Day 32. Friday, 07.08.11. Little Corn, Nicaragua. 6:09 a.m.
We are up early this morning. We had a taste of dessert at our favorite cafe on the island, Cafe Desideri, before walking back to our palce last night. Scott and I spent the evening up in the treehouse hammock reading chapters of "The Idiot" by Dostoyevski.
The stars in the night sky here are as numerous and as patterned as the freckles that dot my arms and face. Perhaps I should look for constalations that lie on the surface of my skin...
The brush of the dried palm leaf tips in the gentle breeze sounds like a light rain, but a drop never falls.
Late morning:
Scott and I watched Rachel teach us how to make the flour tortillas this morning. These fried biscuits are a tradition amongst the Miskito tribe, native to the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua. Rachel told us that on the mainland of Nicaragua, the Spaniards made tortillas out of corn, but on the islands and the Atlantic Coast, they use flour. Which explains why we could never find flour tortillas on the mainland...
This brings us to now. We are now safely in Managua at a hostel for the next several days. Eric and Emily (sadly) leave us on Sunday around 12:00. We have so enjoyed our travels with our close friends. The library is still doing well! Julie has kept us up to date. She said that there are usually between 10 and 15 kids there after school every day! So, so happy to hear that, and can't wait to get back at the end of the month to check up on things!
Scott and I will remain in Managua for another week helping a youth group from Houston as they build out some classrooms at a local Christian school. After Managua, Scott and I are off to Guatemala for a week, then back to El Transito for our last few days!
I am hoping that once we get to Guatemala, or certainly when we are back in El Transito, I can post pictures of our last 10 days of traveling!
With tired feet,
HK
Friday, July 8, 2011
Unda' Da' Sea
Day 31. Little Corn, Nicaragua. Thursday, 07.07.11. 7:48 a.m.
We went into the village yesterday for lunch and stayed to walk around. It's about a 30 min. walk from the village back to our bungalow. We had a lot of rain yesterday, too, which made for a really wet walk back!
The girl who makes breakfast here is named Rachel. She is a young, beautiful, pregnant woman. She made us fresh fruit with cinnamon and pecans, scrambled eggs, and "flour tortillas", which is not your traditional flour tortilla. These are more like fried, doughy biscuits. They are warm and chewy and PERFECT with the home made banana-pineapple-cinnamon jam that is made from.... yes, the fruit that grows in the orchard. Heaven in my mouth.
Ramon happens to own a snorkeling business, and Little Corn, according to National Geographic, is one of the better places to snorkel in the world! He set us up for a snorkeling trip for $15 per person. Can't beat that! The coral reef stretches for what seems like forever. We saw schools of bright blue fish, yellow and black striped fish, clown fish, and my favorite, the Red Parrot fish. We also swam amongst several nurse sharks! The guide's took us out into the deeper part of the ocean so that we could swim with 9 foot hammerhead sharks. Yes, sharks. Full size, man eating, hammer head sharks. 5 of them to be exact. A "family". Open water is one of my largest fears. Put sharks in that open water and you will see that my pants are soiled, or in this case, my bikini bottoms. But, this trip has been about conquering my fears, so I jumped into the depths of the ocean to find these huge sharks with the other 5 people brave enough to go. As we swam in the open water to find these sharks, we came across severl large eagle rays! The way they glide through the water is so graceful.
So what about the sharks..? Well, fortunately for me, we never saw that family of 5 hammerheads. The guides said we were swimming right where they live, so they must have gone out hunting. Well, that's just fine with me! No sharks, I'm gone. The eagle rays were amazing... and scary.... enough. And, I can now say that I have swam in the middle of the ocean. Fear conquered.
With soiled bikini bottoms,
HK
We went into the village yesterday for lunch and stayed to walk around. It's about a 30 min. walk from the village back to our bungalow. We had a lot of rain yesterday, too, which made for a really wet walk back!
The girl who makes breakfast here is named Rachel. She is a young, beautiful, pregnant woman. She made us fresh fruit with cinnamon and pecans, scrambled eggs, and "flour tortillas", which is not your traditional flour tortilla. These are more like fried, doughy biscuits. They are warm and chewy and PERFECT with the home made banana-pineapple-cinnamon jam that is made from.... yes, the fruit that grows in the orchard. Heaven in my mouth.
Ramon happens to own a snorkeling business, and Little Corn, according to National Geographic, is one of the better places to snorkel in the world! He set us up for a snorkeling trip for $15 per person. Can't beat that! The coral reef stretches for what seems like forever. We saw schools of bright blue fish, yellow and black striped fish, clown fish, and my favorite, the Red Parrot fish. We also swam amongst several nurse sharks! The guide's took us out into the deeper part of the ocean so that we could swim with 9 foot hammerhead sharks. Yes, sharks. Full size, man eating, hammer head sharks. 5 of them to be exact. A "family". Open water is one of my largest fears. Put sharks in that open water and you will see that my pants are soiled, or in this case, my bikini bottoms. But, this trip has been about conquering my fears, so I jumped into the depths of the ocean to find these huge sharks with the other 5 people brave enough to go. As we swam in the open water to find these sharks, we came across severl large eagle rays! The way they glide through the water is so graceful.
