They say that if you dont like the weather on The Corn Islands, just wait 5 minutes. After having waited for weeks for the internet weather reports to clear up I thought to hell with it and booked the trip. It was worth it just for the plane ride on a tiny 12 seater in which the pilot had to stand up from his seat to see over the `dashboard´. We flew from Managua, over Lake Nicaragua, the sparsely populted remote regions of Chontales and Atlantico Sur and finally the Caribbean sea until the pristine azul waters, white sand and thick green vegetation came into view. After an hour´s flight in what seemed like nothing more than a baked bean can we touched down on Big Corn and were met by a taxi driver who said `nah man we dont got no rain here fah weeks´. Great.
The next morning we took the panga to Little Corn Island which was headed by a huge black dude laden with chunky gold jewellery who stood at the front of the boat (bow?) like a great Congolese warrior. The ride was very bumpy and very wet but I just about managed to hold on to my breakfast. The island is like something out of a fantasy and what I dreamed the Caribbean would be like when I was young. Little Corn has no roads, no cars and you cant ride your bicycle past 6pm at night! Perfect, nothing but the sounds of the jungle, the waves and the occasional shriek from me ´that bloody great crab is under the bed again!
We found lodging in Graces Cool Spot a rasta vibe set of bamboo huts right on the beach, a 30 second roll from bed to turquoise waters in the morning. We were quickly adopted by a little kitten who we named Marlowe and a puppy whose mum wouldnt feed him. We didnt name the puppy as that would get us too attached.´ We were on the island for full moon which was so bright that flashlights were not needed when walking at night, the sand literally glowed.
Everyone on the island was diving so I decided to attempt to overcome my fear of deep dark water and did a DSD Try Dive. I loved it so much that I started my PADI Open Water qualification that afternoon and three days later I was certified! The underwater world was incredible, just like Finding Nemo, like an under water coral garden city with subways, high rise flats and fish cleaning stations. We saw brightly coloured fish, sea cucmbers, sting rays, mantarays and eaglerays and I even touched a Nurse Shark.
As is typical on a island with temporamental electricity and very little contact with the world beyond there was not a lot else to do and thus not much else to report. I taught the little girl who peddled round the island selling coconut bread how to do poi and ate fish. I could have stayed forever.
