2024.2.17-19, Nicaragua 4: Corn Islands

Nicaragua has 2 islands in the south Carribbean Sea, big and little Corn Islands. Not developed, so more genuine. To get here, the easiest is fly from the capital Managua to the big Corn Island. It's also possible to take a ferry from Bluefields in Mosquito Coast, which is an all day (or all night) bus from Managua. Also, I was told that Mosquito Coast is very run down and bordering dangerous (with drug smugglers). But I bet that the bus and boat would be a very interesting experience.

Big Corn Island

2/17, day 23. Saturday. La Costeña terminal is adjacent but separate from the main cooled terminal. It's small, hot, despite of 2 big AC wall units. One food shop, no drinking water. At least free toilet. No free wifi in either terminals. I'm able to bring in water and milk through the X-ray machine. Had to pay a $2 tax. My flight is $97 each way + a $35 tax already. I bought my ticket 11 days ago, after checking with M.Y. My plane is full. 11:50 boarding. The 1 minute walk in the sun to the plane is hot. Took off in time. Very warm. Very loud. My neighbor's phone showed 93F.

At the arrival, the door was locked, I wasn't allowed to leave. Ridiculous. Once the luggage arrived (I don't have any checked bags), someone opened the door.

Walked 2.4km to the lodging. Hot, but not as bad as Managua. Enough wind that I had trouble using my umbrella. Quiet. A bit run down. Abandomed buildings and trash on the beach. Saw some fishermen. The water is choppy due to wind.

I'm staying with Catholic nuns. They have a casita, rents out 5 rooms. Screen on doors and windows, but all have holes. A bit run down. No guests, everything was locked, stuffy inside. Again, tin roof. The sisters live in a nice two story building next door with tiled roof. After opening the windows, it was better, but still hot.

I walked out a bit around sunset. Checking out the "panga" to Little Corn. There's a village here, with some shops and restaurants. I bought some food.

When I was back, the door was closed, the windows of the living area were locked again. Not sure why. The whole complex has a locked gate. I opened all. At 9pm, the sisters came and tried to close all the windows again. I asked them to keep things open, because it was too hot. The sisters agreed, brought me a stronger fan. But it was super loud and low. Dirty too. They also opened the window and the door of the room opposite of mine upon my request, so I could get a bit of through vent. This is better. I was able to sleep.

2/18, day 24, Sunday. Day trip to Little Corn.
The gate of the compound is padlocked. At 7am, the door to the main house is open, I asked to open the gate, but the girls doesn't have the key. The sisters were praying. I could hear them. Eventually, one came out with a key.

Walked to the harbor and to Playa Coco till the west most point. Saw a couple of swamps: the freshwater supply on the island. A heron. On the way, saw more restaurants and shops. Bought my panga ticket for 10am: $10 each way (or C360). Went back to my room to fetch my swimming goggle.

9:30. I'm back at the ferry dock. Quite a few waiting already. It wasn't full. The ride was fairly smooth. 38 minutes. Not as windy today. I sat next to a British woman who works at Dolphin Dive. She's been living on Little Corn for 12 years. Her luggage includes fresh vegetables and a fan. She doesn't eat fish.

Little Corn Island

2 policemen (one is a girl) were at the dock. They didn't check anything. Little Corn has no real road. It's small enough to walk around the island in a couple of hours. More touristy than Big Corn: better signage, good vibe, more restaurants and hotels, dive shops. Maybe more tourists than locals. The island doesn't offer 24 hour power.

I headed to the so-called lighthouse. At the gate of the Lighthouse Hotel, I was confused. The 2 policemen and one other guy carrying some equipment asked me where I wanted to go. The police woman understood me first. Showed me her photo at the viewing deck. Yes, that's what I wanted to see. I followed them to the cell tower. There's a small trail next to the cellphone building, leading to the viewing tower. Vertical ladder. Not a bad view. Can almost see all around of the island.

Next, Otto Beach. Very pretty in blue sky. Swam. Water temperature is pleasant. I swam to a dark patch, mistaken it for coral. No fish, mostly grass. Still relaxing.

Continued along the beach. Then took an inland path. Checked out Cocal Beach. More hotels, more trash. So much dry grass.

Back at the dock ~1:15. Already plenty passengers waiting. Mostly young Europeans with sunburn and large backpacks. The boat is fully loaded. 4 per row. Smooth ride. Storm tomorrow, so no panga. Sometimes, they charter a bigger boat for windy condition.

Big Corn Island

Sat in front of the casita for the rest of the day. Being Sunday, more people in and out of the church. The rooms are too hot.

