Well, Ill start with the little island because thats where I spent most of my time, and thats where most tourists go...
The beaches are really "quite nice" :)So, after I got off the panga as the sun was going down on the first day, I headed off along the footpath away from the dock. My first order of business was to find accommodation, but since I was here to dive and I walked past a scuba diving centre, I stopped in and asked some questions.
The scuba shop was one of only two on the island, and so I asked a few questions about their services and proceeded to arrange to go diving the next morning :)
But I also asked about accommodation options and was directed to walk ver to the other side of the island for a nice place...
So, I headed off on foot to "the far side" to find somewhere to stay for a few days. I ended up walking about two kilometres to the other side of the island to where there were several little businesses with cabins on the beach for tourists.
I did what I could to bargain a bit and then settled in to my little wooden hut and rested on a soft bed (rather than the rock hard bench seats that Id been on all day!). Ahhhh :)
My hut on the beach.Then later I went for another walk and found one of the local restaurants to eat at.
Little Corn Island is indeed quite "tourist oriented" and there are quite a few businesses that cater to tourists as well as the ones that cater to the local inhabitants... And there is sort of a "centre" to it all near the main dock, but it is a very "diffuse"community rather than a town on an island.
There is a single "ring road" and everything is scattered along this. But this "diffused" aspect is not a problem because the whole island is only about 3km long and 500m wide.And it has what in my opinion one MASSIVE difference to just about anywhere else that Ive been on this trip in that they (the local community) have decided to ban all motorised transport on the island!
This means all moving of loads is done either manually or by "barrow boys"
Barrow Boys at work.This makes a huge difference and this island is one of the very few places in all my travels anywhere that manages to be somewhat "tranquil" because of it!
And after dinner (which was a bit expensive compared to the mainland, but then again, the food was far more recognisable to me, so I was happy to pay the higher price :)
And for the next three days I went scuba diving twice a day based out of the very organised and professional little shop (more so than any of my other Caribbean diving experiences!) at some very nice sites with good quality marine life :))
One of several very friendly shop cats.
The gear room at the dive shop.
The outdoor prep-area at the shop.Had meals here and there at assorted tourist restaurants.
Walked from place to place and saw a surprisingly large number and variety of lizards!
This little green Iguana was my favourite. He was almost invisible in the green foliage where he was warming up in the morning sun... But my visual pattern recognition processes "spotted" him, and since he was cold, my aging mammalian reflexes were better than his cold reptilian ones, and I "nabbed" him!
We spent a few minutes together doing a "photo session" and then I let him go... But, I think that doing these sorts of "hands on" things with the animals should probably stop, or at least be minimised in future... Its really a selfish urge of mine,and it certainly stresses the poor creatures out a lot... So, this is likely one of the last "critter close ups" you'll see from me :)
Another little green lizard of some sort!
Quite a large "monitor" lizard (60cm long or so)Watched a few sunsets and sun rises.
And watched the island, the tourists and locals all "doing their thing".
Coconuts.
Creek water.
The locals seem to either work on their boats or build lobster traps... Other than that its drinking, talking, and smoking.... Like everyone else :)
Gotta watch out for the sand flies around here... This is what happens if you get an allergic reaction to the little blighters!!!
And now back to the "Big"Island...
I got the opportunity to check out the big island quite thoroughly on my way back after scuba diving... It turned out that the boat back to the main-land that I had been making sure I didnt miss and so got back to the big island as promptly as possible... Well, It was leaving at 11pm not am! So, I had a whole day to "walk around"... So thats what I did; I walked all the way around the big island!
I walked about a bit, but the big island is a even more of a "distributed community" than the small island... But its a way bigger island. The island has a ring road that is about 15-20Km long and everything is just scattered along this road in random locations. The island is almost exclusively for locals and any tourists pretty much immediately head over to the small island. They only return here in transit to the mainland (via the airport or on the boats like me) or to "get more money" from the only bank :)
But other than that, its pretty much the same... Everyone does there thing, and every day is more or less the same day! :)
So, as Im a tourist, Id have to say I preferred the small island, and again, "Here but for the want of a reason, I could make a life" :)))
