Recent trip to Little Corn
Well, I recently flew AA to MGA via MIA.
Business issues made this a last minute deal so I had no reservations on La Costena to get me to Big Corn.
La Costena was booked solid for 4 more days and they were no help as I was shuttled from desk to desk. I finally asked them if they could get me to Bluefields that day..."yes". Can you get me to Big Corn from Bluefields tomorrow am...."yes". So instead of sitting in Managua for 4 days, I was there next morning. The people at La Costena are very nice but hugely inept at customer service. Their system is antiquated and requires much writing on bits of paper. Their prices are also getting to be ridiculous, especially their baggage limitations. Anything over 30 pounds is $1.30 a pound. I was charged this from Managua to Bluefields and from Bluefields to Big Corn. Ridiculous! These boys need competition.
Made a brief stop on Big Corn to see Ike and Kevin. Kevin was finishing up butchering the pig but had time to show me my bougainvillaeas and his latest garden efforts. Took some stainless steel pipe to Ike for his motorcycle. Hopped on the panga for LCI.
Met up with my sister and BIL on LCI and Derek met me at the dock for a panga ride around to his place on the North end. HIs architectural efforts are very interesting and his unique casitas give the appearance of some sort of hobbit community. Pretty cool place. http://www.dereksplacelittlecorn.com/index.php?lang=en
We spent a few days at Dereks and mostly read books, hiked to my place on Goat Beach, met with Paola at Farm Peace and Love and took a look at the new Boutique hotel being built on the North end. I interrogated Derek at length about buildings, wells, shipping, cost of goods and availability of goods. He made it sound easy.
I took my cell phone directional antenna to Goat Beach to see if it would help me get cell phone coverage (and internet as well) and it worked great. Just point it towards Big Corn and raise it about 10 feet and the signal went from 0 to 3 bars. My plan is to use the antenna and connect it to a repeater which will then allow me to use my cell phone normally and get a 3G connection for my computer.
Changed settings to the "Front" which is what they call the "city" side of LCI. Sister to Casa Iguana and me to Los Delphines. I chatted with Herb, a winter resident of the hotel from Boston who is a fishing nut and he regailed me with his catches of just about every fish in the ocean but the highlights were sailfish, kingfish, dolphin, wahoo, and cobia. Very cool!
Bonny Archibald has a 26 acre and 5 acre parcel for sale if anyone is interested.
We then went over to spend a couple of days on Big Corn. Stayed at Ikes who is such a great host. I cannot recommend anyone more highly. Costena baseball was being played on the island and the place was packed. Met a couple of Canadians who were making the rounds of the country and seeing all of the coastal back country including San Juan Del Norte, San Carlos, El Bluff, Corn Islands and Pearl Lagoon. Very adventurous lot.
One of the things I was interested in was seeing first hand the pre-fab construction material that is manufactured in Tipitapa. Kevin took me to see some that had just been dropped of near his place. The concept is kinda like lincoln logs only done in concrete. I am still worried about shipping and transportation to my building site, but am learning that these folks just have a way of getting things done with minimal tools.
The really good news for me was going before the judge on Big Corn and explaining that my ex-caretaker (who reminds me of Randudes ex) was making my life hell and keeps demanding more money from me. The judge ruled in my favor and said that if harassment continues, get a witness and call the cops. YES!
Had a great meal at Kevin's and everything was grown within 100 feet of the dining table....except for the FDC.
My sister left for Granada and hooked up with Melissa, Roger and Thom. They loved Granada and did all the touristy things including a trip down the Mombacho zip line. Said that the food in Granada was extremely good.
I headed back to the states early as some business issues just would not go away.
Great trip, learned a lot and will be back in August.
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