Throwback Thursday

While we are having a very busy month already with our planned move to Tola, we decided to squeeze in a visit to Pearl Lagoon. Jean's mom had gone through a period of sickness and also had a surgery on her hand, so we felt we needed to go and spend some time and help out around the house.

We started out by catching the circuit assembly in spanish in Ticuantepe. This is the circuit assembly for the Tola congregation so it gave us a chance to meet some of the brothers in our new circuit. Even more exciting, my nephew got baptized. I am still so amazed that my family are here in Nicaragua to stay, and that my own nephew was answering the questions from the platform with "Si" instead of "yes". Right after the assembly my Brother in law gave us a ride into Managua. He insisted on driving us all the way to the bus terminal even though none of us were sure how to get there. We had always gone by taxi in the past. We consulted google maps to plan our route through the city, which gave us a very quick and direct way to get there. Unfortunately Google Maps does not have ALL the information... It didn't send us the wrong way, into any dead ends, or down any one way streets... but it did give us a lovely tour of the ghettos of Managua. We drove fast and kept the doors and windows locked, and we made it to the terminal. My brother in law and family took a different, somewhat longer route along the main highways to get back out of the city.

We were able to get our tickets that same day from the Wendelyn Vargas terminal at the Ivan Montenegro market. The bus would depart at 9:00 pm and travel to Rama overnight. We like this method for several reasons, one being that the night bus is always "express" meaning that it doesn't pick up extra people along the way. The trip took us about 5 hours, our chicken bus rolling through the night like a disco ball. We were in rama by 3:00 AM. Our bus ticket also garunteed us a seat on the 6:00AM panga to bluefields. The town of Rama never sleeps, so we were able to get some good breakfast for about 30 cords each while we waited for daybreak.

Another panga and lots of heavy rain and we were in Pearl Lagoon. The town has changed a little bit since we were last here, but not that much. It is still a quiet, friendly and slow paced town where it is easy to feel relaxed. Everywhere we go people are waving at us and shouting greetings from inside their house. "Ey! Wen yu reach back!?" And things like that. It looks like the rainy season is starting, although it's still fairly dry for lagoon. The entire area is still Incredibly lush and green compared to the pacific right now, due to the atlantic getting regular rains all year.

The congregation is also just as we remembered. Warm, friendly and crammed into a tiny house for the meeting. Although word is that they will be renting a larger house out towards Haulover to accomodate the rapidly growing congregation. Just like before it was so hard to get out the door of the kingdom hall because nobody wants to leave after the meeting.

It all feels so nostalgic being back "home" in Pearl Lagoon, the place we met and were married. We celebrated our 1 year and 6 month anniversary by having dinner at Casa Ulrich, the same restaurant where we went on our first date and where we had our wedding reception, which is still the very best in town, maybe even the best in Nicaragua.

In another post I plan to make a tourist map for Pearl Lagoon much like the ones I made for Corn Island. It will Include an up to date list of hotels and restaurants and also some travel tips, like how to get here and how to evade the town drunks.

Corn Island Travel Blog

One of the things that Jean and I tried to do in order to make a living back on Corn Island was help plan people's vacations. We had a service of booking hotels for people and recommending good and safe places to stay and where to eat. Many awesome hotels and restaurants don't have websites and are not listed on tourist maps so one can miss out a lot without some insider information. As well, some of the "best" hotels and restaurants online have long since gone out of business or are run down and don't offer many of the services they claim.

Well, since we obviously can't do this anymore even though it was doing alright and we made some great friends in the process... I've decided just to share our information publicly. Below are some of the custom maps we made for our clients. You may notice the Little Corn map is a bit lacking but that's because we didn't have any clients who went to little corn yet. You may also notice a recommendation to steer clear of a few places. I have nothing against these places, and perhaps you may like them yourself, its just that having been there in person and seeing what they have to offer, and more importantly what their competition has to offer I did not feel their prices were justifiable.

