Let's spend September on the Corn Islands! On 2nd thought, how about Belize?

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Corn Islands, Nicaragua

Big Corn Island

After twirling around Central America since the end of May we finally reached our goal of being able to spend the month of September on the Corn Islands which are located off the Carribean coast of Nicaragua. We had really built these Islands up in our minds since we began planning our trip, and I wanted September to be special as we were celebrating Sky's 40th birthday away from home. I told Sky that the entire month was his to do what he loves the most, and that's to fish. Thoughts of fishing, diving, snorkeling, relaxing, exploring unadulterated island life, and celebrating his birthday were kinda like visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads, so after an uneventful hour-long flight from Managua to Big Corn Island on August 24th we were so happy to have finally gotten there.

We planned on getting to Big Corn to help the locals celebrate the islands' biggest party, Crab Soup Festival, which celebrates the abolition of slavery in the British Carribean. We hooked up at the airport with a very friendly cab driver who took us to a hotel on the East side of the island, just two blocks down from where all of the Crab Soup Fest activities were going to take place. Along the way he pointed out one of the prettiest beaches we've seen as well as a place where we could fish for bonefish just down from our hotel. We really thought that this was our first step into the paradise we had been waiting for!

After dumping our stuff in the room we went for a great walk along the beach to get a bearing on our surroundings. The first thing we realized was there really wasn't a whole lot around us. There was one very nice hotel across the street, some local dive bars, but other than that not a whole heck of a lot around, which we found a little disappointing. We spent the rest of the first day there getting settled, Sky went fishing and caught several bonefish, and we ended the evening having dinner at our hotel, I made it an early evening and Sky a late one trading fishing stories and drinks with a guy from Texas.

The next morning I took advantage of getting some early morning sun on the beautiful Long Bay Beach while Sky recovered from the night before and went out fishing. The beach couldn't have been more beautiful, more relaxing, or more serene. That was until I was propositioned for sex by a 12 year-old, (if I bought the condom) and courted island style by Carlos, who we later found out is the craziest (bad crazy, not good crazy) guy on the island. Carlos and I first met when he wandered down to the beach from the bushes with a coconut in hand, initially placing it about 50 feet away from me, then he wandered back into the bushes. After about 10 minutes he came back out of the bushes and moved the coconut a little closer, then again went back into the bushes. This happened a couple of more times until finally he came back down with a machete, lopped the top off the coconut, put a straw in it, and placed it back down on the sand and wandered back into the bushes. Needless to say this is when I decided to make tracks back to the hotel.

We spent the next day relaxing, watching TV since the weather was pretty crummy, getting rested for Crab Soup Fest, plus I dealt with the residuals of eating some bad shrimp ceviche the day before.

Then came Crab Soup Festival. We have definitely come to realize that here in Central America they take their celebrations quite seriously. There really isn't too early or too late of a time to set off fireworks, have a parade, or march a band down the street. So on the 27th Crab Soup Fest commenced for us at 4:30a with a marching band passing by our hotel. We were able to catch a few more hours of sleep before getting up and eating breakfast, after that we decided it was time to join in the fun. So at the late-by-locals-standards-time of 10a we jumped in to Crab Soup Fest with both feet. Toña beer in hand we watched the speeches of the Miss Corn Islands contestants, as well as the presentation of each of their individual floats, local dance troupe presentations (with guest transvestite dancers), and speeches by local leaders.

However, the highlights of the day were the distribution of government sanctioned crab soup and the greased pole. Sky's goal that day was to get a taste of the crab soup and he luckily survived the throngs of locals vying for their own taste after the announcement that the soup was on. Still on the intestinal road to nowhere from the ceviche, I opted out of having any soup. The remainder of our day was spent watching adults and kids try to shimmy up a 40-foot pole slicked up with automotive grease. It took two hours of slipping and climbing before a kid no more than ten years old made it to the top, capturing the bag filled with cash and a liter of rum. This little guy was smart enough to rip open the bag while at the top, toss down the rum to the crowd below, slide down the pole, hit the ground running, and with cash in hand and cops surrounding him get into a cab and peel the heck out of there! We enjoyed Crab Soup Fest quite a bit, but we were more than looking forward to relocating from Big Corn to Little Corn, which is what we really had been waiting for.

