The Notorious M.E.G. blogs

Many thanks to David for his illuminating comments about the partially built structures on Big Corn.  Hope I didn't offend with my "too many Tonas" comment, I'm sure you wait until at least 10am. ;)  Some further info from David:

"the photos you took were at the N.E.
corner of Big Corn in the barrio known as Sally Peachy.  They were on
the beach about 200 meters south of the most extreme N.E. point of
land.  In reverse, they were taken about 200 meters North of the half
finished concrete house on the next little point.

Our land where the dive resort was situated is between the two
points and thats where you took the photos of the palm trees and the
driftwood log.  There also used to be a an unusual shaped palm tree
which grew horizontal to the ground before going vertical.   We had two
big cabins and a main building on the land plus a motorhome."

I do recall some buildings beyond the beach, but they didn't look as if much was happening there.  Here is another photo taken right before the beach that might be interesting to you:

Those photos were taken on Christmas Day, right before we got caught in a rainstorm and took cover at the bar at the Silver Sand (which I recommend if you want to stay right by a nice beach and you don't mind a very rustic experience).  There we met an American couple who live in Honduras part of the year, building and selling beach houses.  They told us a lot about how hard it is to do business in Central America, which may explain a lot about the lack of development and tourism infrastructure on the islands.  Prior to my trip, I read about a potential condo development from the Casa Canada peeps, though I wonder where they would be building beach front condos.  Maybe on David's old property?  There is plenty of waterfront land, but not a lot of beaches to front.  Perhaps they should think like NYC's Coney Island and bring in sand?  The Americans also told us about how much stuff recalled in the US is then sent and sold in Central America: recalled toys, rejected Lays potato chips, even cars flooded in Hurricane Katrina.  I'm thinking of a variation on "what Trenton makes, the world takes;" maybe "what the United States rejects, Central America accepts!"?

Speaking of rejects, I heard a ton of American 1980s music on the trip, especially WHAM!  Many of the songs have been recorded with a Caribbean beat or translated to Spanish, my favorite was a reggae cover of Bryan Adams' "Heaven."  I think you could make a million dollars if you redid all of Wham's songs with a steel drum, especially "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go."  Also heard a lot of Christmas songs I've never heard before, either in Spanish or with the aforementioned island rhythm.  The best was "Jingle Navidad," tune is the same as "Jingle Bells," but with the lyrics: Navidad, Navidad, Jingle Navidad. Mucho catchy.

I can't possibly complain about lolling on the beach,
drinking $1 beers on Christmas, but it was rather odd to be somewhere so warm
when I'm used to snow, or at least cold weather, around the holidays. 
Such was the consensus among the many Germans we met, who felt that at least
for one day, they actually missed the snow.  We spent Christmas Eve like
every other day on Big Corn: walking around the island in search of good
beaches (FYI: Long Beach
is about as good as it gets, but its still tiny), then having afternoon Tona time, some reading and a swim, followed by a dinner of some version of shrimp, rice, and copious butter.  On Xmas Eve, we went to Fisher's Cave in "downtown" Big Corn, a vaguely gringo restaurant with good food, amazingly slow service, and water views; and Seva's on Christmas Night for awesome and cheap lobster.  Both days we had our afternoon cervezas at Anastasia's on the Water, a cool over water hotel and restaurant that does not seem like it could handle even the mildest hurricane:

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We awoke at an ungodly hour to walk across the street to the airport for our Big Corn flight.  The national terminal is tiny and chaotic and the ticket counters were heaving with people.  I couldn't believe the things people were taking on the airplanes: pinatas, enormous sheet cakes, mattresses (sounds like a hell of a party someone is planning).  I had made reservations and paid for the tickets ($160 per person) via email, but naturally, they had no record of this.  Fortunately, I had printed out a very important piece of paper with all my confirmation numbers and addresses, so it was sorted out and they promised to have my return tickets waiting at Corn Islands.  In lieu of boarding passes, we were given large plastic cards with a number on them and our destination.  V. eco-friendly.  Here is a photo, courtesy of JoTraveller on TravelPod.com.  While waiting for our flight to be called, we noticed not one but several people already drinking Toñas

.  AT SIX THIRTY IN THE MORNING.   But, hey, I'm not judging.  Talked to several Americans heading to the Corn Islands, all of whom were there because of Diane Wedner's L.A. Times article.  See the power of PR?  One article made tons of travelers visit.  I saw somewhere that La Costena has Nicaragua's most modern fleet (at least compared to Atlantic Airlines), and while they are a good 40 years old, those badboys somehow manage to stay in the air:

I was especially impressed that the flight attendant served us little cups of juice (Fanta on the way back) and gave us little packets of cookies or crackers.  American carriers could learn a thing or two.  I later met someone with an aviation background who noticed that one of the altimeters (or some other control doohickey) wasn't working on the flight.  She asked the pilot about it and he said, "Oh, I don't use that, it's turned off!"  So essentially, they are flying these planes like a big bicycle.  But we made it in one piece, with relatively little turbulence, a great relief for a weakling like me.

If all you were to see of Big Corn was the drive from the airport to the dock (which most people do when they head right to Little Corn), you'd be pretty disappointed.  I've never been to another Caribbean island, but as I understand it, BCI is like any other, but shittier!  No fancy boutiques, golf courses or resorts here, or really any attractions other than the beaches.  Lots of stray dogs and tin roof (rusted!) shacks, but gorgeous green-blue water and lush jungle frippery abounds.  We stayed at the Hotel Morgan, which was definitely the best bang for the buck, if not the best hotel on the island.  You really can't beat $35 a night for a room with AC, private bathroom, and theoretical hot water.  I say theoretical as there was a hot water heater, but all it delivered was an electrical shock.  It's right on the water but there's no place to really sit on the beach, you can just jump into the water.  I've heard great things about Casa Canada, but they aren't doing me any favors at $85 a night and have no direct beach access either, just an infinity pool, which is neat. 

While there are cars on Big Corn and taxis cost only $1 per person (though I quickly wizened up that that's really only the USD price, in cordobas you pay 15 each, beating the exchange rate of 18.5C to $1USD), we spent most of our time walking around the island.  It's only 6 square km and there's a fair amount to explore, and the best beaches require a bit more effort to get to.  Still, the beaches aren't very big.  Water, water everywhere, but not a spot to sit:

Here's one of the many partially built structures on BCI.  Cause: too many Toñas

before noon:

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