There are lots of interesting villages north of Bluefields along the coast, only reachable by boat. I stayed in Pearl Lagoon for a while, then went on to Orinocco, which is a Garífuna village. It's a small place without running water, electricity (although a generator gives light to the village between 6 and 9 pm) and out-door facilities instead of flush toilets.

I stayed with a black lady called Miss Rebecka and her family. Most people get their income from fishing shrimp and lobster. They go out early in the morning in dug-out canoes, when they come back they sell the catch to a cargo boat that takes it to the mainland. One morning I went with two guys, paddling out along the mangrove trees before the sunrise. In the forest we could hear the sound of 'wild pig' (as they call them) and birds screaming. I didn't catch any fish, maybe that didn't come as a surprise to anyone.

The Garífunas in Nicaragua have a specific culture which they brought with them from Africa, very different from the indigenous people. There are communities scattered along the coast all the way from Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and here. They have their own language, although the Garífunas in Nicaragua have forgotten it, because the older generation didn't teach their children. Currently there is a woman from Belize teaching it to the village, in order for them not to forget their culture. When I was there, they were making traditional drums carved out of logs covered with deer skin, and other instruments for the Garífuna day, the 19th of November. I really enjoyed staying with these friendly people.

March 30 - Lost Paradise
The boat from Bluefields to the Corn Islands was supposed to leave Wednesday morning, but the departure time was changed to noon because of a bad engine. At 10:30 they told us that it was leaving the following day, so we had to spend another night in town. The boat ride took 10 hours instead of the usual 4 because we went there with only one engine running. We stayed a couple of nights on the big island, then we took a panga to small Corn.

The sea was quite rough, and I thought several times that the boat would tip over and leave us without life jackets in between the two islands. Of course the driver is used to conditions worse than that, but we were completely soaked in salt water when we arrived to the beach.

Small Corn is almost not developed for tourists at all, there are just a few small places to stay. I stayed on the beach, sleeping in my hammock tied up between two palm trees. There is something like a camp ground there, but no electricity and the 'shower' consists of a bucket of water. There were a few other backpackers there from Australia, Holland and Germany as well. During the days we went snorkelling off the beach. There is beautiful coral, large elkhorn and brain coral among others. We saw stingrays, barracudas, turtles and even some sharks.

After dark you can hear the sound of crabs in the forest, coming up from the sea looking for something to eat under the leaves. Sometimes they came to the campfire and bit someone. The dogs on this particular island were somewhat aggressive, which my friend found out one morning when we were walking along the path. Two dogs ran up to him, attacked him and bit his leg. After that we always did like the islanders - walked with a branch through the forest.