We parted company from Rolene and Darcy and Juan when they dropped us at San Benito and carried on to Managua. We caught a bus to El Rama where we stayed the night (100c double) and got stocked up for our trip out to the islands. We managed to find a cargo boat heading right to Big Corn for 250c each which is a great deal. We got on board about 5pm and it started on it's journey at midnight. We had a bunkbed to share and there were a half a dozen local women also travelling and two swedish girls too. In the morning we woke to find we were in El Bluff where cargo was unloaded and loaded then we headed straight out into the sea.
Carol spent the journey sitting on the deck facing the sea trying to talk herself out of being sick (she was successful) along with the help of 2 seasick pills. The sea was fairly calm but that doesn't seem to make much difference.
At Big Corn we picked up a few more things and caught the next lancha to Little Corn Island where we were meeting Gary. We arrived at about 4.30pm and it gets dark there around 5.30pm, by the time we got organised and walked half an hour across the island it was getting dark. We went down a wrong path and forked right instead of left and ended up walking through someones property and hitting the beach. Kent sat with the packs and Carol wandered up the beach and into a gorgeous sunset looking for Gary. Finally she banged into the man she had sat beside on the lancha and discovered he is the owner of the place Gary is staying in. We found Gary in a small panga roofed hut and joined him in his spare bed for the night.
The next day we officially met Heiko the german buddist owner of the Casa Sunrise and moved huts to a two roomed hut with a kitchen (500c per night) right on the ocean. We stayed there for a week and had an absolutely fabulous week. Gary continued to pay the 300c's a night that he had been paying before and we paid the balance which kept us in budget. So it was wonderful for us to be able to stay in such a great situation. Each day was so busy! We sat in the hammocks, swam in the sea, snorkeled, walked to town for some great coconut bread and mostly just lapped up the setting and the sunshine and the company. Funnily enough we met another traveller there who is a kiwi girl called Isobel and she spent her days out with us although she was staying at a dorm (140c) in town.
When we get to upload the pics you will see what we are talking about. It's a dream of a place and Heiko is actually selling it if anyone is interested. Yesterday (22nd) we packed up and took the lancha back to Big Corn where Gary caught a flight back to Managua. We really enjoy Gary's company and it has been great travelling on and off with him over these last months. We waited along with Isobel for the ferry to the mainland which left at midnight (250c). We boarded at 5pm and got some hammocks to sleep in. Carol took 2 seasick pills and managed to sleep the whole trip, the sea was absolutely calm and the ship was big but she still had trouble. When we docked the guy collecting the tickets tried to charge us an extra 50c's because we hadn't bought a ticket at Big Corn, never mind that noone told us we had to. We are getting used to people in this country taking any opportunity to inflate prices and have learnt about their philosophy of 'embracing the moment' which means if an opportunity arises to make money or steal something it should be taken. We lost Carols camera case and a carrabina clip off Kents pack on the first bustrip we took in this country. We have never had anything go in any other country. Small but annoying things, so now we are extra vigilant. At Bluefields it was sunday and noone was going anywhere so we had to take a fast lancha to El Rama (200c) and caught a bus from there to Juigalpa (80c) then from there to Tipitapu (40c) and on to Mesiah and finally on to Granada where we are tonight.
c - cordoba, and prices are for one person
