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.

San Juan del Sur

When we were researching Nicaragua prior to moving here, there were 3 potential towns we were thinking about living in:  Leon, San Juan del Sur (SJDS), and Granada.  Despite reading about the beautiful colonial buildings, vibrant and youthful culture, and close proximity to the beach, Leon got axed before ever setting foot in Nicaragua once I read that it was one of the hottest places in the country (we have since visited it and loved it--post coming soon).  That left SJDS and Granada, and obviously Granada won out. 

We visited SJDS on our "scouting trip" in the summer of 2012 and it just didn't feel right for us.  Its a very popular small tourist and surfing town on the Pacific coast, with a lazy, party vibe.  Its also the most expensive city in Nicaragua.  The town is right on the beach ( a calm bay), with lots of restaurants and bars, surrounded by forest and close proximity to great surf beaches. Though we didn't want to live there, we have been back to visit a couple of times, in particular to visit the beautiful, empty beaches near SJDS, popping into town for drinks or fresh seafood.  When our friends Kelly and Giles came to visit last July, we rented a house for 4 days up on the hill, overlooking Majagual beach, about 20 mins on a dirt road outside of SJDS.  It was lovely--we had peace and tranquility in the forest, and were 5 mins from the beautiful beach.  Though we didn't see any, there are monkeys and sloths in the forest, as well as a variety of birds, snakes, and other creatures.  We did have the please of sharing the house with scorpions, frogs, and crabs.  Below are photos from the various visits to and around SJDS.

Photo of a "michelada", one of my new favorite drinks.  Its
beer with lime juice, chile, and Worcestershire sauce and a salt rim.
Very refreshing on a hot day. "Victoria Frost" is one of the local beers.

 

One of the beautiful crabs living at the house we rented in the
"Balcones de Majagual"

The view from our house in Majagual, over the infinity pool.

Majagual beach--there was hardly ever anyone else there.

Waiting for the sunset on Majagual.

Out exploring.

Sunset

Isabel and Raul love playing with the hermit crabs

The forest and dirt road up to our house.

A scorpion that we killed in the house (one of 3) that was almost
inside our luggage.  The coin is about the size of a nickel.

The outdoor living house on the hill.

The beach in the town of SJDS.

Kelly and Giles enjoying a drink and some seafood.

A foot bridge crossing a river or tributary of some sort in SJDS.

 

The beach and restaurants in SJDS.

Visas and Border Run

Somehow I missed writing a post about our legal and visa status in Nicaragua.  When we decided to come here, we did not request residency status (a long, cumbersome legal process) since we did not know how long we'd be here and whether it would be worth it.  Instead, we have done what most expats here in Nicaragua do--we get a renewal of our tourist visa every 90 days.   This renewal can be done a couple of different ways:

--once a year you can go to Managua and fill out paperwork and request up to an additional 90 days.  It requires waiting in a long line and paying approximately $20 per each additional month.  Raul will be doing this for the first time in the next couple of days for our final visa renewal, and from what we've heard its generally easy, aside from the waiting.

--you can leave Nicaragua and re-enter the country, paying approximately $10 total for an additional 90 days.  This is the option many folks here in Granada use since Costa Rica is only about 1.5 hours away.  In theory, you go through Nicaragua immigration, exiting the country, walk across the border to Costa Rica, enter and get a Costa Rican visa, and then turn right around, exit Costa Rica, and walk back into Nicaragua, getting a new 90 tourist visa.  Apparently in the past, it was truly this easy, but now Nicaragua is trying to be a bit stricter in monitoring who is coming in and out (i.e. pedophiles and drug smugglers), requiring a bit more evidence of reason for staying longer.  Also, now that Nicaragua is a tourist hot spot, it provides more opportunities for very poor, unscrupulous border agents and others to try to make some extra money by hassling tourists or inventing regulations that do not exist.