So what about the sharks..? Well, fortunately for me, we never saw that family of 5 hammerheads. The guides said we were swimming right where they live, so they must have gone out hunting. Well, that's just fine with me! No sharks, I'm gone. The eagle rays were amazing... and scary.... enough. And, I can now say that I have swam in the middle of the ocean. Fear conquered.
With soiled bikini bottoms,
HK
Pirates
Day 30. Little Corn, Nicaragua. Wednesday, 07.06.11. 7:27 a.m.
Well, we have arrived at the Carribean! We flew into Great Corn yesterday around 4:00, then took a "panga", a.k.a. "tiny boat", to Little Corn. The place that we wanted to stay was on the North side of the island, so we walked through the village, across a baseball field, an through the jungle to arrive at our first pick, "Ensuenos", Spanish for "Dreams".
We were greeted by a Spaniard. He was dressed in large, baggy, yellow pirate pants, a black tank top, and a long faded red scarf wrapped around his bald head. He wore thin rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose and his thick black eyebrows hung just above, like giant caterpillars. We asked if he owned the place, and his deep, smooth voice replied, "I guess you could say that."
I will do my best to describe this surreal, quiet, isolated place, but I don't know that my words can do it justice. And, I am at an internet cafe, so I still can't post pictures. Ensuenos is located in a fruit orchard. The owner, Ramon, planted most of the trees himself. The trees, however, are not planted in perfect little rows, but rather they tower in clusters, adding to the natural jungle. The sand on the beach is gold and the waves that meet it are calm and slow, representing every shade of blue, green, and turqoise in between. The shore is only about 10 feet deep, and then begins the grass and foliage that make up the ground cover for this island. The grass here is delicate and soft; it practically bounces under your bare feet. Portions of the grass look as though they are covering large rocks, but when you step on them, they sink into the ground under your weight and rebound to their dome-like state as soon as you lift your foot! \
Ramon built every little bungalow on this property. The doors to enter the houses stand about 5 feet tall. The roofs are thatched with palm leaves. The interior looks as though a large boulder has been carved away, making room for two beds on the bottom, and one bed nestled in a tiny loft built of wood. Ramon is also an artist, and his paintings and carvings are tucked away throughout the property. He carves into the sides of twisted tree branches, giving the wooden faces an eerie distortion.
Roland is the cook. He is a Frenchman who wears a tiny straw hat and a thick silver hoop earring in his left ear. He, too, wears thin rimmed glasses. He and Ramon are quite the pair. It is only the four of us staying here with Ramon and Roland, the Spaniard and the Frenchman, to keep us company. It certainly feels as though the six of us are th only inhabitants of this dream.
Roland treated us to a large plate of pasta for dinner, and for dessert he made caramalized bananas from the banana trees that grow on the island. With dessert, we had the best tea I have ever tasted. It was made from fresh lemon grass, lemon leaves, tamarine leaves, and basil, all picked from the orchard. My goodness, we are certainly living in a dream!
With our meal and dessert came a most interesting conversation with Ramon and Roland. I won't bore you with the details, but just picture this: Spaniard pirate. Sitting quietly in the dark corner of his table, with his deep, smooth, calm voice discussing his views on loneliness, state of mind, sustainability, death, etc. I looked over at Emily during one of his soothing philosophical rants and said, "I truly feel like this isn't real."
Before I close, I will add one last thing. We asked Ramon what he did in Spain before he moved to Little Corn. He replied, just as calmly and smoothly as before, "I thieved a bank. I robbed a bank. Just one." And that was all. He left it at that.
With a parrot on my shoulder,
HK
Well, we have arrived at the Carribean! We flew into Great Corn yesterday around 4:00, then took a "panga", a.k.a. "tiny boat", to Little Corn. The place that we wanted to stay was on the North side of the island, so we walked through the village, across a baseball field, an through the jungle to arrive at our first pick, "Ensuenos", Spanish for "Dreams".
We were greeted by a Spaniard. He was dressed in large, baggy, yellow pirate pants, a black tank top, and a long faded red scarf wrapped around his bald head. He wore thin rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose and his thick black eyebrows hung just above, like giant caterpillars. We asked if he owned the place, and his deep, smooth voice replied, "I guess you could say that."
I will do my best to describe this surreal, quiet, isolated place, but I don't know that my words can do it justice. And, I am at an internet cafe, so I still can't post pictures. Ensuenos is located in a fruit orchard. The owner, Ramon, planted most of the trees himself. The trees, however, are not planted in perfect little rows, but rather they tower in clusters, adding to the natural jungle. The sand on the beach is gold and the waves that meet it are calm and slow, representing every shade of blue, green, and turqoise in between. The shore is only about 10 feet deep, and then begins the grass and foliage that make up the ground cover for this island. The grass here is delicate and soft; it practically bounces under your bare feet. Portions of the grass look as though they are covering large rocks, but when you step on them, they sink into the ground under your weight and rebound to their dome-like state as soon as you lift your foot! \
Ramon built every little bungalow on this property. The doors to enter the houses stand about 5 feet tall. The roofs are thatched with palm leaves. The interior looks as though a large boulder has been carved away, making room for two beds on the bottom, and one bed nestled in a tiny loft built of wood. Ramon is also an artist, and his paintings and carvings are tucked away throughout the property. He carves into the sides of twisted tree branches, giving the wooden faces an eerie distortion.
