Blogs from Bluefields, Caribbean Nicaragua, Nicaragua, Central America Caribbean

The last days on Small Corn Island were pretty lazy: just reading, beach combing, snorkelling and meeting with my Pina Colada buddies Blaine and Ruth from Prince George (they travel for 6mos every year (been nearly everywhere) and with the remaining 6mos spent at their off-line lakeside ‘cabin’ near Bear Lake, BC. Anyway as to adventure: Elsa* invited family (*I was staying at Elsa’s beach cabins), plus some resort owner friends, plus 5 venture-minded folk like me, to head out from Small Corn Island across the ocean via 2 hour panga ride to the Pearl Cayes, some sandy ‘Robinson Crusoe’ isles off the mainland coast. Many of them are privately leased from the Nica government, mostly uninhabited and the beaches remain officially public. On some you can walk around circumferential beaches in less than 5 minutes. ... read more

I took a Panga (speed boat) to Peal Lagoon, a town on the lagoon of the same name further North up the coast. Again, it has a mix of mainly Afro-Caribbean and Mestizo inhabitants. It has a much more laid back feel than Bluefields, the people are very friendly and relaxed, and greet us with "alright" in a strong Caribbean accent. English is the main language. I met Francis, a Swiss lady, and her Nicaraguan husband, Eric, while waiting for the boat and we stayed at the same place - the Green Lodge. I had met them originally in El Castillo where they shared some of their abundant local knowledge about places to stay and things to do. The economy centres around fishing and shrimping in the bountiful lagoon, but as always with declining fish stocks. ... read more

And so to recount, it was a bus then a bus then a taxi then another bus, or was it a van?? I don't really remember, but somehow we ended up in the halfway town of Juigalpa for a night. A pleasant little town where we managed to find a great 2nd storey bar from which to enjoy the sunset over a nearby mountain range and eat some good cheap food. The next morning it was another squished bus ride and a few hours later we were in El Rama - gateway to the Caribbean! In El Rama the great travelling spectacular was to continue, not by any form of land transport, but instead by panga. Back home we'd refer to a panga as a 'dinghy' but in these parts of the world they seem to ... read more

SO I recently returned from the Atlantic coast on Sunday of this week and I am back in Managua. First and fore most it is not at all like any other part of Nicaragua. It seems totally like its own country. The majority of the people there are creole or mestizo. There are also many indigenous tribes on the atlantic coast. I was in Orinoco which is in the southwest side of the pearl lagoon. The main tribe there is Garifuna but they are quickly losing their heritage and trying to rebuild it. The Atlantic coast has a very interesting history. At the moment there are two autonomous regions; the north and the south regions which are both very large pieces of land and rich in natural resources. Anyway Columbus came by and didn't much care ... read more

Die Geschichte mit den Wahlbeobachtern, mit denen ich von Bluefields nach Corn Island fahren kann, hat sich doch super angehoert, oder? Blieb leider auch nur eine Geschichte... Der Typ hat uns zwar noch am Hotel abgeholt und zum Pier gebracht, wollte dann noch etwas zum Trinken und Essen holen und ist dann nicht mehr aufgetaucht... Ok, 20 Dollar Entwicklungshilfe und eine Erfahrung reicher, aber ich war nicht der einzige, wir waren noch mehr am Pier, die auf ihn hereingefallen sind. Aber ich muss noch einmal einen Zwischenstopp in Bluefields machen und wenn er mir da wieder uebern Weg laeuft, werd ich ihm die Eier abschneiden. So, jetzt hatte ich 2 Moeglichkeiten, mit der 2 Uhr Maschine nach Corn Islands fliegen oder erst einmal nach Laguna de Perlas und am Mittwoch mit dem offziellen Boot nach Corn ... read more