Totally Zen at Little Corn

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The speedboat ride on the open ocean from San Juan del Norte to Bluefields reminds us of our San Blas trip and again the waves were smashing and spine crushing, nonetheless the trip being nothing short from amazing, and all went well. We prefer not to travel by plane. There are several reasons for this. One being that by flying over a (big part of) a country you don’t see or experience anything. Second is the relatively high costs and third is the fact I (Merijn) am carrying with me an extra 18 kg bag with a 140 cm kiteboard and two kites, which is not a problem with boats and busses but a lot more hassle with a plane. So we have been travelling with busses and boats, a lot of boats actually, and we love it. In Bluefields we spend a few days because the most reliable (and this is very relative) passenger ferry to the Corn Islands is only leaving once a week (and the passenger carrying cargo ship Captain D has just sunk a few weeks ago, luckily no victims). The passenger ferry Rio Escondido is the boat that brings all the locals to and from the islands, so a little hectic in the beginning but as we have adapted ourselves quite good to the local way of working (meaning there is no room for courtesy in public transport) we find ourselves good seats inside. Before leaving, small plastic bags are handed out and Judith wonders if they suddenly care about trash collection (as the locals generally just chuck all trash out of the window). The ferry brings us from Bluefields to Big Corn island and while we are trying to fix our eyes on the horizon not to get sick, half of the people around us turn pale or green and use the small bags properly. Although we are travelling without a plan nor destination Little Corn was definitely a place high on our wishlist and after 68 days of travelling we settle ourselves in a red painted wooden cabana, with veranda and pink hammock, overlooking sunrise beach and the amazing turquoise water. We have been taking our time to get here and the trip has been amazing until so far. Sitting in our hammock forces us to reflect and realise we have already met so many great people, visited such beautiful places, and we feel so relaxed, healthy and happy. Little Corn Island forces us to shift down another gear or two. The island is small, there is just one small village, there are no roads, not a single car, no motorcycles, not even a moped. Although Little Corn Island has definitely put itself on the backpackers itineraries it is still rather difficult to get to and there is only a handful of places to stay and eat. This means it’s quiet, it’s beautiful.<br style="color:� font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /> There is only electricity for a number of hours, there is only internet in one or two places. This means we wind down, leave our gadgets in our bags and spend the days walking, snorkelling, diving, lazing, reading, eating seafood, doing nothing. Because there is no moon and hardly any artificial light, the evenings are dark, there is a bonfire night and we can see the whole galaxy with bright stars. All the food needs to be brought by ship from the mainland except what the locals can fish out of the ocean. This means a plethora of seafood and instead of the typical chicken, rice and beans, it's fish, shrimps and lobster on the menu every day. No complaints from us here as we are getting used to this diet. The snorkelling and diving is good, sometimes great, there are so many places to go, beginning with the water just in front of our doorstep (literally). While snorkelling and diving we see abundant aquatic life with all sorts of colourful small and large fish, sting rays, eagle rays, barracuda's and quite some sharks, amongst which the most friendly and social nursesharks (swimming with us almost a whole dive). On our way back from diving there are dolphins playing around our boat and riding our wake. We jump in and swim with them twice and being face to face with these wonderful dolphins is one of the most beautiful experiences. It feels like an extreme luxury to us to be able to just live this simple life, no time pressure, no stress, no difficult choices to make and no complicated things to think about. There is just one decision we need to take at a certain point and that is when to move on. We decided not to think about this for at least another week.

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