Last week on Little Corn...

I've been reflecting on the good things that happened in that last week in Little Corn Island. Despite the attack, I speak so highly of the island, I would not hesitate to return. It is so beautiful, so energetic, so rustic and unassuming. I have never enjoyed Caribbean culture so much. There is a reason some people go to Little Corn and never leave.

In our last week Helen and I went horse riding. We had three hours of touring the island with Henry, our crazy Caribbean friend who joined us on his bike with two young horses in tow. I was riding Amigo, a very gentle and stubborn horse who liked to choose his own path, so I was often caught in bushes and risky uphill gallops. Helen was on Yaris, a grumpy mare. After smoking a zoot Henry swapped his bike for his huge chestnut horse and led on.

I haven't ridden for years, and I've never ridden horses on the beach before. It was wonderful, and the best way to see the island. Henry was, at one point, riding side saddle and backwards. 'I ride my horse and the ladies come to me' he said.' We cantered around the baseball field at sunset, riding western until Amigo refused to go in any other direction than home.

Cowgirls!

I also scuba dived for the first time in Little Corn. I went for a discovery dive with Dive Little Corn. I was so amazed that I was breathing underwater that I started laughing. My instructor saw my face and said 'she's going to be a diver!'. We practised in the confined shallow water first, descending a couple of metres.

In the afternoon we took a boat trip out to the reefs and did a 10m open water dive that lasted about 50 minutes. I saw stingrays, a nurse shark, angel fish and so many colourful fish I didn't know. It really is a different world under the sea, so much more vast than the world on land. It seems mad that humans have found a way to see it.

I am saving up to do my PADI for sure when I get home. PADI qualifications cost $330 which is cheap compared to the UK! However I have to be careful with spending as Nicaragua is more expensive than I anticipated, both on Little Corn and the mainland. The tourism here is growing and I reckon it will soon be on par with Costa Rica. Most of the prices listed in my lonely planet are out of date - and the book is only a couple of years old. So get here whilst you can before prices skyrocket! The dive cost me $70, the instructors were superb and it was worth every penny.

I did yoga most days during my stay, on the sun deck at the Lighthouse Hotel, overlooking the ocean. I even taught a class one morning! I have no yoga qualifications. Just a routine I've practised again and again in my bedroom and tips I've picked up from yoga teachers during classes. Teaching yoga gives you increased awareness of your body, of the rhythm of the class, improves your focus and it is incredibly satisfying to teach others. Perhaps this has opened up another possibility I hadn't thought about before.

I have so many amazing memories from Little Corn. It is an incredible privilege to go to the Caribbean on a backpackers budget, to eat lobster and to sunbathe on world class beaches. The north beach at Yemaya, the luxurious hotel, allows everyone to use the beach on their doorstep. It is the best beach by far on the island. Part of the fun of going there as a backpacker is that you submerge yourself with people who live there, you pick up the best tips of places to eat and meet people who will take you to experience new things. The Lighthouse Hotel was fantastic for this. Corn Island is so tranquil, with so much going on for such a small place, you will feel its magnetism as soon as you step off the boat.

Imogen

Yemaya Beach