Little Corn Part II

More Diving! One of the beauties of Central America is its cheap diving.

Blowing Rock 2 tank dive, first time swimming with reef shark!

Barracuda

Southern Sting Ray

Squirrelfish

Squid

SHARKS

Have you ever wondered why fish travel is schools (large groups of fish)? 

Answer: Its a natural instinct for anything or anyone who is scared of being eaten 

As we were diving around the Blowing Rock 6-7 reef sharks started swimming around us. Instinctively I swam to the middle of the divers subconsciously shielding myself behind them just in case a shark decided to attack. I had no idea I did this ever time a shark swam by until we got back on the boat and our diving master started teasing me and making jokes about how scared I looked and how I acted just like a school of fish.

Honestly, it was second nature: danger = hide behind someone else so they get eaten before you lol.

Reef Sharks

Little Corn Island

Begin the Diving Extravaganza

Little Corn Island is one of our favorite diving sites of all time, crystal clear water, small diving groups, tons of marine life, and one heck of a good time :)

Can you see the fish? Super camouflaged!

Nurse Shark, luckily these guys are nocturnal

 

We saw this little guy on our way back to our hostel

Big Corn Island

Riddle me this riddle me that....

When do you know you have been traveling for a long time? When a bus ride is “only” 12 hours long.

What an adventure!

To get from Isla Ometepe to the corn islands we left at 8:30 in the morning and got there the next day at 2 pm in the afternoon. Talk about a long journey!

The journey consisted of:

3 hour bus ride – Monkey hotel to the boat harbor

 2 hour boat ride – from Isla Ometepe to San Jorge

15 minute taxi – from harbor to bus terminal

Wait 1 hour for bus

2 ½ hour bus ride – San Jorge to Granada

2 hour bus ride – Granada to Managua

15 minute taxi – to bus terminal

Wait 3 hours for express bus

6 hour bus ride – From Managua to Rama (9pm – 3 am; whoever chose those hours are nuts)

Wait 3 hours until 6 am to board boat

1 hour speed boat down the river – Rama to Bluefields

Wait 1 hour for next boat

5 hour boat ride – Bluefields to Corn islands 

Yes, it was one LONG adventure!

Finally on the Corn Islands and it is paradise! The Corn Islands consist of two islands; Big Corn and Little Corn. Big Corn has one main road around the island that take approximately 20 minutes to drive around the whole thing, a few little tiendas (stores) that sell food, 2 internet cafes, and some scattered hotels and resorts. Once we arrived on the island we found a guy, who apparently never wears pants, who rents out bungalows on the beach in the middle of nowhere and paid to stay. 

Caught by surprise, you sneaky waves.

We are the only ones on this side of the island so suits, optional

How true is this statement! AWESOME!

We stayed 3 nights  here relaxing it up on Big Corn and now were off to Little Corn island to do some diving.

Nicaragua 

Isla Ometepe and the Monkey Hotel

A 2 hour bus ride, 15 minute taxi ride to the harbor, 2 hour boat ride, and then another 2 1/2 hours bus ride and finally we arrived at Monkey Hotel. 

Hammocks, beautiful lake view, private beach access, constant breeze and sun, welcome to Monkey Hotel.

This place is beautiful, peaceful, and ever so cheap. $8 a night for a private room, fan, and mosquito net, what more could a person ask for? We spent our days in Ometepe swimming, lounging around in hammocks, hanging out with the local kids, and kayaking around Monkey Island.  

The one down side to staying in the middle of no where is there are NO stores, no food, no drinks. We were lucky enough to find this little shack of a store with a cut old man and spunky parrot to buy some basics; bread, chips, bulis (ice-cream treats that cost .10 cents each), and oatmeal.

Crazy monkeys stuck on an island. Some "Genius" thought it would be a great tourist idea to take a bunch of monkeys and put them on these two small islands in the lake. BAD idea buddy!  How would you like to be stuck in the middle of a lake? These monkeys are mad, vicious, little creatures but on the up side quite entertaining. 

Mike and I spent the day kayaking around the islands watching the little buggers grunt and growl and do funny little tricks

Isla Ometepe is EXTREMELY poor! The houses are some of the most humble habitations we have seen so far. The daily life here is survival.

There were these 3 kids, one about 11 the other two about 7 years old, fishing . The older one would throw the net into the lake then swim down to fetch it. Once he got it he would hoist it out of the water to the two younger ones whose jobes were to untangle the fish who got caught. They were very successful catching 1 -2 fish per throw.

My favorite little guy, Daniel

Some of the humble homes