Little Corn Island

We got up early to catch the lancha to Little Corn, a quick 30-minute boat ride. The lancha was quite crowded as Little Corn was having their follow-up Crab Soup Fest. Unfortunately, as soon as we stepped off onto the dock at Little Corn the skies opened up with pouring rain. Thankfully we met a nice guy from Canada on the boat ride over who knew a shortcut over to the windward side of the island. We hiked about 20 minutes through the jungle and along the beachfront in the pouring rain finally reaching our destination.

Now up to this point we've come to realize that the descriptions about places in the guide book and on the internet can be deceptive. We've found places that were decribed as being quite rundown that actually were more than acceptable and vice versa. Why we didn't temper our visions of Little Corn with this knowledge we'll never know. We thought that we'd spend a month watching the sun rise and soaking up the sun, while staying in our wonderful home-away-from-home beachside cabina with access to a little kitchen where we could cook our meals made from local fare, and only needing to take 10 steps out our front door in order to access all of nature's activities that we could imagine.

Vision. Busted. Don't get me wrong, Little Corn Island is great, but we think it's great for those looking to get away from it all, really get away, like from power and running water. Our beachfront cabina proved to be little more than a shanty, the kitchen was closed indefinitely, the flats for fishing were non-existent, the extended weather forecast dismal, and everything we would need to exist was on the other side of the island and quite expensive. Sky did his best to make a mountain out of a molehill, and with his best game face on said we could grind it out. I decided differently. We slogged over to the other side of the island to the one open restaurant that had WiFi and booked tickets for two days later to Belize. Having been to Belize before we didn't plan on going back during this trip, but knowing that all Sky wanted to do for his birthday was fish, I was determined on getting us back to a place that we could properly celebrate SVG40 and give us both a break from the unknown for a little while.

That night was spent taking refuge from the rain and battling mosquitoes, with Sky losing that battle. The next morning we spent on the deck of our shack witnessing an amazing lightning and rain storm. During the single two-hour reprieve from the rain we walked around the entire island. Little Corn is truly beautiful, it was nice to see unspolied territory. Tourism in Nicaragua has yet to explode, and with the expansion of the runway on Big Corn close to completion we realize that the landscape of both islands will look dramatically different if and when we make it back there. The next morning we hopped on the lancha back to Big Corn so we'd be sure not to miss our flight the next morning. Due to the pouring rain everyone on the lancha had to hold on to a big sheet of plastic to keep us dry during the journey. We finally arrived to the dock, everyone was reluctant to escape the cover of the plastic, but finally we broke through and found refuge at a small breakfast joint. We spent that night at what would be a great resort on Big Corn save the weather and cranky staff. Finally the day I had been anxiously waiting for for two days arrived. After going through the strictest airport security we've ever experienced we were on our way from the Corn Islands to Belize.

Home sweet home, Belize!

After two great flights on Taca Airlines we arrived in Belize. Only one hangup at customs. While visting the duty free in Managua we were told that we could each bring in 5 liters of booze as long as we were traveling within Central America, in reality it's only one. Thankfully both Sky and I are known for our temperance when it comes to alcohol, so he only purchased two liters of gin, and I only two liters of vodka (and two pounds of peanut butter M&Ms). We were lucky to come across a super chill customs agent who let us by with a very minimal duty charge. After clearing customs we hopped into a taxi and then a water taxi to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye.

San Pedro, Ambergris Caye

We found a great place in San Pedro. A small little apartment with a kitchenette and close to town. We spent the next morning reorienting ourselves with San Pedro and enjoying the familiarity. The first full day involved celebrating that we were there, perhaps taking too much advantage of our duty free purchases, with the evening ending with both of us embarassing ourselves at the karaoke bar two doors down from our hotel. Why I think I have the ability to sing 70s power ballads is beyond me. We spent the next day hiding our faces, swimming with local children off the dock, and getting ready for fishing the next day.