Big Corn

Little Corn

Here's some good hotels on Big Corn:

Treehouse - Private cabins on long bay, absolutely amazing. Hot water, kitchen, wifi (thats hard to get on Corn Island by the way) and great service. Around $50 per night

Picnic Center - Best beach on the Island, possibly best beach in Nicaragua. Rooms around $40 per night. AC, hot water, stylish.

Hotel Morgan - prices ranging from $20 to $40. Very nice location, breezy. Good looking rooms with AC. Restaurant has good food for good prices with big portion sizes.

Alal Suite - Upstairs rooms have an amazing view of the ocean and all day breeze. AC not necessary. $25 per night

Some places to avoid:

Arenas beach - Looks pretty fancy. They have gazebos on the beach which are nice. We wanted to go there one day and they wanted to charge us $20 per person (5 of us) to sit in the gazebo. We asked the people next to us what they paid (they were Nicaraguan) and they said $10 for their entire group, which was 5 or 6 people. We asked to speak to someone inside and they simply said "The price changed, sorry". On top of that everything is 2x the price of Picnic center which is literally right next to the place. That being said its really a nice looking place if you're OK with being lied to about the prices and taken advantage of for being a gringo.

Paraiso - Used to be a very nice place, unfortunately it hasn't been maintained and has become quite run down. Some friends stayed there recently and left after the first night because of the poor conditions of the room. A lot of the services they offered online weren't there (like hot water).

Little Corn hotels:

Mostly, just wanted to add one we recently discovered while staying for a wedding on Little Corn. the aptly named "Grace's cool spot" which located right where "elsa's" is on the map above. $10 a night for a simple room, $20 for a private cabin. Probably one of the coolest places I've ever stayed in. All the cabins are actually on the sand, on the breezy side of the island, with the waves splashing just a few steps from your cabin's door. One of not so many hotels on little corn owned and run by local islanders.

As for the ones listed as overpriced, its just that. Too darn expensive. Yemaya for example is supposed to be a "resort" for $300-500 per night. I've been to resorts in Mexico. Yemaya is not a resort. It is a hotel. They also offer a private boat to pick you up from Big Corn, but if I were you I'd stick with the panga. Yemaya's boat is tiny.

Speaking of boats, if you're thinking of going to Corn Island, here is a video tour we made of the largest of the passenger boats that takes you from Bluefields to Big Corn. In this video we are on our way to Rama from Corn Island.

Atlantic and Pacific

Its often said that there are two sides of Nicaragua. The yearbook even called the Atlantic coast "The Other Nicaragua" highlighting the vast cultural differences between the two sides of the country. Having lived in both sides now we have experienced this first hand and can really confirm that it is true. The east side of Nicaragua, divided into two departments: Region Autonomio Costa Caribe Norte, or "R.A.C.C.N." and Region Autonomio Costa Caribe Sur, or "R.A.C.C.S." These when translated basically mean "North carribbean coast autonomous region" and likewise as the south. Many maps still show the old name of these departments: RAAN and RAAS, however this was recently changed likely due to RAAS being uncomfortably close to a curse word in the local Creole language.

Many people in the Atlantic regions still speak Spanish, however many do not speak it as their first language. Some speak either Creole which is a dialect of English, or Miskito which is an indigenous language of its own. Economically the Atlantic coast is far behind the Pacific. Many in the Pacific believe that people from the Atlantic coast are wealthy because the cost of living is higher, but the opposite is true, wages are generally lower while cost of living is higher. Having just moved to Jinotepe, Carazo we have found that prices of everyday household items like soap, as well as food are generally twice as expensive on the Atlantic coast, becoming more expensive the further east you go. Corn Island and Pearl Lagoon being the most expensive. This seems to be in part due to the lack of transportation. The highway stops at Rama, and any travel beyond there must be done by boat, or if you're brave by dirt (mud) roads. Another reason for the prices likely is the lack of competition, there are very few shops and no supermarkets besides the ones in Rama and Bluefields, so if someone is selling anything from the pacific they can charge any price they want even for basic necessities.

