Final Word Nicaragua 2013

Ok for real The End...
In all things there must come an end. 
Our holiday to Nicaragua was very pleasant and full of memories. Food we ate, people we met, walking along the beach mindlessly. The final day on Little Corn was sad. We parted ways with our new found friends both local and foreigners. The friends we made will live on in time through the greatest friend space to hit the cyber waves, Facebook.

We hung out settled up our bill and swung in hammocks until it was time for our wooden cart to carry our bags back to the dock. Now remember getting to a destination can often times be better than getting from it minus perhaps a bumpy nauseous ride on an island boat. Our departing Corn Island lived up to this.

We all arrived as told an hour before the panga was due to leave, purchasing out passage. About 20 minutes late, the panga arrived an attempted to get 80 people on a 50 person panga boat. They squeeze us in like sardines, 5 to a bench seat meant for 4, some people actually sitting on each other's laps. After squeezing 68 of us on the panga the others left on the dock, whose bags had already been loaded were to to wait for the next boat. A tall islander ran around shouting "don't worry". Trust me the look on the passengers faces were not short of panic let alone worry.

We pulled away from the dock and headed south along the shore to a small house with a 20' boat, handed off some fuel and a bottle of oil and they followed us back to the dock, loaded the remaining passengers and we all set out. The second panga following closely to us despite the 15' swells that often stopped it dead in is tracks. A 35 minute ride in the blazing sun and humid heat with little in the way of cooling spray was an experience in endurance, trial by sun fire.

The next leg was the La Costena plane ride from Big Corn to Managua. Upon arriving at the gate we were given a boarding card and sat down to wait. A moment later the desk agent asked for us to produce our confirmation for this flight. Turns out I had booked up back on the Dec 6, 2014. Oops. Of course the flight was over booked and yet they continued to check in new passengers, mostly locals.

Boarding time came and Chris, Gandi and I all made out way through security clutching tightly to our boarding passes. We were getting on that plane. No one said a word. They called to board out flight boarding passes 1-18, then Bluehills passengers and shut the doors. About 12 of us remained in the boarding area looking helpless at each other. We were told they were bringing another plane and it would be about 15 minutes. Faith must play a hand at this point and sure enough 20 minutes later a small Cessna plate arrive. This was a planned action all along. Our bags for each passenger held over was waiting to be loaded on this new flight.

We arrived after a very comfortable plane ride playing dodge with the thunder heads billowing up from the stratus below us. It was like flying in a cotton candy machine. Once we crossed over to land I could see how beautiful and vastly vacant Nicaragua was. Dotted with hills and rain forests, small communities sprung up huddled closely to the hillsides and small deforested areas. Further inland the hills gave way to vast flatlands that looked like a patchwork quilt of farming areas and homes. Next, as we came closer to the Pacific coast the flatlands were shattered but huge volcanoes rising above the valley floors. As we flew into the sunset these monoliths were bathed in a soft hues of tropical reds and sand colored mauves.

Over all our trip was everything we could've dreamed for and much more. Gandaulf got to experience a whole new way of life, digging, surfing, and becoming an honorary Corn Dog for a week. We got out disconnect and thought empty thoughts and worried about nothing. To the Little Corn Islands and Nicaragua, we will be back to lavish in your simplicity and bathe in the tranquility that is Nicaragua.