Finally the big day arrived. I'm pretty sure he never thought he'd see it, but Sky's 40th birthday was finally here. We woke up at 4:30a in order to be on the panga by 5a. I know that Sky would write differently of this day, but it's my turn to blog. (And for those who have already been apprised of this story please be patient.) We hopped on the boat, Abner was his guide that day. The skies were a little cloudy and the wind a little strong, so the ball of nervous anticipation in my belly began to spin. We cruised out heading south and went to some mangroves where tarpon were feeding. Abner got Sky into some tarpon but he ended up missing his shot. We then went to flats to find permit but didn't see a single fish. (Just a little background for the non-anglers, permit are the fish that Sky has been chasing since I've known him.) This is when I start squirming in my seat, hoping that something will make this day memorable. We went to a different spot and found more tarpon and Sky was able to get one in the boat. Then came his bonefish. At this point he was one fish away from getting a grand slam: a tarpon, a bonefish and permit all in the same day.

I'm pretty sure I'll never forget when Sky caught his permit that morning. Not only have I heard about this fish for the last two years, but I also knew that a grand slam is a big deal and rarely achieved. All I know is that I have never been happier to see any fish in my life, I was beyond happy for him, and just as happy that I could be there with him to celebrate. As we all know 40th birthdays carry a certain significance and I don't think it could have turned out much better. We fished for more bonefish, and as if it was no big deal he went ahead and caught a second permit. Knowing the day couldn't get any better we headed back and were back at our hotel and celebrating by noon. I'd like to say we spent that evening celebrating, but we were actually in bed by 9pm! Getting older is sweet.

Caye Caulker to Hopkins to Sittee River to Placencia to Punta Gorda to Placencia to Caye Caulker to San Pedro to the airport

For the sake of brevity I'll try to sum up our skipping up and down the coast of Belize.

Caye Caulker visit #1 and 2: snorkeled, caught numerous bonefish outside our hotel, kayaked around the entire caye, fished some more, watched football, and busted a dude climbing onto our balcony in an attempt to get into our room to rob us.

Hopkins: 4-hour bus ride to this small town, not much there, spent one night in a hotter than Hades room. Not much to say about Hopkins.

Sittee River: ahhhh, Sittee River, a place I hope I soon forget, but the scars from the bug bites I got there won't let me. We went to Sittee River to catch 100+ pound tarpon. Let's just say we kayaked the River for 4-hours and didn't see a single fish, tarpon or otherwise. Had a great dinner there though. Only one night spent there thank God! Hitched a ride with a Swiss dude and his Kiwi son to the bus stop for ride to Independence then a lancha to Placencia.

Placencia #1 and 2: We both really like Placencia, we'd been there in February 2010. Super chill, great beaches, great fishing, good restaurants and hotels. Sky caught tarpon and another permit. Celebrated Independence Day on the 19th.

Punta Gorda: Went there specifically because of the permit fishing there. Town ok, but not a lot to do there. Spent a day on the water in the pouring rain with lightning storms all around us. Sky didn't see a single fish. I'm sure he'll get back there someday.

San Pedro #2: had some pretty crummy weather for a couple of days. Weather finally broke the day before we left. Went out fishing and Sky caught his 2nd grand slam. Was a great way to end the month in Belize!

Back to Reality

All I can say is I love Belize. I love the people, the landscape, the breeze and the ease! But on September 29th we had to leave the country as you can only be there for 30 days. So with heavy hearts (and tears in my eyes) we boarded our flight from Belize City to San Jose, Costa Rica. Yes, Costa Rica, again. In our next blog post (hopefully sooner than a month from now) you'll read about our Carribean Costa Rica experience and the beginning of our adventures in Panama.

We hope all of you are having a wonderful Fall. We've heard the colors are amazing this year. We miss many things about home, our friends and families, but we're still thankful every day that we get to have this adventure. 29 photos in this post, as always scroll down to see them all.

Love to you all!

Becky & Sky

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Photos

Long Bay Beach
Big Corn Island

Miss Corn Island Contestant
She was my pick

Tough Guys
Crab Soup Fest

Carlos
My Coconut Boyfriend

Yummm....
Crab Soup

Ummmm?
The best picture we've taken on the trip!

Our Love Shack
Little Corn Island

Sunrise Little Corn
Only time we saw the sun on Little Corn.

Ahhh...Belize
First morning there.

Bonefish
Birthday Grand Slam

Permit #1
Birthday Grand Slam

Permit #2
Birthday Grand Slam

Tarpon
Birthday Grand Slam

Turtle (Obviously)
Eating Turtle Grass