On the Pacific side of Nicaragua, first of all there's a lot more people. According to some sources 5% of the population lives in the two Atlantic Regions, and 95% in the Pacific. The Pacific is divided into many departments, all of which I have yet to memorize. We live in Carazo, other well known departments are Rivas, Granada, Masaya... names you have likely heard of. There is more business over here and many cities as well. Cost of living over here is generally 50% of what it is on the Atlantic side, although tourist areas may cost many times more. We pay a little bit more for rent over here, but that comes with conveniences that are hard to get in the Atlantic, such as wifi and hot water. We can even drink from the tap in Jinotepe, something we wouldn't even dream of doing in Pearl Lagoon.

Grocery store in Jinotepe

Tourism has a much bigger impact on the Pacific side as well. On Corn Island (RACCS) tourism is only beginning, and any tourists found in Pearl Lagoon are either hard-core adventurers or hopelessly lost. San Juan Del Sur on the other hand, in the Rivas department of the pacific has a lot more in common with tourist hotspots like Cancun or Hawaii. many things are priced according to "If you have to ask, you can't afford it". Rental apartments or houses in SJDS are rare, as most opt to rent on a per-night basis and are unlikely to agree to long term. Other communities away from the beach are quite different however and rent can be very cheap. Although the Pacific coast may be more popular with tourists, the Atlantic has natural beauty that is beyond compare, just lacking in accessibility.

Sunset in San Juan Del Sur

Crystal clear water of Corn Island

Architecture on the Pacific side resembles the rest of Latin America. Cities are made up of blocks laid out on a grid, and the buildings in each block are built with their exterior wall immediately on the sidewalk, and their interior walls connected to each other, making the entire block resemble one large building.

San Marcos

In the Atlantic however, houses are well spaced out and disconnected from each other. In fact, in smaller communities the houses may not even be built near a street, but rather be behind another house or simply standing on its own.

Haulover

These are just a few of my observations, but it really feels like two countries in one, and if you spend any time in Nicaragua its definitely worth going to the other side to get the full experience.

Island Life

Recently I've been hearing from friends that are curious about life here on Corn Island, so its probably about time I posted an update and some general information about every day things here. If you're already down here this probably will all be old news to you but for those looking for a glimpse of Island life from afar I hope you will find this information interesting and perhaps even useful.

First off some things we really like about living on Corn Island. Of course the first thing has to be the ministry, the work we do here is very productive like anywhere else in Nicaragua and we see a lot of fruitage. Secondly the obvious advantage to living on a Caribbean island is the spectacular beaches and ocean views. Even in bad weather this is among the most beautiful places in the world.

Some of the activities we enjoy here are swimming, snorkeling, diving, and fishing. Jean and I particularly love to go snorkeling in front of our apartment. There is a reef not far from the shore, and when we swim past it there is a small cliff where the water gets suddenly deeper and many colorful fish can be seen. After going on a tour I decided to take up free diving, and after just a bit of practice both of us have become much more confident swimmers and able to dive much deeper than before, even collecting cool shells from the bottom.

Getting around on the Island, for us is usually done by bicycle. We find it to be the most practical and cost effective, since the Island has good roads and not too many hills (although there are one or two big ones). Other options are taxis which cost 18 cords per person per trip, or the bus which costs 10 cords.

