Children of the Corn...Island

A couple of my days on the island were spent just relaxing on the beach or reading in the hammock. The Internet service was very intermittent, partly due to someone stealing the telephone & cable lines. The electric went out a lot too, I was constantly reminded that I was on an island in a 3rd world country.
One of the last days I snorkeled for a bit in front of the resort, then was just lazing at the water's edge, when suddenly I was surrounded by a bunch of the local children. They wanted to get to know me & we played for hours in the water. They enjoyed taking turns trying out my snorkel & mask, as I tried to teach them about sharing nicely. They showed me a rocky area with lots of crabs & conchs. They also taught me how they brush their teeth with the white sand; I was a good sport & gave it a try, but it really made me want to just go & buy them all a toothbrush & paste. Several of the little girls stayed around for hours, the youngest attached herself to my hip & wanted me to carry her around & follow the others further out into the water or up the beach. One of them had a naked younger brother that stuck with us but wouldn't come past the edge of the water nor keep any clothes on.

One of the girls asked if I had any shampoo & said she'd like to wash her hair; I found out that several of them had no shampoo & figured it was an easy thing I could give them. They started going through my bag & saw I had some food & after asking permission, quickly gobbled up the crackers as if they were famished. So when I went to get all the extra shampoo I had brought, I also brought out some lip gloss & mini candy bars I had brought from the US & been hoarding in my bag. I'm sure it would've been better if I'd had toothbrushes for them, but I was happy to see them enjoying the sweets. They asked if I had a camera & wanted me to take pictures of them & then show them. Notice that not one of them had a swimsuit, but they just swim in whatever clothes they have. What a day of simple pleasures & making me realize yet again how much we take for granted.

















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Exploring Corn Island

Fun day exploring the island by golf cart with Joreen, whom I had met on the plane from the US to Costa Rica. She came to the island for several days & we had a good time getting out, even dancing with the locals one evening. The day we rented the golf cart we got a bit silly decorating it into a tropical ride & drove all over the island. We ended the day with a stop at the picnic center for the best sunset & garlic lobster on the island.















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Paraiso Club

This is my beach hut & the resort I stayed at for a week on Corn Island, Nicaragua. It is a very laid-back island. I enjoyed snorkeling & swimming right off the beach in front of the resort, where there was a reef & 2 shipwrecks. I spotted a lobster in the rock right away on the first day, & enjoyed $11 lobster dinners almost every evening. I went scuba diving one day & although the visibility wasn't the best due to storms, the corals were were fantastically colorful & inhabited by a great variety of fish.
The island had suffered days of rain & a huge storm in the days before my arrival, so unfortunately a lot of the beaches were washed away & trash was pushed onto the beaches. Most of it was cleaned up within a few days of my arrival, & the clear turquoise blue sea was amazingly beautiful. The island is very poor though & was much rougher than I had expected. There are definitely not a lot of touristy hotels or restaurants. The beaches are completely undeveloped, which makes for rustic, palm tree lined views. There is another island close by, called Little Corn. I took a panga boat over there one day to explore. There are no cars & it is very quiet yet a little more touristy than Big Corn.

Masaya

I traveled North from Granada with Osman, my personal tour guide, to Masaya. Our first stop was the lookout over Laguna de Apollo, a lake created by a volcano many years ago. We tried some of the local food from the street vendors, me hoping I wouldn't get sick. Osman drove us down the winding road to the bottom of the Laguna so that I could kayak. The blueish water was amazingly clear & calm. It was slightly eerie kayaking out across it alone, my imagination was creating Hollywood-like scenes of the lake suddenly bubbling & spewing.
I safely returned to shore & we continued on to the biggest market in Nicaragua, known for selling local crafts. Shopping! But my luggage already being stuffed full kept me from buying much. I happened to be there while a group of local children were performing a colorful dance show in local costume. I ordered a papaya shake, then realized I was drinking ice from a street vendor, probably not the safest thing for my stomach. I had to wonder if today would be the day I got sick, but so far so good.
Our next stop was the Masaya volcano, there are actually 2 craters here. One is active & the spoke it emitted burnt the back of our throats. Signs warned not to stay longer than 30 minutes as the smoke is harmful. I also learned that in the past month 2 men had died here: the first apparently decided to commit suicide (pure speculation of the local guards), & the second was his brother who went looking foe him. Supposedly neither body has been found. We climbed a the walkways to see various views of the craters & Lake Managua in the distance.
From here we drove to Managua, where Osman warned me not to leave the hotel as it is a dangerous city. He relayed stories of gringos getting into taxis & being driven off & never seen again. So I am taking only the hotel taxi to the airport in the morning. Ah but I am staying at the Holiday Inn, a nice high rise hotel. Do I long for the time when I spent more nights in fancy Hiltons than at home? NO WAY!

Granada & Las Isletas

I spent some time wandering the streets of this intriguing small city, still somewhat stuck in the colonial times but sprinkled with hints of the modern world. One aspect that is very obvious is the strong Catholic faith of these Nicos (as the Nicaraguan people call themselves, a tribute to their rivalry with the Ticos - Costa Ricans). I also took a tour to the isletas, little islands off the shore of Granada in the Lake of Nicaragua. My guide identified several of these & quoted the price to buy the island with house included, one being $180,000 US. Previously these were mostly just inhabited by fishermen & their families, but some wealthy Nicos have started buying & building on them. We spotted lots of ospreys & egrets, as well as a family of monkeys that lives on one of the islands. The female, Lucy, is very accustomed to people & came onto our boat to see if she could pilfer some snacks. Luckily I had some peanut butter crackers in my bag which she devoured, barely spilling any crumbs into the water for the ravenous fish surrounding us.

On to Nicaragua

I took a Ticabus from San Jose to Granada, Nicaragua. This is a historic & colonial town, much safer than Managua, with lots to do nearby. I started the first day by walking around the streets & managed to catch a children's parade celebrating one of the many saints' days held this time of year. I then hired a local tour guide to do some hiking at the nearby Volano Mombacho. There were some great views & I learned about the various plants as we climbed the volcano. They also grow coffee since the ground & climate is great for it. We also spotted some very swiftly moving capuchin monkeys.

White water rafting

I went on a day trip to raft the Pacuare river, grade 3 & 4 rapids. The Spanish couple, Jose & Yolanda also came, so we had quite a fun day. We rafted for 2 hours, stopped for lunch & had about an hour & 1/2 more river fun. At the end of the day they took me on to San Jose where I went to book a ticket to Nicaragua the next day.

Jaguar Rescue Center

I rented a bike again to visit the Jaguar Rescue Center just outside of Puerto Viejo. There are actually no jaguars currently at the rescue center, but lots of monkeys, snakes & sloths. They also have a margay (wild jungle cat), an eagle, and a couple of owls. Most of the animals are brought in by locals who find them hurt or abandoned as babies. There are 2 scientists at the center, one is a herpetologist, hence all the snakes.

Afterwards I went to the tranquil Play a Uva for a long swim, then biked North again to Playa Cocles...Another great day at the beach

Sloth

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