Corn Island is place of stark contrasts. When walking toward the beach from the hotel, a very short walk, what you anticipate is the view that you see when look to the left.
View looking west from beach near Hotel Club Paraiso
The above photo was taken on the morning that we left the island. The water is clear, the beach is narrow and the old rusting wreck makes for an interesting view. Everything is on this Island that would be necessary for it to become a vacation destination to rival any in the Caribbean. But then you look to the right and you see . . .
View looking northeast from near the same position as above.
The above photo is more representative of what we encountered on the island. Nicaraguans on the whole are now coming to grips with the invention of plastic containers. They have apparently not yet figured out that plastic doesn't rot away after a few days. Much of Corn Island's beach is littered with plastic containers and other trash like that you can see on the beach near the little girl. Even the photo at the top of the page had to be digitally manipulated to remove trash from the foreground. In other parts of Nicaragua, especially along the highways, plastic shopping bags collect everywhere the wind blows them into entanglement.
Despite the nice accommodations, . . .
Our "room" at the Hotel Club Paraiso
. . . the tree eating horses, . . .
Horse "grazing" on a local tree.
. . . the really good beer, . . .
Max demonstrating the proper Victoria drinking technique at the Picnic Center
. . . and the good local company, . . .
Max and Margaret talking to some kids at Picnic Center beach
we went to the airport, patiently waited for the airplane . . .
Margaret watching the plane arrive for the flight back to Managua.
. . . and flew back to Managua with plans to resume our beach activities in San Juan del Sur.
