I'm excited, I go to the dive shop at 8.15am, try the equipment, breefing, 10 min boat ride and we are in the water. We start slowly descending all in a circle, I'm equalizing, and... a tooth start hurting so bad that I had to ascend and miss the dive! I was so disappointed and in pain!! Now I have to find a dentist in Nicaragua so next time I'm in a great dive spot I can actually enjoy it. If I can't dive there's no point to stay in Little Corn much longer so we moved our flight to Feb 18th. Brunch at Vista de Colores, best table in town: at the edge of a cliff, in front of the ocean, with inclined backrest. Good food too.
Chilling at our cabana and then dinner at Rosa's with Tina, the Africa lady, and another lady from Denmark. Interesting conversations on travel and environment, delicious rundon, typical island fish stew.

Am Yoga in front of the sea under an open cabana next to Elsa's, then breakfast at Rosa's and walk to town to check emails and...my lawyer says I had final approval for my Green Card! Yeeeh! Now I'm finally free to do what I want when I go back to the States... including another full time job... mmmh...
Pm rain and then celebratory dinner at Cafe Desideri, with backgammon game included. There are no party spots really on this island, it's pretty quiet and relaxing. I'll have an appropriate party upon my return to the US.

Nice breakfast at LCB&B and backgammon session: I'm starting to love this game. Snorkeling in the am with the German neighbor, who was hunting for lobsters. They are right under the rocks in front of our cabanas! He had no luck but it was fun to see. Then I decided to swim out to the coral reef and wait for the hammerhead sharks out there. I had no luck but I saw a big moon fish instead and a lot of conks, which I decided not to bring back with me and eat as ceviche. The neighbor was disappointed.
In the pm we decide to explore the north of Little Corn where several people told us there's an Italian restaurant at Ensueno and the food is great. 20 min along the beach and we hit Derek's Place. This is by far the coolest spot on the island: cabanas are very artsy and stylish, beautiful grounds, communal meals and relaxed atmosphere. Prices vary but he had a cabana for $35 as well. Recommended. We go on walking and hit Peace&Love Farm, a Italian woman with two big dogs, who rents bigger bungalows w kitchen and if arranged she also cooks dinner, but not tonight. Finally we arrive at Ensuenos, nice and artsy as well, but unfortunately reservation is needed for dinner and we don't have any...so we have a beer to kill the disappointment and enjoy the sunset. On our way back in the dark with headlight on there are a lot of crabs along the path, we pass by Derek's again to see if he has some food for us: at this point we are so hungry that we are almost begging, it's hilarious! He had pity of us and even if he didn't have enough food for a dinner he was so nice to give us a little fish bruschetta for the road...on a leaf, so cute.
Finally after walking in the dark and in the jungle for other 20min we are back at LCB&B have a delicious and well deserved Valentine's meal.

It's so nice to feel good again! I woke up at sunrise and went for a long walk along the beach checking all the cabanas around, I think Elsa's is one of the best option considering quality and price, Little Corn Beach & Bungalows is probably the most refined but also very expensive (starting from $80).
After a pineapple breakfast, we went for a snorkeling trip; the sea was a little rough and visibility not great but I still could see several nurse sharks, a reef shark, a sting ray and five gorgeous eagle rays. Apparently there usually are big hammerhead sharks also but we didn't see any. Next time ; )
Lunch at Rosa's, a nice lady that has a comedor on the way to town in the middle of the island: good food and prices. Laundry & chilling on the hammock. Yoga with Sara at 5pm: nice class, it was given at Cafe Desideri and it was her first on the island. Good Luck Sara!

So happy I'm feeling better and I can start to enjoy this little corner of paradise! I stopped by the two diving centers on the island: they have the same prices and they seem to have both good reputation, maybe in a couple of days I'll be able to dive. Lunch at Cafe Desideri with Fish Carpaccio and nice chat with Sara, a yoga teacher that works there and tomorrow will give a class: the yoga trail is back!
Back to the cabana, our German neighbor cautch a huge red snapper just fishing off the beach, unbelievable, there's enough to feed all the guests and the family that runs the place! Elsa, the owner cooked it with garlic sauce, delicious.