2/19, day 25. Monday. 3am, storm came. Things crashed on to the roof. Windows shutters smacking the frame. I went out to pick up my laundry. Only one was still on the rope, the rest were scattered on the ground. Washed those. Put in my room to dry.

7am, already kids came to the church school. I packed out ~7:15. Walked to my next hotel on the east side, along the coast. Gloomy today. A totally different scene. Not stormy, but still windy. Much cooler. Bus stops are colorful here.

The north end looks like snorkel-able. Cliff Point looks scenic. But trash everywhere. Left my pack at Hospetaje Tropical Dream. They were cleaning. About 9am. I was allowed to leave my pack in a room. Good, it has AC.

Walked to the Long Beach. It's nice. No one there. Sun is coming, looks nicer when the sun is out.

I went back to my AC room to work. WIFI sucks here. At least I fixed one bug. When I came out next, it was pouring outside. Thankfully, the rain stopped before sunset.

Walked up Mt Pleasant for sunset. A bit late. Too cloudy. The track on Map.me is incorrect. At the sign, turn on Mt Pleasant. Walk the short road all the way to its end. A cluster of houses. A faint and short trail ahead on the right side all the way to the ridge. Follow the track on the ridge (yes, you can see the other side, but both obscured by trees) towards the cell towers. At least 3 here. Walk past the towers, there's a small area with good view.

2/20, day 26, Tuesday. Overcast, not raining. 26°C. I walked out just before 6:30am. About 30 minutes to the airports. You can reserve a taxi for $1 too. Busy terminal.

At 8, one small plane flew to Blue Fields. Those who arrived ahead of me were called to this small plane.

At 8:20, another small plane arrived. 12 people went up 12 min later.

8:37, a 3rd small plabe arrived. About 21 passengers. 8:50, we were going. I never sat this close to the cockpit. The plane wobbled, shaked, loud. Every seat taken, weight balanced.

10am landed in Managua. Hot.

2024.2.10-17 Nicaragua 3: the north

Matagalpa

2/10, day 16, Saturday. 25 min walk to the terminal. Got on the 6am bus at 5:45. C100. Soon it filled up. 2 person seats sometime have 3 on it. The bus took off before 6am. Long stop in front of Maxi Pali. More came on board. Standing. Venders still come up to sell food. I tried an empanada, still warm, but almost nothing inside, maybe some honey. C5.

Arrived ~8:45 at the Cotran south terminal in Matagalpa. Busy. Next to a market. Endless shops selling everything. Ruben Dario museum is closed on weekends.

Visited Matagalpa Tours office. I had emailed them yesterday. No tour is going. Got info how to get to Cascada Blanca and Peñas Blanca.

I booked an AirBnb here, forgot to notice that the check-in is after 4pm. A bit walk up hill. Walked to the north terminal, ~1 mile. It's good that my luggage is small. Only ~2c cooler here (~700m elevation), but it's tolerable even under the sun. Very busy here too. Squeezed on to a full bus to La Dalia. They made me put my backpack next to the driver, so more passengers can squeeze behind me. It started rolling at 10am.

15km, maybe 30 min later, c25, I was dropped off right in front of the door of Eco Lodge Cascada Blanca. Entrance c100. I was given a ticket and a map.

A series of steps to go down to the wallway behind the waterfall. Each turn has a restaurant or a pavillion. Behind the waterfall is a large closed cave, like a clam, befitted with benches and swings. Beer caps were nailed on one wet board for traction. Very few people. Odd, today is a Saturday. I took a long break catching up my notes, while eating. Not terribly pretty, but relaxing. Plenty shade. I really like this big tree with orange flowers littering everywhere. The lodge owns 2 trails on both side of the small Rio Yasica. Nice to walk around.

Walk the road to the next junction with a road that crosses the river, hoping to see Saldo dl Escondido. There's a home, locked. I took a track to its left, it goes down with a swing bridge over the river. However, here is the top of the waterfall. Can see the water falling. The 2 guys there at the junction told me there's another entrance further up. So I walked there. A bit more than I liked. The home owner asks for c50.

Waited on the same road for the bus to Cascada la Luna. C30 to La Empresa. This is my favorite. Totally genuine. A lady who works at the restaurant Mapache next to the waterfall took me on this dirt road towards Rio Caratera, lined with restaurants and lodges Kids washing clothes above. Fallen flowers flow on the water. No tourists. Just a group of local kids. I took off my shoes and socks to walk over the water. Then walked past a pig, and a bit of scramble to go down to the creek below. Saw a great kiskadee.

When I came back to the main road 5, many middle school kids were waiting for the bus. Me and half of the kids got on the next bus. The rest consider this bus too full. C50 back to Matagalpa.

