WEEK 7

WEEK 7 - Little Corn Island
- Ruby, Isaac and I get up in time for a 4am taxi
- hugs and goodbyes with Lisa, Ann and Dorothy, and we´re off to the airport in Managua
- by 6am, we´ve checked in and paid, had our bags weighed, had ourselved weighed (!), and we were boarding an old school puddle-jumper (there were two sliding doors to the cockpit).
- a couple of hours later, we´re back in the Caribbean, on Big Corn Island - an island off the eastern edge of mainland Nicaragua ... pretty much all the locals are black and speak Spanish, English, and their own creole ... there´s a similar feel to most of our Belize experience.
- it would appear that the landing strip for the airport takes up pretty much the entire length of the island ... as soon as we´ve gathered our bags, we´re shuttled by a taxi to the other end of the island, where the boat docks are
- we pay the (quite likely a scam, but a cheap one) 15 cent entry fee to the dock area, and we try to get on a boat to Little Corn ... turns out no boat is leaving for another hour and a half! ... so we head over to a neighbouring restaurant (where we see everyone else from our flight, and possibly other tourists), and we contemplate breakfast ... we settle on each of us having a drink
- when it gets close to time to board the boat, we try to jockey for ideal position ... I can´t remember if we tried for the front on purpose (we did get the front), but if we did, that was a mistake
- not sure when last I mentioned my tailbone, but it has been bruised since like the 3rd day of the trip (every single bus/boat ride reminds me how it is NOT healing) ... well this hour long boat ride from Big Corn to Little Corn either partially fractured my tailbone, or came close
- aside from the plethora of small (but hard) bounces that were continually shooting pain into the tailbone, there were five or six times when the boat seemed to take flight in the air, only to land with a mind (and butt) crushing thud into the water ... it took two or three days before I can sit on anything without feeling immediate pain
- but butt woes aside, we dock on Little Corn, and soon find we´ve landed on a bit of an island paradise ... it´s small enough to walk, but big enough to avoid people and noise ... about 30 minutes north of the main area are quiet and more secluded beaches ... about 15 minutes walk east cuts through the island and gets you to more populated beaches ... and staying on the west side offers most of the shops and restaurants, along with the dock and the boats, and a bit of west side beach (should you feel too lazy to walk anywhere) ... there´s also less wind on the west side, making it ideal for throwing around a frisbee
- from the boat, we walk for about two minutes, and we hit Sun Shine Hotel ... recommended by Jasmine and Eric, and we were informed that Lindsay and crew had booked for there for at least the first night of their stay
- we immediately meet Dustin, from Texas ... he looks like a young party type, who is probably working at the hotel to help pay for his party habits ... turns out he owns the place (although, his personality does match his initial appearance)!
- we haggled a pretty good deal for two rooms between the three of us (I think the fact that semana santa just ended helped us to get the prices dropped a bit) ... the rooms all came with air conditioning and private bathrooms ... the only "catch" being that the entire island doesn´t have electricity between about 4am and 3pm every day! Still, the a/c was heavenly in the evenings
- the upstairs to the hotel had a nice patio, as well as a huge indoor area that used to be a restaurant, but was being coverted into more of a fun-bar for guests ... ping pong table, wii set up on a projector screen, and pool tables had been ordered (but never arrived while we were there)
- we asked if he knew Lindsay and the other girls from Canada ... he informed us that they were staying on the opposite side of the hotel (in the room next to Ruby´s, as it turns out)!
- so we headed over to see if they were around ... their bags were all open and outside their room ... apparently Lindsay got bed bugs (in Granada), so they were still airing out their bags ... it would also appear that crime on the island isn´t an issue
- they weren´t in their room, so Ruby and I decided to take a walk to check out the island (while Isaac opted for a nap)
- not three minutes later, I´m getting whistled at by some nutty chica sitting on a restaurant patio ... oh wait, it was Lindsay! Big hugs later, Ruby and I are sitting with Lindsay and Laura, catching each other up on the last few days apart
- turns out the Brits had already left (sucks!), and team she-Canada were planning to take the boat to Big Corn TODAY, as their flight was early tomorrow morning ... luckily, upon seeing us, L&L made an executive decision to stay on Little Corn one more night ... and the flight the next morning had been downgraded to "maybe" ;)
- a little while later, Alyson walks by (she´d been lying out in the sun, on the east side), and she reacts positively to the idea of not going to Big Corn today
- we head back towards the hotel (to wake up Isaac), with Lindsay stopping by to talk to Twila (the woman who runs the Cuban restaurant), making lobster reservations for all six of us for later that night ... Twila replies with, "no problem, Ms. Lindsay Lohan" ... funny stuff
- we grabbed Isaac (Lindsay bounced up and down on his bed until he agreed to get up and join us), and we headed to the east side for lunch, to Casa Iguana ... yummy (but overpriced) wraps, and an amazing view of the ocean ... plus a constant and cooling breeze, which is very welcome and hard to find on the island
- after lunch, we hit the beaches ... Ruby and Isaac followed Alyson to the north part of the island, and went with L&L to see the east side of beaches ... it was the perfect time of day to get a bit of sun, without getting too much ... the water was also very nice and warm
- a combination of sunning and walking later, we returned to the main area and hit the store that sells booze ... we got some wine and some rum, and headed back to the hotel for some pre-dinner libations (reunion celebration) ... by the time we set off for dinner, there was only enough wine left for L&L to smuggle in a small water sized bottle each ... we also managed to bring with us a third small bottle - this one filled with rum (warning, this night is about to get messy)
- first off, the lobster dinner is AMAZING ... two bit tails (cut into 4 halves), a baked potato ... preceded by salad and rice ... everyone is stuffed by the end of the meal, and the lobster is so so delicious ... we already know we´ll be coming back here (and soon)
- as for the beverages, Lindsay has been telling us how fantastic this one drink is ... called the Temptation ... but when we ask for it, Twila simply explains that Lindsay (and company) drank too many of them earlier in the week, and now she didn´t have all the necessary ingredients to make it (and in fact never got the ingredients while we were there)!!
