We arrive in Somoto on August 5th, at 3pm,in “chicken bus” of course. At the bus terminal, we are accosted by a man, Bayardo Soriano.He has been waiting for us since late morning, not knowing which bus we had taken from Estéli…An hour later we are at his farm in Sonis, located at the entrance of the canyon. We put our tent in the garden next to the 2 rooms that it rents. The soil is rocky and it is difficult to plant our pegs.
In the early evening, we go with him to bring his cows and calves back to the farm. Dona Susana, his wife, has meanwhile prepared our evening meal served by Vanessa, the youngest of their 4 daughters : the meal, simple but generous, faithfully reflects the character of our guests. Don Bayardo seems to have inherited the qualities of his chivalrous French homonym (Knight Bayard), and I readily believe him without fear and beyond reproach. His family is united, the couple has been together for 30 years , their 4 children and their grandchildren live by their side in houses on the same ground, their smiles and eyes modestly translating a happiness to live simple. For a week we live with them, we feel part of their family and their solicitude is permanent: when it is not Don Bayardo who does not want us to sleep under tent on the second night, rainy to torrent, it is his wife who comes to help Lili, suffering from a lumbago blocking her in bed all day or Claudia, the eldest daughter, who administers a local remedy when Nicky does not feel well .
On this farm, our daughters are surrounded by chickens, chicks, cows, calves, pigs, cat, dogs … when they get to wake up early, they help Don Bayardo milk his cows.
We do not hurry to the canyon and take advantage of the nearby river to bathe there, weather permitting. On Monday, Don Bayardo took us two steps from the Honduran border, a dozen kilometers from Sonis, to look for his donkeys and guided us, by mule track, to another river, with steep banks, where we swam to refresh ourselves. The storm took us by surprise and we had to turn back, because the ground had become too muddy in places and too slippery to others. We took shelter in one of her aunts whose coffee and smile allowed us to warm ourselves up.
Generally, the tourists come to Somoto for the day, arriving from Managua or Estéli, in the morning, to leave at about 4 o’clock in the afternoon. All organized by travel agencies from these cities, offering an all-in (transportation, canyon tour, meal) at $ 25 per person. And these agencies work almost exclusively with a local guide, more clever or more eager than others, also referenced by international travel guides (lonely planet, among others).
Don Bayardo does not envy him and prefers to continue to work by recommendation and word-of-mouth. He was already there, up and down the canyon in 1998 before it was “discovered” by Czechs in 2002/2003 and then declared a national monument and open to tourists (in 2006, I believe). The local guides, forty or so, organized themselves into a cooperative, divided into 5 groups, each welcoming visitors to the entrance of the canyon one day a week (weekend, there is work for all, generally). The income of the visits made by Don Bayardo is shared with the other guides of his group, and reciprocally.
Of course, we did the canyon with Don Bayardo and his daughter Claudia, who is also learning to become guide. The waters were not too deep despite the rains of the last days but disturbed by the mud caused by these rains.
It did not take away from the majesty of the landscape or the unprecedented experience for us, to swim down the river (with a lifejacket) or on a buoy, leaving us carried by the currents or hung along the steep walls. We swim down the river at ease and let other groups (we do not have buses to catch), led by younger and more inexperienced guides, who do not hesitate to ask Don Bayardo for advice on how to cross this or that torrent. Midway, we had a moment of great anguish, when Lara decided to jump after her sisters and Némo, from a 6 or 7 meters high rock. It’s her second attempt, she looks down at the river, jumps up, then panicked, turns around and tries to catch up with Don Bayardo, who could not hold back Lara falling, brushing her head against the rock. Fortunately, she fell straight, without touching anything, feet first … More afraid than bad and we finish the descent without incident but under a fine rain.
The next day we leave and it is a tear for all.
Upon arriving, we thought we would stay one day, for the canyon, and we finally stayed a week at Don Bayardo’s farm. It is for moments of life like those shared with him and his family that we travel and we hope that our lucky star will make us meet other beautiful people as sincere and generous.