At the AirBnb, Brenda (from Leon) + Eddy (US retiree) were eating dinner. Eddy offered me some: soup of carrots, tomato, potato, chicken bones, rice. Brenda doesn't speak English. Eddy talks a lot. They've been staying here for months.

2/11, day 17, Sunday. 6am, caught a Jinotega bus as it pulled out of the terminal. C20 to the bus stop before Selva Negra, another eco lodge. Started at road ~1270m. Cut into coffee plantation, hiked up Jovenes trail, crossed on Mosquitas trail, then down on Peter y Helen trail. Cloud forest. Some very large trees. Mist + rain, No one else. Rugged. No view. One spot is signed Mirador Matagalpa: just a small gap between trees. Bird with big white head. Larger than robin. Heard many birds, saw nothing else. 1530m? A family of coati?

Down to the hotel and restaurant. More people. Gaudy paint. A couple of ponds with water lily + geese. Not worth the visit. Maybe for a family get-together.

Waiting for bus with the locals. Half squeezed into the first bus. I decided to wait for the next. Every 30 min. Bad decision. The next 3 buses passed by without stopping, seems more frequent than 30 min. Saw 2 green red parrots flying by. Some passengers went home. Some took a taxi c300. There was a taxi coming here specifically to pick up passengers. I squeezed on to the next bus, 1 hour later. Also filled to the gill.

In the afternoon, I went to San Ramon. I no longer remember why. Seems that the coffee production started here, and then spread to other parts of the country. Nothing much to see. Checked out their colorful cemetery. I was looking for someone's tomb. Overall, the town is quite dead in mid-day.

At 5pm, I walked up to Mirador Calvario. Too steep of a road to drive on. Walking is fine. A guy with a gun at the gate. I paid c10. Maybe c10 more for parking. The road goes all the way to the 3 level lookout. There're restaurants here opens till 9pm (according to the sign). Great view. Quite busy due to the easy access (drive up).

What an ugly statue in the town square. Back to the Airbnb. Brenda and Eddy were eating dinner and watching TV. They have never been to the mirador.

2/12, day 18, Monday. Visited the free Coffee museum. It's a cafe with some large posters on the wall about coffee. A couple of old machines. Not bad. Went to the Casa Cuna Carlos Fonseca Amador before and after the coffee museum, it was always locked.

Back to my AirBnb, checked out before 10am. Took the next bus to Jinotega (every 30m). C40.

Jinotega

Sunny and hot today. I didn't book anything. Checked out 4 hotels. C400 (the boy doesn't know WiFi password) - c500. Stayed at Hotel Sollentuna Ham. Nice people, cozy lobby, but not very clean. Only 1 towel. There's a bar that I had to step over in order to get into the bathroom.

Free wifi at the central park in Jinotega.

2 meetings. Didn't get any real work done.

2/13, day 19, Tuesday.
Hiked to Peña de la Cruz before 6am. Thick clouds, not much of a sunrise. 1.5 mile, 1000'. Need to walk through the city cemetery first :) Very nice hike. Didn't see anyone else. Easy: almost all concrete stairs. Windy at the summit. Large lookout platform with roof. Yes, there's a cross on the top rock.

Took a San Rafael bus (C20) to the canal of Apanás, hoping to check out Apanas Lake. Maybe there's a better location for that. I chose here, because on the map, it seems to be the closest to the lake. Walk along the fence towards the lake. There's no one else here. Nothing much to see. The lake is pretty. Saw many cows walking in the shallow water. Probably should have stopped at a restaurant nearby to try fried guapote (rainbow bass).

Back in my hotel, hoping to take a shower before checking out. Someone had come in, took my towel, the plate and knife I borrowed, as well as my own spoon. Didn't take away any trash. I ate some food, checked out at 10am. Hoping for a bus at 10. The hotel told me it goes every hour.

Estelí

The next Estelí bus is at 1pm! No schedule is posted anywhere. Need to ask. When I came back from the canal, someone said there's an express bus to Estelí at 11:30, but the guy that directs passengers said it doesn't exist.

Bought an empanada for C20. It's filled with rice. Took the 11am bus to San Rafael. Change there. C30. On the way into the town, 12:10, the driver beeped at an Estelí bus. Quite a lot of us filed out of this bus and onto that one. Plenty seats. C50. This bus is blasting some love songs. Way too loud.

Got off the bus at the junction off hwy-1, closer to city center. Both the north and south terminals are 1 mile south of city center on hwy-1. Walked to Luna Hostal. Paid for 2 nights ($15x2) + Somoto Canyon tour ($35 for a longer tour). Nice couryard, but rooms are in bad condition. Hot inside. Ariel (a guy) at the hostel is very nice, drew me a map in detail how to visit Tisey using buses (6:30 & 13:30, except Wednesday).

