Somoto

I almost died on Monday.

There is a canyon that runs through Somoto, Nicaragua. This Canyon houses the longest and largest river in Central America. Under normal circumstances, you can strap on a life vest and just float unassumingly down the river, but a heavy rain the night before ensured no such relaxing experience.

The rain raised the water level and pushed the rapids to new heights, making the river impassable in certain areas. If you can’t go forward, and you don’t want to go back, there is only way to go—up. Aaron, Joselyn, and I scaled 100 foot rock faces, which, under normal circumstances, would not have been so bad, but, expecting a peaceful float down the river, we brought naught but our sandals. And our guides, probably expecting much of the same, did not bring climbing equipment. The result—100 foot climbs in sandaled feet with wet hands from entering and exiting the river along sharp, steep rock faces with raging rapids below. One misstep, one hand out of place and we would have plummeted to what I
can only expect would have been our death.

Fortunately, our grips held strong and we made it home safely. We did, however, have to turn around mid hike and find a different route. Aaron had almost been swept away in the rapids. We figured it was the only option.

I almost died Monday.