Masaya

Though part of me was bummed, I did succeed in leaving Little Corn Island on my second attempt. In an amusing last-hour twist, the motorboat from Little Corn to Big Corn (where the planes depart from) ran out of gas as we approached the island and they couldn't make it to the dock and had to just pull up on the closest beach and have us jump out into the surf. One of the boat guys had a cell phone and called a taxi driver he knew, who alerted all the rest of them, and all the taxis had raced from the dock to the beach and were waiting for us there. Hilarious. And so I made it to the airport and onto a plane and waved goodbye to Big Corn...

 

...enjoyed the little puddle-jumping ride...

...and on the way in for a landing in Managua, got a great view of my final Nicaraguan destination: Masaya--or at least the volcano that dominates the landscape of the town.

It was kind of strange and disorienting to be in a normal city again, with honking car horns and so many people, after the idyllic quiet of Little Corn. Also, Masaya isn't a place where many tourists actually stay, so it was surprising (after the relatively touristy places I've visited so far) to have to search for a hostel, an internet connection, etc. But I really enjoyed wandering the ENORMOUS local market, feeling like the only Gringo in miles.

And it was a lovely walk at sunset to and along the promenade area overlooking Lake Masaya.

That cloud-looking stuff just above the horizon is not actually clouds, but smoke from Masaya volcano, which is the main reason I came to Masaya.

So the next morning, the guide I'd found while wandering around town the afternoon before picked me up and we headed into the park to gaze down into the mouth of the beast.

There is no way anyone would be allowed to get this close to the main crater of an active composite volcano in the States, which made it even more fun. But seriously, when the wind changed direction and the sulfur fumes blew my way, my lungs burned so bad I had to just hold my breath until some fresh air came along. Apparently, on evening tours as it starts to get dark, you can see the red of the lava glowing down in the crater. There were no night tours available while I was in town, though, so I had to just use my imagination.

The view across the countryside was clear and gorgeous, though.

And my guide Sergio occasionally took a break from trying to upsell me future tours to show me some really cool things, like this "cotton fruit" (at least that's what he says it's called!):

Back in town, we headed back to the promenade so he could show me what the volcano looks like from that angle. I think he felt bad that our volcano walk was not all he had promised (apparently they were closing the park for the afternoon...something to do with Russians in helicopters?...and as we were driving out, we saw a lot of very clean, well-coifed gringos that appeared to be a film crew on their way in, driving fancy Jeep convertibles...though I guess it doesn't take much to be cleaner and more well-coiffed than I) and was so enthusiastic about the promenade that I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd seen it the evening before.

And so with that, I say a very temporary farewell as I head back Stateside to regroup. Sad to leave Nicaragua, a country I've LOVED getting to know and fully intend to return to as soon as the travel gods permit. But I'll be seeing you again very soon, as I fly to Australia in the middle of March, for a whole new set of adventures to catalogue. Perhaps there will be some posts between now and then; otherwise, I'll catch you Down Under...

More Little Corn

My bonus days on Little Corn did not go to waste, oh no. First of all, if I'd left when my silly plane ticket actually said I was supposed to, I would have missed my first scuba diving experience, which was awesome. Lots of work, all that equipment.

 

But one of the other divers had an underwater camera, which was very cool, so even though that meant even more equipment, it's fun to have the experience documented.

That's me giving the "all okay" signal!

And check out the remora in the middle of this picture. It looked like a little miniature shark (but is not).

Also a part of my freebie days in paradise: going to the southern point of the island with JG and JW (crazy how each part of the island has such a different feel)...

And going to visit this great farm operation in the southern section, where they're actually successfully growing greens (not an easy feat in this climate), along with everything else you can imagine.

On the morning of my last day, I got up even earlier than has been my habit since yoga training, and I took a walk to climb the (frighteningly rickety) island lighthouse. The 360 view of the entire island from the top was as completely gorgeous as promised.

Then I just started following paths to other parts of the island. So many hidden beaches and interesting "neighborhoods" (though in one sense the whole island is a single neighborhood) full of colorful locals. I've been seeing the guy with the white hair everywhere and was thrilled to get to sneak a picture of him. JW pointed out that being here is like being on a cruise ship. You see the same people day after day, and even though you might not even have officially met them, you start to feel like you know them.

Sigh. I'm going to miss this place, this food.

Though it involved an embarrassing travel snafu, I'm really grateful that I ended up staying on Little Corn for an entire week. I think it's the longest I've ever stayed anywhere while actively touring/traveling. It was a treat and something I should do more often when I find places I like. Fun to feel like a part of the life here. Easy to imagine staying forever, which a lot of people clearly do. And lovely to have such an easy, relaxing time with sweet friends that I can't believe I didn't even know when I first arrived in Nicaragua less than 7 weeks ago!

But don't worry, the Nica adventure isn't over quite yet. Will report back on my last stop soon....

Little Corn Island

Funny story: the tiny, idyllic Caribbean (though still Nicaraguan) island of Little Corn was on my wish list when I first read through a Nicaragua guidebook, but I probably would have skipped it due to the cost of the plane ticket to get here from Managua if it weren't for JG (as opposed to JW, whom I've been traveling with), one of the other students in my yoga teacher training program, who had a job lined up on Little Corn starting immediately after our training. How could JW and I turn down the invite to come visit JG in paradise as part of our post-yoga travels?