2/14, day 20, Wednesday. Somoto Canyon Tour
7:30am bus from the north terminal to the town of Somoto (C46) near the border of Honduras. It takes ~2 hours. On the way, saw a lot of tobacco fields. About 30 medical school students of San Lucas crowded the bus for the first 5 miles.

Chilamate: the orange petals.

A young Canadian couple and me are the only tourists. They also bought the longer tour. They've climbed La Conception, so pretty fit. The pick up arrived late. Drove us to a village next to Somoto Canyon, where the tour operation office is. I'm glad that I'm paying the locals for my tour.
This tour is not for ordinary folks. First, we were instructed to change to sneakers that are lying outside of their office/restaurant. Keep our socks. Only water, sunscreen, camera. Nothing else. Each one donned a life jacket. It's a scramble, walk, swim, or just float. We had chance to jump in the pools. I only jumped over a low rock. Lost my sunglasses in the process. Now dry season, narrow canyon looks taller. Very pretty. The swim cools you down a bit, before the sun dry you. Bats, big spiders, some little black birds, vultures, little fish, a honey comb. There's even a camp site on a flat gravel with overhang rocks. Also saw quite a lot of trash, especially near the take-out (closer to the village), cows and their large droppings, fishermen dozing in the shade. At the end, we had to take a boat across some shallow placid water, which we could easily swim over. Well, the boat rowler got some money this way.

Had to walk ~1 mile on some sun baked road to the office, where we were served a very late lunch (3pm) at its porch. An iguana. Lunch for the 3 of us: mine is very tough beef. Theirs are chicken. Lemon juice with ice.

We were driven to the bus terminal in an SUV with AC. Arrived 3:35pm, for a 4pm bus. I walked to the central park of the town before getting on the bus.

On the way, a guy boarded the bus with a large rectangular crate of purple orchid. They were withering fast.

2/15, day 21, Thursday. A 0 day. Walked to the market. Bought a pair of swimming trunk. Looking for sunglasses. $2-4. Saw some murals on the way. Moved to an Airbnb hosted by Erika, worked. Checking the temperature. Despite of the elevation, it's still hot here. But where I'm going to, León is hotter.

2/16, day 22, Friday. Tisey. Bus at 6:30am (the next one is at 1:30pm). The sign says La Cascada. C30.

Got off at the turn to Finca El Jalacate. An awful rocky road to walk down hill, passing 2 gates. The countryside is quite pretty. Chilly now. Coming back up in the sun isn't fun. C50. The old guy made me sign the thick log book. Not much to look at. The "artist" carves the big boulder on his property. Lots of benches under tin roofs.

Continued on the main road, soon it is paved. 1 mile later, turn right onto a dusty road to the community Garnacha. Another hot mile. The first mirador Cerro Apaguajil is short and sweet. Then an unmanned post (c20 on the sign, seems only on weekends). Continued into the maintained reserva Tisey with hammocks, swings, benches, and 2 very nice cabañas. I was asked to pay c30, no sign, no receipt. No tourists. There's a very good loop (short) trail with a few viewpoints. A teeny cave (just a hole in the cliff). A short swing bridge. At one of those viewing platforms, where a fake green chopper sits, I met a guy in an official t-shirt. He said he does a round in his area every day checking the condition of the trails and such. Later, while I was walking the dusty road out, he stopped his motorbike, and gave me a ride to the junction of NN45 (Rancho Don Luis), where buses are every 2 hours. That saves me about 5km. He wouldn't take any money from me. I was dropped of around 10:30, when he continued south.

Very deserted bus stops on both sides, at least have roof and (almost collapsed) benches. At 11am, 2 locals showed up. Good sign. The guy at the South Terminal in Estelí told me that there would be a bus at noon. Bus from St Nicolas stopped ~11:20. C25. I was able to return in time for my meeting. Bought a pair of sunglasses. C80.

Working for the rest of the day.

2/17, day 23, Saturday. Erika got up before 7 to take the trash out. Garbage day I guess. I'm leaving early. In front of Terminal Norte, the Managua expreso bus was recruiting passengers. This 7:45 bus is the one I wanted to take. Expected arrival at 10am. My flight is at 2pm. Enough buffer. The only other flight is at 7am.

This is a nice bus. AC, curtains, assigned seats. However, overhead space is narrower. My pack doesn't fit. It's comfortable. I fell asleep. 10am, I got off in front of the airport. Perfect.