- so, we were stuck with delicious margaritas and piña coladas (which we spiked with our rum)
- by the time dinner was over (and the rum and wine had disappeared), we were all pretty rowdy
- we headed back to the hotel and went upstairs, where a mix of hotel guests, dive shop instructors and locals had gathered (as is the nightly custom) ... we grabbed what was left of the main bottle of rum, and joined the festivities
- before long, we ran out of rum, and others ran out of beers ... people wanted to go out (dancing and/or whatnot), but nothing was open (Monday after semana santa)
- Dustin made a couple of phone calls on his cell, and suddenly we were all walking to Dolphini´s ... there must have been 15 to 20 of us, just hanging out, outside a closed Dolphini´s ... we must have waited at least half an hour ... this would be when Ruby decided to teach Laura how to "pop" her butt (if you don´t know, maybe google can help) - MUCH to the delight of everyone around, especially the guys, especially the LOCAL guys ... Laura´s name for the night could easily have been Ludicrously Loaded Laura, but she was pop-tastic (over and over and over again)
- eventually, someone showed up to open the bar, and music started, drinks were sold, pool was played, and everyone had a genuinely good time
- the next day, the aftermath of the previous night became apparent ... aside from the numerous hangovers (shared by pretty much the entire island), team she-Canada had experienced some life changing (okay, well island changing) events ... Lindsay had somewhat "fallen" for a YOUNG South African dive instructor; Laura found herself with an "island boyfriend" ... a nice enough (read "not enough in common") American boy, who shall forever be referred to as "ostrich boy" (thank Ruby for that one); and Alyson discovered a second bed for herself - an outdoor hammock! Needless(?) to say, the girls did not leave on Tuesday ... Alyson did leave Wednesday morning, but L&L wound up staying as late as the possibly could, which was Friday morning
- once Alyson had left, we took the first initial of the remaining five (David, Ruby, Isaac, Lindsay, Laura) and we immediately declared ourselves as the DRILL SQUAD
- the rest of the week followed a fairly predictable routine ... beach during the day (or possibly sleep all day long, especially if your name begins with an "L"), and party during the night (which often included a reggae bar - if it was open - usually with good music and dancing at the back)
- Wednesday was a "Clean the Beach Day" ... it was fairly depressing, as the island felt pretty CLEAN (compared to the other parts of Central America we´d seen), but the amount of trash we accumulated was staggering, especially as it felt we barely made a dent ... it was also fairly disconcerting that only about 5% of the people participating in the cleaning effort were locals (not to mention the staggering number of used syringes we found)
- Wednesday was also the day we ran into Doro again (she had arrived the night before) ... she and a couple of other Germans were staying at cabanas on the east side, which means we didn´t see them very often (especially at night, when the walk from east to west side is dark and a bit treacherous) ... that also meant we saw a lot less of Isaac too
- Wednesday was also the day I sliced the bottom of my foot open, playing frisbee with L&L ... even though the cut was pretty deep, it didn´t seem to break the surface (i.e. draw blood) ... so after Lindsay cleaned and bandaged it for me, it healed rather nicely
- however, the cut definitely prevented me from using my foot much over the next few days, including not being able to climb the lighttower for a cool view of the entire island ... once discovered, this tower became a favourite hangout spot (day and night) for Ruby
- there is a chained monkey on the island (en route to the northern beaches) ... I´m pretty sure he´d get food all day long from tourists that felt sorry for him
- there were these kids that would constantly hang out around the hotel ... a couple of girls and a boy ... some people loved them, but they were basically there to mooch ... the fact that the called the fat boy "Rambo" was funny though
- one of the locals that would often hang out at the hotel thinks he is the next big thing for music (he just needs to be discovered) ... rap and reggae with a Little Corn flare ... if "Darian" ever makes it big, I met him, heard him rap, heard him sing, saw him dance, etc. (I think he was looking for money)
- mid-week, four *crazy* party girls from the state of Washington showed up on Sun Shine (Courtney and Jenny from Spokane, Katie from Olympia and Kit from Seattle) ... we were positive they were 22 at most, but "apparently" there were all significantly older ... they definitely amped the energy level of the island ... one of them wound up shacking up with Dustin for a couple of days ... I´m not sure if he´s ever been so happy in his life! ;)
- we hit the Cuban restaurant like three more times while we were there ... turns out there are different (totally yummy) sauces you can have your lobster cooken in ... plus there were other food options (one night I had some yummy fish and another night Ruby had some delicious shrimp)
- Ruby and I decided after a week that we were ready to move on and see more of Nicaragua (plus the island just wanted nearly as exciting without L&L ... the DRI Squad didn´t have the same appeal to it) ... Isaac and Doro decided they were in paradise and wanted to stay a couple of more days ... so we split ways, with the agreement that we´d meet up in a few days (for Ruby´s birthday)
- next stop ... Isla de Ometepe and then San Juan del Sur
- EoW