We followed the recommendation by Simone’s friend Ulla, who had volunteered for six months in Granada, to do a tour in Somoto Canyon. All we needed to do was to “call Henry Soriano” as both Ulla and our travel guidebook Footprint said.
We were picked up at the Somoto bus terminal by Brian Thackeray, a British novelist and supporter of Henry Soriano’s tourism project Somoto Canyon Tours.
Only about ten years ago, the canyon was discovered as a potential tourist attraction, and the region is now about to develop sustainable nature tourism, transforming the canyon into a protected area, hopefully soon with the support of UNESCO. All of the proceedings from the tours are directly benefitting the community, without middle men or tour operators being involved. The project provides work for the whole family and many young men of the village who are trained to be guides in the canyon. Part of the guides’ training are English classes, so there’s also an added value for the guides, even if they decide to start a different job later. It’s really a win-win-win situation for you, them and the environment.
Brian took us on a late-afternoon hike to the miradores overlooking the end of the canyon that we would explore the next day.
We stayed over night in a very rustic room with the large Soriano family to leave early in the morning for the six-hour canyon tour with Wintur, our excellent and attentive local guide. The tour consisted of walking, climbing over and on rocks, wading, swimming and floating through the river in the canyon, everything amidst pristine nature. After climbing down, hiking and flying through canyons, we finally got to swim and take a boat through one as well.
We even got to jump from rocks into the canyon several times, Simone cautiously opting for a maximum height of 2–3 m and Jan going for the 4 m challenge. Finally, we took a boat to reach Henry’s place again, where delicious homemade lunch was served.
Sometimes, great people make great places even more amazing and special. That’s what we felt when we left Somoto after an incredible personal and adventurous experience.
