Sunday April 10th = Island Day!

What a Sunday-woke up somewhat late for here-8:30- in preparation for an adventure filled day on one of the islands off the coast of Corinto! I took a triciclo, which is basically a pedi cab (bicicle taxi), to the Barrio de los Pescadores (Neighborhood of the Fishermen). If you remember a few blog posts back, this barrio is where I saw the sharks, manta rays and human sized fish being sold. As I got there early, I headed to the ocean to sit on the rocks, watch the waves and the seemingly millions of crabs crawl over the rocks and barnacles. Watching the crabs is so interesting-they are unfazed by the huge waves crashing on top of them. I watch and wait for one to get close enough so I can check out their shells. They are brightly and intricately designed, mirroring a hundred year old Mayan textile- bold blues mix with golden oranges and bright reds, all wet and shimmering in the sun. The queen crab comes out for just a second before she scuttles back under the rocks. Her claws are an amazingly brilliant red, while her back shell is bright bright blue, with this pattern that is hard to believe just happened out of nature. Next time I need to remember to bring my camera, but I have a feeling that seeing this beautiful queen crab was a one time shot. Anyway, after my time hanging out with and observing the crabs, I meet up with my German co worker Christian, his German and Nicaraguan friends. We load all of our food, water, gear and ourselves onto a speedboat and head out to this beautiful almost desierted island. The island has a name, but no one knew it, which gave it even more mystery and made it seem even more desierted (even though you can see the ports of Corinto from the nameless island). We brought sausage (which is really just extremely processed who knows what kind of meat-almost like a mix of hot dog and what I imagine Spam to taste like), potatoes, onions, peppers, rice and beans and bread. Fire wood was gathered and we made a fire on the beach to cook our lunch- 2 cinder blocks were placed on either side of the fire to hold the massive aluminum pan with food enough for the 9 of us. After an hour or so of cooking over the fire and I suspect, with some help from the hot sun, our food was ready. After we ate, we decided to explore the island, and headed to the other side. After many failed attempts to locate a path, we finally found a somewhat path-like opening that led us to the opposite side. We tramped across a sandy opening, through a prickly spiney group of bushes, over a muddy swampy patch of dirt and then over a hill that lead to a rocky beach with huge, rough, powerful waves. This side of the island reminds me of the East coast at home. How ironic that the Pacific coast of Nicaragua reminds me of the Atlantic coast of Massachusetts! But it´s true; with its rockiness, big waves and view of the lighthouse on a neighboring island-it makes me think of Black Rock Beach in Cohasset. But anyway, after a few rounds of volleyball in the warm ocean, collecting shells in the sand and chatting with new friends, our boat pulled up and it was time to leave our island. But sitting there on that beach with my legs in the ocean, looking out on the ports of Corinto, the surrounding islands and the endlessness of the sea, I realize that I get to call Corinto, including this island, home, for the next 2 years!