Roland is the cook. He is a Frenchman who wears a tiny straw hat and a thick silver hoop earring in his left ear. He, too, wears thin rimmed glasses. He and Ramon are quite the pair. It is only the four of us staying here with Ramon and Roland, the Spaniard and the Frenchman, to keep us company. It certainly feels as though the six of us are th only inhabitants of this dream.
Roland treated us to a large plate of pasta for dinner, and for dessert he made caramalized bananas from the banana trees that grow on the island. With dessert, we had the best tea I have ever tasted. It was made from fresh lemon grass, lemon leaves, tamarine leaves, and basil, all picked from the orchard. My goodness, we are certainly living in a dream!
With our meal and dessert came a most interesting conversation with Ramon and Roland. I won't bore you with the details, but just picture this: Spaniard pirate. Sitting quietly in the dark corner of his table, with his deep, smooth, calm voice discussing his views on loneliness, state of mind, sustainability, death, etc. I looked over at Emily during one of his soothing philosophical rants and said, "I truly feel like this isn't real."
Before I close, I will add one last thing. We asked Ramon what he did in Spain before he moved to Little Corn. He replied, just as calmly and smoothly as before, "I thieved a bank. I robbed a bank. Just one." And that was all. He left it at that.
With a parrot on my shoulder,
HK
Independence Day in Nicaragua: We are Officially Ex-Pats (not quite).
Day 29 Esteli, Managua, and Corn Islands, Nicaragua. Tuesday, 07.05.11. 12:25 p.m.
As you can tell from the 3 cities listed, this has been a day of travel! We left Esteli at 5:30 this morning to hop a bus for Managua. We arrived in Managua in time for brunch at our favorite bakery, Sampson Bakery. We are now waiting in a tiny airport for our tiny plane to the Corn Islands on the Carribean side of Nicaragua.
Last night was Independence Day in the USA. I am not really the patriotic sort, but when you are in another country, your patriotism is heightened. The nice thing about traveling, too, is that you can ALWAYS find someone from the USA.
Last night, to celebrate the 4th, we met up at Cafe Luz, where we are staying, with some of our American friends that we have met throughout our travels in Nicaragua. At about 10:30 p.m. the lights in the Cafe went out, which Scott took as his cue to start singing the Star Spangled Banner... Surprisingly, or perhaps not surprisingly, after the first few words every American in the Cafe chimed in. Judging by the volume of the song, there were either at least 15 Americans in the Cafe, or the few that were actually there were just loud and possibly a bit tipsy. Overall, it was a very good 4th, but watermelon and fireworks would have sealed the deal.
Oh, Say Can You See,
HK
As you can tell from the 3 cities listed, this has been a day of travel! We left Esteli at 5:30 this morning to hop a bus for Managua. We arrived in Managua in time for brunch at our favorite bakery, Sampson Bakery. We are now waiting in a tiny airport for our tiny plane to the Corn Islands on the Carribean side of Nicaragua.
Last night was Independence Day in the USA. I am not really the patriotic sort, but when you are in another country, your patriotism is heightened. The nice thing about traveling, too, is that you can ALWAYS find someone from the USA.
Last night, to celebrate the 4th, we met up at Cafe Luz, where we are staying, with some of our American friends that we have met throughout our travels in Nicaragua. At about 10:30 p.m. the lights in the Cafe went out, which Scott took as his cue to start singing the Star Spangled Banner... Surprisingly, or perhaps not surprisingly, after the first few words every American in the Cafe chimed in. Judging by the volume of the song, there were either at least 15 Americans in the Cafe, or the few that were actually there were just loud and possibly a bit tipsy. Overall, it was a very good 4th, but watermelon and fireworks would have sealed the deal.
Oh, Say Can You See,
HK
Monday, July 4, 2011
A bike ride.
07.04.11, Esteli, Nicaragua
Well... quite the adventure this morning! We rented bikes from our hostal to ride around the city in and make our way to a nice organic cafe called ¨La Casita¨, only to find that our bikes could not change gears, the breaks worked when they chose to work, and when we arrived at La Casita, it was closed. Apparently it is no open on the first Monday of the month, which happens to be when we decided to go. My bike was stuck in the lowest gear, which was not a pretty site. I´m sure the locals got a good laugh at me pedaling my feet as hard and fast as they could go without making much, if any, forward progress... I looked like Scooby Doo.
We did, however, find some really neat street art. Most of the murals and grafiti here is political. The images are so passionate, bold, and profound. We have really enjoyed stopping to take photos of the art.
Eating Scooby Snacks,
HK
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