Now, some of the challenges we face while living in this almost paradise. First and foremost is travel, obviously being on an Island surrounded by ocean results in a degree of isolation. There is one passenger boat that leaves once a week on Wednesday from Bluefields, and returns the next morning. Frankly, I would say this boat is simply too small to be in the open ocean, and riding it feels like sitting on a cork in a blender when the weather is rough. The better choice is to catch a ride on one of the larger cargo ships, although their schedules are irregular. The other option, if you absolutely have to get there quickly is to fly, but even then you need to book your flight some days in advance, and it will cost you. Up to $120 US per person each way. Since this is something few of the local Islanders can afford, doing so also affects the way the locals perceive you in the ministry (and on an Island, everyone knows what your up to, and when you've been to the airport)

Another challenge is internet. How this works is still a mystery to me, but as far as I understand it goes something like this.

You can get 3g data on your cell phone, but that data is limited to a very small amount, and is slow. If you want the "residential" service, that is internet as we know it in other parts of the world where you pay a monthly fee and have wifi in your house, well then it gets complicated. In my case, Claro (the internet people on the island) simply told me "no".

Allegedly, the reason is that there are only a certain number of connections available on the Island, and they aren't interested in installing more. So if your house has it, good for you. If not, tough luck. So most of us get by on data, which is also inconsistent, in fact as I was writing this post I ran out of data and had to save it for posting later. Somehow writing a couple lines of text used around 350 megabytes.

Claro also has a habit of taking your money and not providing the service. This is a country wide problem however. You can put money on your prepaid phone or modem, and then never receive the package you ordered, even after receiving confirmation of your payment. No refunds will ever be given, thats their policy and sadly they have no competitors.

Cost of living here on Corn Island depends very much on the individual. Local people make around $200-500 per month at their work, be that fishing or working in a company, and they live fairly well off of that in comparison with communities on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua. My wife and I spend about 600-700 Cordobas per week on food, eating mostly Nicaraguan style foods. basically whatever happens to be available when we go shopping. I have the advantage of being married to a Nicaraguan who knows how to cook with local ingredients. I would say though that many locals spend much less than that on food, but at the same time have a lot less variety in their diet.


Rent ranges dramatically based on what you're looking for. Typical homes here do not have closed ceilings, air conditioning, or screens. Often they don't have indoor plumbing either. Islanders who do not own property or a house usually opt to rent or lease a piece of land for $100 or so per year, and build a simple, movable home out of wood and zinc sheets. This way they do not pay rent. Otherwise, there are apartments in several areas of the island that rent from 1,000 to 2,000 cordobas per month. If you want something more modern, american-style homes are plentiful and range from $200-$500 per month, furnished and unfurnished, with and without air conditioning. It is good to do your research as on corn Island, the addage "you get what you pay for" simply does not apply. Some houses are on the market for $650 to $1000 per month, and are in bad locations and have fewer amenities than many cheaper homes. Many homeowners would rather take the chance of getting a big payday and let the house sit empty for years than rent it for a cheaper price.

Hopefully this gives you some insight on what its like to live on Corn Island. We have enjoyed our time here on the Island, and despite the inconveniences I would still say that this is one of my favorite places in the world.

July 2016

In the last few months we have been busy with many things, so I have not been able to post much on this blog, but there is a lot happening. First of all, our little Kriol group which was sponsored by a Spanish congregation has now become a congregation of its own! This is an exciting development as it reflects the growth and good results coming from the field. Many progressive students are regularly attending meetings and a number of the need greaters have made long term commitments to staying on the Island such as buying property and applying for permanent residency in the country.

Long Bay

Lobster season is back, which is good news for all the local businesses. Everything grinds to a halt economically and many are forced to live on savings or credit when the "beda" comes, or the ban on lobster fishing, as everything revolves around that industry. 

Heavy rains have also started, and it looks like this year we will have a proper rainy season. Last year was very dry relatively, which resulted in hotter than normal weather. Now we are getting plenty of rain and things are nice and green. High winds however make travel in this season a bit more tricky, nonetheless we have been doing a lot of it. My passport was within 6 months of its 5-year expiry so we had to go to Managua for me to get a new Canadian passport at the embassy. It was a fairly simple process, just pay the fee by credit card or give them a kidney (kidney possibly cheaper). The tricky part is that the application needed to be made in person, and it took a month to get it, so that means two trips to Managua, each of them taking an entire week, after that we had an assembly, so thats another week of travel. So out of the month of June we spent about 3 weeks on ships and buses between corn island and Managua with some days in between wandering around Bluefields.

