The Corn Islands

Nicaragua has two beautiful small islands in the Caribbean called the "Corn Islands."  One is referred to as "Big Corn" and the other as "Little Corn" Island.  The big island has a teeny tiny airport that only receives domestic flights (though they were lengthening the runway to receive larger planes and international flights when we were there) and the little island can only be accessed by boat from the bigger island.   We traveled to Big Corn Island this past October and absolutely loved it.  It took until October for us to get there because I had to lobby Raul for months about the safety of the small "puddle-jumper" planes that oftentimes transport passengers to the island.  Luckily, there was a bit more demand so they had starting using the "big" plane that transported 50 people at a time. That convinced Raul to fly.

Boarding the plane in Managua to Big Corn Island.

The flight stops for 10 mins in Bluefields to pick up additional passengers.
You can see the house and family's laundry next to the airport.

Getting ready to land.

Big Corn Island airport.

The islands are surrounded by warm, crystal clear, blue waters and white sand beaches, and when we were there, the beaches were empty of tourists, with only a few local kids and fishermen.  My favorite type of beach!!  Snorkeling and diving are popular, and the reefs and diverse aquatic wildlife are beautiful.  Raul had the pleasure of a stingray swimming across his foot, we held a gigantic live orange sea star, an enormous conch, and saw lots of colorful fishes of all sizes.  While most of the food was a bit pricier than what we were used to in Granada (they have to ship basically everything in), the hotel (individual cabana-style) was only $60 for Caribbean beachfront and we had 2 fresh lobsters for only $10!

There is one main road that goes around the length of Big Corn (Little Corn has no roads or cars).  We rented a golf cart one day and explored.  It was great because we got off on side roads and were able to see local life, explored several different beaches, and went to the highest point to see a view of the island from above. However, we were very unlucky in that there was a huge rainstorm that lasted hours and that was very violent.  We got caught in it and the golf cart did little to protect us or keep us dry.  After maybe 40 mins of sitting in the storm and being pummeled by rain and wind, we made a run for it and got to a hotel/ restaurant where they were kind enough to put our clothes in the dryer and serve us some warm soup.

View from above.

Proudly displaying the golf cart, moments before the storm rolled through.

Both islands are mostly undeveloped, with Little Corn even more so, and have a starkly different cultural vibe from the rest of Nicaragua.  There is a large mix of ethnic groups on the islands and English, as well as a few different indigenous languages, are spoken.  There are Creole and Garifuna which are Afro-descendant, and  in recent years the indigenous Miskito and Spanish-speaking mainlanders have been moving over to the islands. The different groups also means that there was a greater variety of food here, with many more typically "Caribbean" foods such as rondon soup (curry, seafood, coconut soup) and mofongo (fried/mashed plantain dish).   There is still a lot of poverty here, and I can only imagine what is in-store for the people currently living on the island.  Some will increase their incomes with increased tourism, but many will lose their family beachfront lands and homes and will not be able to afford the increased prices of goods as a result of the increased tourism.  This little hidden paradise is not going to stay that way for much longer.

Isabel playing with the fish the little boys had caught.

The little guy playing with the catch (can't remember if it was his or
his brother's).

Rolling down the road to the beach.

One of the local roads.