction. He told us tons of cool stories of the places hes been and seen, his latest trip being Republic of Georgia and Azerbaijan, near Russia. Awesome stuff.
Who would have known that this place was only a short ten minute drive from our house in Esteli? Bridget knew... So, after the arrival of Chad, we went to some really cool locations, this waterfall being one of them.
Here's our crew at the waterfall. Veronica, Chad, and Bridget.
Jenga with rocks
So apparently, this is the waterfall during the dry season. Much less water than what it usually is. Bridget said if we went in December, that's when it's the fullest. I jumped in the freezing, mountain water, which was super refreshing... but still super cold... Esteli is in the mountains and doesn't get that hot mid-day compared to other places in Nicaragua.
And now, for the remainder of this discussion, I'm going to talk about my second-favorite place I've been to so far in Nicaragua, best being the Laguna.
The Canyon Adventure.
The drive was about 2 hours north of Esteli, almost at the border of Honduras, but it's worth it. After the drive, there is a short hike to the innards of the canyon.
Chad getting up-close and personal with some cattle.
Yea... I didn't want to post this, but I felt like I just had to talk about it. Bridget's funny and likes to make shy-type people, like me, feel uncomfortable, you know, that brutal thing supervisors do. (if you don't know what a supervisor is, then ask someone who knows about that personality test). So, here we are holding hands... I'm probably thinking to myself there: "goodness, why is this happening."
I know it's an unnecessary amount of hiking pics, but heck, why not throw in a picture of people crossing a stream on a log. Enjoy it. Hey, you know if you right click on this picture, you can save it into your picture folder and keep it forever? Why not ......
Here we go, the start of the real canyon. The river gets deeper and narrower and so do the canyon walls.
Pictures of nature...
Our tour guide: a kid with a shirt saying, "I am a Nicaraguan."
We did some adventurous things. Here's Phil doing some rock climbing.
The scenery slowly changes as you get further into the canyon.
Unfortunately, the pictures can't grasp the depth and awesomeness of being at the canyon in person.
And here was the grand finale. We were brought to a deep, wide, pool section where we could climb up really high and jump. The pictures make it look so much less than how it really feels. It was maybe a 40 foot jump... probably something like jumping 3 stories. Here's Chad, being the first one to take the leap.
I love this picture that Bridget took for some reason. You can see Phil at the top, looking down, and me in the water on the opposite corner. I counted a 3, 2, 1... and then screamed GO! ... I guess that helped 'cuz he went.
As such.
Not gonna lie, it's intimidating... you just tell yourself to go, or have someone else tell you.
And, the group pic. Here's our crew: Phil, Lynette, Bridget, Chad, and myself.
Now I understand why Bridget made sure to take us to the canyon while Chad was visiting. It really is a must-see place and awesome day trip when you're visiting Esteli.
Later.