 

So from Leon, JW and I bussed it to Managua and caught a domestic flight to Big Corn Island, and then this little boat on to Little Corn.

 

Another funny story: the guy in the foreground in the green shirt? We were all sitting in this boat at the harbor at Big Corn for a long time waiting for it to leave, so I started eavesdropping on the people talking the row behind me and heard green shirt guy mention Madagascar. I interrupted the conversation he'd been having and learned that he was the director of the American School in Tana when I lived in Mada, and actually hired the Mada friends I visited in Oklahoma City in November. Such a small world!

And, when we finally arrived on Little Corn, a small island. JG was waiting for us on the dock with a beer (for JW) and a water (for me) and we walked (no cars here! yay!) down the sidewalk to the hostel JG had staked out for us to drop off our stuff before we got down to the very serious business of trying to absorb the incredible, peaceful beauty of this place.

The island is only 2 miles long by 1 mile wide at its most extreme points, so it's easy to walk around significant portions of it every day. Though home base has been the sweet, beachy restaurant/bar, Tranquilo, where JF and her boyfriend now work.

Tranquilo is on "The Village" side of the island, as opposed to the beach hut side, which has a totally different feel.

There are a few yoga studios on the island, and JG connected me with one of her teachers, who readily agreed to a swap: I could take her classes for free in exchange for stepping up to teach a couple of her scheduled classes to give her a break and a rare afternoon off. And so I taught my first classes as an official yoga teacher in this amazing setting.

Aside from that there was a whole lot of relaxing...

...walking around the island and enjoying the beaches...

...the funky island art...

...the views...

...and stand-up paddle boarding! The reason none of us are actually standing up on the paddle boards in this pic is because we were doing yoga on the boards.

It was crazy fun; some poses that you'd think would be no problem dumped me in the water repeatedly, whereas others--like headstand--that I never would have thought possible were relatively easy.

We also walked to the northern tip of the island, to the fanciest (or at least the most expensive) hotel on Little Corn, Yemaya. Even the food was way out of my price range but the view from the dining room was incredible...

...and I had a delicious smoothie/juice and a lot of fun looking at everyone's insanely priced meals.

One more funny story: on my last day on the island, I decided to cave in and finally try scuba diving for the first time. I've been avoiding doing it my entire adult life because I knew I would love it and I didn't want to get addicted to such an expensive activity. But the try-dives here were so reasonably priced, I couldn't resist. Good last-day activity, I thought. But when I was filling out my waiver and other forms and it came time to write in the date, I suddenly got really confused. It was the 16th, and also it was Sunday, everyone around me insisted--but I'd had it in my head that my flight back to Managua was on the 16th, and I thought the 16th was Monday. I suddenly had this flash of panic, confirmed during our lunch break, that my flight was actually that morning rather than the next morning, and that I'd missed it. Even when I was looking at my confirmation e-mail and a calendar and it was clear I'd missed it, I still couldn't believe what I'd done. A BIG attack of island brain! But (though it was useless trying to take care of anything over the phone with them) it turns out that even if you outright MISS your flight, the domestic airline here considers rebooking just a change to your flight. So, after much hair-pulling with the unreliable internet connection and poor interaction between my browser and the airline's website, I successfully rebooked myself on the next available flight for only a change fee. The catch is that the next available flight wasn't until three days later. So I will be spending a bit longer than planned here, which is absolutely no hardship, as you can see from the pics above. I'll have to skip going to one of the other places I was intending to visit back on the mainland, but I already know I need to return to Nicaragua someday anyway (soon, I hope) so I can just add that to the "next time" hit list. Thank goodness I had leeway with my flight home so there's no problem making that onward journey. Jeez!

Anyway, more on the scuba experience and the rest of my island visit in the next post...if my ENTIRE brain hasn't been consumed by Caribbean fever by then.

Cerro Negro

Yet another great thing about Leon (and another reason so many people stay longer than intended--wish we could, too!) is that it is SURROUNDED by volcanoes, and there are all kinds of trips you can take to various ones for various activities. Next time I come to Nicaragua, I'm going to leave time for the overnight trip that lets you watch sunset, camp, and then watch the sun rise from a volcano rim. This time, we did the more standard volcano daytrip from Leon: volcano boarding!

 

It's basically sledding, but down an active volcano called Cerro Negro.



 

First you have to climb up it, carrying your (unfortunately heavy) sled, protective gear, and lots of water. That was the least fun part.

But the ample reward was the incredible views along the way and from the top--including of other volcanoes in the region, fumaroles of Cerro Negro, and the main crater.

Once we'd taken all the pictures we could take and were tiring of the crazy wind and relentless sun, we donned our lovely protective suits, gloves, and goggles (and, for me, a very attractive hat, too!)...

...and down we went!

They had a radar gun to clock everyone's speed, and I went a measly 30 km or so, but that was fast enough for me, and I loved it. At the bottom, we all looked like we'd just finished a day of work in the coal mines.

During a picnic lunch at the visitor's center, we got to see an iguana farm (don't get attached; these guys are going to be dinner for some appreciative Nicaraguan)...

...and bond more with the great group of people who were on the adventure with us. I just LOVE being around travelers.

We all had so much fun that we made plans to meet up again that evening and hang out together. We thought it was hilarious that among us, there were (from left to right), Jason Statham, Jimmy Fallon, and Christian Bale look-alikes. Lots of digital space wasted on photos like this.