Today we went to Salto Santa Emilia with our friends Norman and Virginia. We packed yummy sandwiches, chips, pop and cookies for a picnic lunch and also brought swim suits and towels. We headed out at 9:00 sharp to drive up to the waterfall. It's about 45 minutes outside of town on a road that has "character". The kids and Joe got to ride in the back of the truck but I got the plush accommodations of the back seat. It was a bit bumpy but better than it would have been on a bus.
The entry to the waterfall is through the property of a small restaurant. I think it cost 20 cordobas (or dobs as we like to call them, but no one in Nicaragua does) per adult to visit and kids were free. We walked down several stairs and we were all reminded our our house in San Juan del Sur with 95 stairs to get up to the house.
We laid out tablecloths to sit on and wasn't even 10:30 before Norman was ready for lunch and Gus never needs much prodding to eat. We cracked open the chips and started eating. I was also trying to get Bridget to eat more as she weighed 77.8 lbs when we left for our trip and we just weighed her here and she has grown an inch and only weighs 71 lbs. Both boys have lost about 1 lb each and grown about 2 inches. Bridget has lost 7 lbs and grown 1 inch!! WOW! So, while she still looks healthy (photos provided for evidence) and has plenty of energy, I am trying to encourage her to eat. So chips and sandwiches at 10:30 it is!!
Virginia gave Bridget a new sun hat which came in very handy when the sun came out. The boys also enjoyed wearing it. Then the kids and Joe hiked up to the caves behind the waterfall to check things out.
After lunch (if that's what it is when you eat at 10:30) the kids and Joe went to climb up behind the waterfall. There is a wide cave behind the waterfall where we have heard that bats live and that it is also available for camping (no thank you). Joe took the more treacherous route down and got a little rock climbing in.
It started to warm up a bit so the kids decided to go for a swim. It was a bit chilly and took some coaxing. Bridget and Gus decided to try to skip rocks instead until Joe went in. They all swam out to the waterfall and climbed on the rock. This was the kids first swimming experience since San Juan del Sur in November.
After swimming the kids played around skipping rocks and Joey found some clay in the caves which he used to create a clay house on a rock (which is still in my laundry room...) and then he caught a cicada.
We had a great day at the waterfall and headed out around 1:30. Norman was hungry for pizza (naturally because we hadn't eaten since 10:30) so we drove back down the road into town for second lunch (or was that early dinner?) and had pizza at Vita Bella. We told Norman they they had good pizza (we have eaten there several times) but he didn't believe us (he lived in New York City for 21 years and is a bit of a food snob) so we had to go there to prove it. Fortunately Vita Bella passed the Norman test and we all had a lovely meal.
Just another great day with friends in Nicaragua....
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