Now we are happy to be home on the Island, which seems so peaceful and comfortable in comparison with the bigger cities in Nicaragua. That being said there has been some unrest. Without taking sides, I can say that a lot of it appears to be racially-motivated. During what was allegedly a break in (stories vary, again im not going to take any sides) of a local business, the intruder was shot and killed by the owner. Because the one who died was Miskito, an angry mob appeared the next day to destroy and loot the business for revenge. Some days later riot police were brought in from the mainland to track down the looters and the stolen goods, which incited another protest. As serious as it all sounds, the demonstrations have not posed any threat to the brothers or bystanders in general, and has not led to any further violence.

Issues of race and land ownership continue to be a major issue in the minds of people here on the Island. Many people here live on land they do not own, and have done so for generations, meanwhile there is talk of some of the original land owners returning from abroad or from the mainland to reclaim their property, resulting in obvious conflicts. As I mentioned, we still feel very safe here in comparison to other parts of the country. Most of these conflicts consist of arguments and shouting, with the occasional burning of tires, and rarely lead to violence. Meanwhile we do our best to stay neutral, and use world events such as these to draw attention to the real issues at hand whilst in our ministry.

Camping Little Corn

Over the last few months we have done our best to keep up with the meetings and trips to Little Corn every two weeks. Seeing as the pangas leave at 10 in the morning, and we have to return at the mercy of the cargo ship it often leaves us little time to accomplish our work there. So we decided this time to do something a little similar to Pearl Lagoon congregation.

Interior of Little Corn

We decided that this time we would spend the night, and spend the following day following up on return visits and bible students. This sounds very simple, there are a lot of hotels here and restaurants as well. However many of us simply cannot afford to stay in them, and most of the restaurants are not exactly economical either. So we decided we would camp out, and cook our own meals over an open fire. We didn't know where we would be spending the night when we arrived on the Island. Our plan was to just get there with our supplies and see what happened. We checked out a few locations, realistically we probably would have been fine just hiking some distance into the bush and camping there, but we felt it might be safer and more convenient to camp on someone's property that we knew. So we asked one of the bible students we had on Saturday if we could use his land to set up camp, and he was very agreeable to the idea. He even offered to let us use his kitchen, and offered us coffee in the morning, however we were actually looking forward to cooking on the fire so we carried on with our original plan regardless.

Campsite

Supper time

Both days were very successful, as was the meeting. There were four of us camping, the other couple had to return on the first panga at 1:30 PM though, because he had an assignment at the Spanish meeting on the big island. meanwhile Jean and I stayed until 4:30 to try and do some business to finance our trip. We've started making necklaces, bracelets and other jewelry as a side business to our pizza making, and our hope was to sell a few while we were there to help pay our passage. Unfortunately, we seem to be timing our attempts to sell our products very badly. Our first attempt was that Sunday afternoon on Little Corn, but the street thats usually teeming with tourists was dead quiet and nearly empty, not that we were expecting it to be very busy on a Sunday... Our next attempt was on a day when all the pangas were cancelled due to bad weather... So, we are yet to see how this latest scheme will pan out. If only there was a mail system here, maybe we could sell them on ebay.

Our display

Wild monkey came to check us out

We are all excited to see what future developments will take place with the work on Little Corn, our goal is to keep going every two weeks so long as our circumstances and the weather permits. Hopefully more will come to help conduct the meetings, and follow up on bible studies. The couple that camped with us is going back to their country for some time, and seeing as the meetings are in Spanish there is a real need for brothers who can speak it fluently, on both Islands.

Sunset on the way home