The Swiss Family Robinson Crusoe

By Julia

San Carlos, Nicaragua

  Ever since seeing the Blue Lagoon when I was twelve, I´ve dreamed of frolicking around on a tropical island with a dreamy, blue-eyed Adonis.  This was also a time in my life where I´d go into the back yard and try to fashion ¨survival tools¨ from broken branches and stones.  I´ve always harbored the shipwrecked fantasy - maybe it was because I read the Swiss Family Robinson at a formative age or saw the Little Mermaid too many times.  It´s probably not just me - our cultural fabric is sewn with countless tales of survival on deserted tropical isles - from Robinson Crusoe to Survivor to Tom Hanks in Castaway. 

  The beauty of Little Corn Island, the remote gem Tom (my real-life blue-eyed Adonis!) and I just spent a week exploring, is that it brings that fantasy to life without sacrificing comfort.  Here you can rent your own shipwrecked experience, but in a brightly colored cabana just a short walk away from coconut bread french toast for breakfast, grilled lobster tails for lunch and freshly caught kingfish for dinner.  But it feels authentic- it IS authentic.  But what does authentic even mean?  Sometimes I find a destination worthy by what it lacks, and in the case of Little Corn, there are no crowds, no t-shirt shops, no resorts and no umbrellas for your cocktails, which by the way, are most likely going to consist of the most pervasive beverages on the island - Flor de Caña rum and Coca Cola.  

  At just under 1 square mile, Little Corn is too small for large ships, cars, ATVs or any other motorized vechicle.  The only ¨noise pollution¨ is the sound of the waves lapping the shore or, on occassion, the bass pumping from the reggae club.  The narrow dirt paths snaking their way around the island are the only roads, populated with pedestrians, islanders transporting supplies in wheelbarrows, the odd igunana and the even odder bicycle. 

Home sweet cabaña

 We spent our week in complete leisure - leisure well deserved by the events detailed in The Importance of Fiber post.  There are formalized activities to keep one busy on the island - scuba diving, snorkeling, fishing with a local, eating.  But even these activities are not very formal.  One day, Tom and I spent an entire afternoon walking the northern shoreline of the island and testing our island survival skills.  In the midst of referencing both Survivorman and Castaway while trying to open a coconut, Tom and I realized that we were both glad we needn´t rely on our skills alone to feed ourselves on the island.

Failing at opening a coconut

  When we were finally motivated to take in the sea-life, we signed up to go scuba diving with a local dive shop.  Having never dived before, I was subjected to a safety video and a dip in a ¨confined water space¨to make sure I could breathe with a respirator properly.  Twenty minutes after my practice session, a hammerhead shark was spotted in the ¨confined water space¨.  The real dive in the afternoon was spectacular - Tom and I saw nurse sharks, eagle rays, all the characters from Finding Nemo and mounds of red, green white and purple coral.  It was a truely amazing experience.

Tom and I atop the lighthouse on Little Corn

Despite Tom´s immediate and forceful refusal to complete my fantasy by parading around in a loin cloth, the week was pretty great.  We weren´t even stranded on our paradise island alone!  We quickly befriended a lovely Belgium couple, Rob and Silvia, who acompained us snorkelling, playing volleyball and on our frequent restaurant outings.  They joined us for my birthday dinner, here pictured on the left with some additional island friends.

Birthday Dinner

The main idea to take away from this post is go to Little Corn Island the next chance you get!  Accept no imitations!