This week is our mid-semester break, so all six of us decided to go to the Corn Islands! They are two islands off the east coast of Nicaragua, in the Caribbean. We got here Sunday morning after a short flight, which was an experience in itself. Our boarding passes were giant plastic credit cards basically and once we arrived, they said the flight would leave in 10 minutes even though we were over an hour early. It turns out that once all the passengers are there, they can leave, and since the plane was a 12 passenger plane, we were half the plane. We ended up waiting a little more than 10 minutes, but it wasn’t long before we walked out to the plane. It was just like you see in the movies! We just walked right outside and onto the plane. It was really cool being in such a small plane and we got to see Nicaragua from a different point of view. The flight only took about 45 minutes and we were instantly greeted by the locals on this tiny island.
From the back row of the plane looking forward!
Shortly after getting to our resort, we decided to rent a golf cart to tour the island. It is really small, so it didn't take long to get familiar with the whole thing. It is a beautiful, beautiful island and we enjoyed not having much to do. We spent all Monday at a nearby beach. The water was calm which made it really fun to swim in. The water was so nice and clear, the sand was super soft and the sun was shining…it was a great day! The rest of the week, the water was choppier, so it wasn’t as nice to swim in, but we still enjoyed laying on the beach and playing in the waves. We also spent a lot of time reading books, listening to music, and napping on the beach. Needless to say, it was a very relaxing time on the island.
The ocean from the sky
The beach in front of our hotel-with a sunken ship nearby
The beach we spent more time at
A beautiful sunset over the ocean while we waited for supper one night
On Wednesday, we got the chance to go snorkeling! It was an awesome experience, especially since the boat was named ‘Endicott Jr.’ It turns out our guide’s first name was Endicott, what a coincidence! I have never been on a boat in the ocean, so that was a cool experience. It feels so out in the open compared to the lakes I’ve been on. The first stop on our adventure was a shipwreck off the coast. It was cool to see the boat underwater and also the fish swimming in and out of it. Then we went to a few reefs to hunt for sharks and find some other really cool animals. We didn’t find any sharks, but we did see a sting ray which was pretty cool. It reminded me of UnderWater World in the Mall of America, except we were looking down on it instead of up! I decided that UnderWater World is fairly accurate in their depiction of the ocean. We finished the trip by going all the way around the island in the boat.
My boat!
A nice thing about Corn Island is that most of the people speak English at least a little, along with Spanish and another language we didn’t understand. Most people speak about as much English as we speak Spanish, so we got to practice our Spanglish most of the time. The wait staff at El Paraiso got used to us hanging around most of the time since we usually were hanging out reading, using the internet, or playing games when we weren’t eating.
Overall, it was an awesome experience and worthwhile vacation. Yesterday we got back to Leon and I have a few days with my family before starting another week of class and my internship. With all these trips, it really is nice to come home to my family. We are now half way through the semester, and it is crazy how fast time is going! I am trying to cherish every moment I have exploring Nicaragua as well as every minute I have with my family.
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