We've renewed our visas through a mix of ways.  Since we had some unexpected trips back to the US, that triggered new visas.  Also, once we flew to El Salvador and that triggered a new visa, though it shouldn't have, leading us to believe that a bus trip there would also trigger a new visa.  As we were buying our bus tickets to go to El Salvador to celebrate Isabel's birthday, the agent informed us that Raul's visa was past due and that Isabel and my visas would expire while in El Salvador, and that they might not let us cross the border. This led to some serious confusion and scrambling on our part.  As I had researched and was aware of (but thrown off of because of the plane trip to El Salvador), 4 of the Central American countries (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua) have an agreement that says that a visa from any one of those countries transfers to the other 3.  This means that they do not give you a new visa when crossing one of those borders.  While the airport doesn't seem to adhere to this, apparently, the buses and land borders do.  So, we rented a car and went down to the Costa Rica border to walk across and get our visas. 

Immediately when we got there, the "coyotes" were all over us, telling us that they will help us secure new visas without problems, they have friends on both sides, etc.  From all the other blogs I read, I knew that we did not need their help and they we literally could walk across and back, but Raul was less confident so the guys followed us, sensing his hesitancy. When we walked into the immigration area, the guard at the entrance knew what we were doing and told us we had to stay in Costa Rica for at least one day before coming back in to Nicaragua.  We did not say anything and knew this was not true because Nicaragua has no such law about being out of the country for any time before renewing a visa (Costa Rica requires three days out).

It took forever to get out of Nicaragua because Raul was a couple of days past on his visa.  Generally, no big deal, pay the fine and move on.  However, in this case, there were problem people in front of us, taking forever.  Then Raul paid his fine, but the receipt prints out in another building and we had to wait for someone to bring it over.  We finally got out and I finally very firmly said "no way are we paying you $25/person to help us get a visa in Costa Rica and we don't need any help," getting rid of some of the coyote guys.  We got the Costa Rica visa no problem, ate an outrageously expensive lunch of chicken, beans and rice on the Costa Rican side of the border, and then one of the coyote friends pops up in the Costa Rican cafeteria, saying he will help get us back into Nicaragua with no problems for $15.  For some reason, Raul consented.  We left Costa Rica, went to the counter for our Nicaragua visas and got hassled a bit, asking why we needed to come back in for 90 more days.  Luckily we had brought a letter from the NGO we are volunteering with, so the agent didn't seem to care too much and gave us 90 more days.  So much for the $15 helping us avoid hassle and getting through easy.  Then, on the way out, our friend at the entrance/exit started harassing us, saying "I told you to stay away for at least a day."  By then, my patience was gone and we started to argue--we already had our visas so there was nothing he could do really and he just wanted to some $$$.  Raul's coyote friend whispered something to him (probably, I'll give you some of our take) and we got through.  The whole ordeal was stressful, taxing and exhausting.  We vowed never to do that again.  We decided to stop at the beach town of San Juan del Sur on the way back to have a drink and relax on the beach for a while to calm down.  This is me relaxing:

For some reason, we didn't take any pictures at the border.  Probably the stress and annoyance we were experiencing.  Anyway, next time visas came up for renewal, we decided to spend several days in Costa Rica, traveling there on the Ticabus, avoiding having to get out and deal with the border crossing ourselves (the bus attendants take your passport and do everything for you; you just have to get out and let them look at your luggage).  Much more pleasant and easier experience.

Farm life

We've had the pleasure of visiting or staying overnight on a variety of fincas during our stay here.  I don't think technically "finca" means farm, but all of the fincas we've been on have had a variety of farm animals and crops (both large and small).  It is usually a much cooler existence (in comparison with the heat of the "plaster jungle" of Granada) and a more scenic and green existence as well.  We know several people who truly live off of their land by eating and drinking what they produce--various fruit and vegetables, eggs, milk, cheese, beef, chicken, pork, lamb, beans, etc... And it tastes different than it does in the States--it is not covered in pesticides (at least in most cases), and the animals are not pumped full of hormones and antibiotics.  An adjustment in taste buds at first (in a good way), but very tasty once you adapt and recognize the reasons why its different.  And of course the fincas have horses...gotta have a way to move around all of the land and to enjoy the scenery.  Below are some photos from our various finca visits/stays.

Raul trying tame the pelibuey (something between a goat and lamb) that
kept charging him.

Isabel and the very large pig

Playing with a friend.

No, she has not stopped sucking her finger...

Swingin' in his mud boots.

We saw two foals, one only a week old.

Milkin' a cow