Despite my lack of energy, fever and constant headache- I might have been bitten by some mean insect- I want to move to Little Corn Island. Since there's no ATM there we go to the bank first but again I can't change my travelers checks, so i would suggest the NY banker that recommended them to me to take a break from his desk and go and try himself.
At 10 we are on a completely full panga: make sure to show up at least an hour before to have a seat. There's no roof on the pangha so rain or shine is all on your head and we got them both! Luckily is just a 30 min ride.
There are no cars on Little Corn, only pedestrian paths thru town or thru vegetation but the island is pretty small so this is not a big unconvenience. After 10 min walk from the dock on the west side of the island at Elsa's we find a basic cabana right on the beach with ocean view and private bath for $20. The island tends to fill up so it wouldn't be a bad idea to book in advance just to be sure but i dont think these beach huts work much with Internet!
In the pm I had to visit the local clinic: there's no doctor on the island but just a nice nurse that took care of me giving me antibiotics for something that is still not clear to me but I guess it's ok because I felt better after!
Dinner at Cafe Desiderio, italian run place, in front of the ocean, wifi included, delicious food: Recommended!

1.5 hr flight with stop in Bluefield and at 8am we are at Big Corn Island. Taxi ride from airport is $1 pp, budget hotels are on the north side of island, we go there and find a $15 corner room w terrace in front of ocean at Beach View Hotel. Sounds good right? Unfortunately the place is a little run down, not that clean, with occasional drunk locals visiting guests on the common terrace. The area is a little sketchy too, and the Caribbean English spoken here is impossible to understand, I'd rather make an effort and speak Spanish.
The plan for the afternoon was to visit the south and more beautiful beaches but I started feeling sick and I have to spend the rest of the day in bed.
Dinner at the Fisher's Cave by the dock was good. Lobsters seem to be a very common ingredient here. Nice!

Breakfast at Borders Coffee in El Castillo, they are slow but their coffee and natural juices are pretty good and it's easy to meet other travelers and chat.
The fast boat back to San Carlos is much better than the previous slow one. I got the very last two seats thanks to smiling ; ) so early reservation recommended.
Pm spent at the Internet cafe by the dock, dinner at El Granadino was good, big, and lil pricey.
10pm bus back to Managua. They have paved the entire road recently so the trip is much better and faster than it used to be: we arrived at the Managua airport 3.45am, including two unnecessarily long stops at comedores and a military passport and bags check. Book your bus seats hrs in advance. Unfortunately these buses are not very comfy and suspensions are basically missing so sleeping is not easy.
The airport on the other end is nice and clean and we could have some rest before our flight to Big Corn at 6.30am.

Lancha in El Castillo at 6am, 45min ride on the river: we see toucans, big iguanas, monkeys, jungle and unfortunately also a highway that Costa Rica is building along its side of the river destroying the entire ecosystem. It made me nauseous, I could't believe it. Shame on them.
Indio Maiz was a great 3hr hike thru pure jungle and the rubber boots were indispensable along the muddy trail. Our guide was very knowledgable, he showed us all the medicine plants and trees: there's a remedy for everything in the jungle! Without rain it wouldn't be a rainforest right? So we also had our thunderstorm on the way back: thanks Dad for giving me the poncho before leaving Italy!
Once back at the Hotel we had another delicious meal and a lot of relaxing time on the hammock by the river.

5 am lancha to San Carlos with all the local people going to the market to sell or buy stuff. All lanchas to El Castillo are full until noon so we spend the morning online at the Internet cafe. Que gusto!
The lancha for El Castillo is skinny and long, and with the waves it moves a lot in all directions, torsion included, and we are basically seating under water level... This is when i'm grateful that my parents made me learn to swim very well! Along the way a luggage that was on top of the lancha fell in the water but we could turn around in time and pick it up. The interesting thing is that its local owner was really cool about that and he didn't look worry or annoyed at all! My seat neighbor on the lancha was Tina, a nice american woman who is writing a book about the year she spent with her 10 yo daughter with a tribe in Zinbawe. Very audacious I would say.
After 3hrs we are at El Castillo: a cute town built on stilts along Rio San Juan where they ride boats carved in tree trunks, some with engine. There's a fortress built by the spaniards in the 17th century as a defense from pirates.
We take a room literally on the river at Hotel Chinandegano, with private bath: $15 per night. This house is built on stilts directly on the water, shabby chic, as the Lonely Planet says, and their food is excellent! Recommended.
Tomorrow: trip to Indio Maiz, a natural reserve down the river, $13 per person, we are 7 and we have a guide. We rented rubber boots, I loved mine and went for a walk to town with them!