Tranquila Adelita: From Omotepe to Corn Islands

The best part of a trip is not always the destination. Sometimes, the journey is the whole purpose cause you know you will be meeting a lot of people, discovering wild landscapes, having adventurous time... So, to go to the Corn Islands in the Caribbean Sea, I decided not to fly, but instead to go by land and river from Isla Omotope.

The ferry left at 7pm on Monday from Altagracia on Omotepe. I paid 161C$ my ticket + 30C$ for a lounge chair on the open deck (total: less than 8US$). We were maybe 20 tourists travelling on the deck of this ferry whereas the locals were staying in the big cabin downstairs for half price. It was windy and cold but comfortable and a unique experience.

Lake Nicaragua Ferry

San Carlos dock

We arrived in San Carlos at 6am and enjoyed a nice sunrise on the lake. I had decided during the night that I would try to make it to Corn Islands. I knew it was adventurous and long by land and river, so let's go for it! San Carlos seemed small, busy and nice. There is a Malecon and some cafeteria with a nice view on the lake.

I met 2 French guys there, Lois and Gaetan (who were on the same ferry) travelling for 8 months and thinking of heading to the islands too. We teamed up and took a bus (150C$) at 9am together to Rama. They were great company. We arrived at Rama at 3.30pm. From Rama, the road doesn't go further. The Rio Escondido starts and goes all the way to Bluefields in the mouth of the Caribbean Sea. So at 4pm we took the only speed boat ready to leave. We paid 250C$ (10US$) to be there in 1h30. It was either this or 65C$ to spend 12 more hours on an ugly ferry!

The colorful scenery was gorgeous. The river reflecting the trees and the schools of birds flying away. The sunset in a cloudless sky and the greenery of the nature…

With Gaetan and Lois on the panga from Rama to Bluefields

Sunset on the Rio Escondido

When we arrived in Bluefields, it seemed like a whole different country. Population is a mixt of descendant of slaves, and Nicaraguan, they play Reggae, people speak English with a strong creole accent…. But Spanish is still spoken. Very confusing. We – Lois, Gaetan and myself – were taken to a cheap hostel. The place was slum!!! very little rooms along a corridor, for 5$ the night. They all smelt mold. On my bed, the sheet had holes and didn’t look clean. I pulled it up and noticed pieces of carton to cover big holes in the mattress. It really looked disgusting! And scary! What’s hiding in those holes? I went in the other rooms, same thing! I told the guys and their bed looked the same! With paper and all kind of shit filling the mattress! We decided to leave but I took big pleasure screaming in Spanish at the very unfriendly woman in charge.

So here we were, walking in this quite ugly town, trying to find a place to stay… we ended up back ear the port. A hostel has only one room left with a double bed. I left the guys stay and go next door where it was supposed to be… bad. Well it was simply awful! I needed a room so I took it after negotiating to 4$. The wooden walls and floor were falling apart. The ceiling was open to the roof. The worst: the common bathroom was so disgusting that I started screaming that it was worse than a jail! No way I would shower in this! There was a stinky toilet and a big bucket, no light and old wood everywhere. No room to shower unless almost above the toilet. I was scared! They let me use the family bathroom downstairs… It was actually the same, except with light and more room so I could manually shower (with a bucket) next to the stinky toilet! I couldn’t skip a quick wash but as I say, it was quick! Especially when I faced 2 huge cockroach in less that 5 seconds!