deep caribbean
View of the promontory where the guest house Casa Iguana was installed.
dawn in the caribbean
Natives paddle towards a Bluefields dock.
supreme view
Caribbean sea and forest backdrop seen from the highest point of Little Corn.
Rust dips
Big Corn Island natives dive from the top of a stranded boat off Brig Bay.
Caribbean look
Coconut palm highlighted above the Caribbean Sea.
Match
A resident of Bluefields - on the Nicaraguan coast - watches a boat pull away towards the Corn Islands.
Hit
A Big Corn native trains baseball on the turf of the island's main stadium. Baseball is the main sport in Nicaragua.
bathing art
Small abandoned facility with whelks on the pristine sands of Little Corn Island.
snorkeling
Visitors to Little Corn Island explore the deep coral sea off the island.
little corn herb
Tropical meadow inland on Little Corn Island.
Bonanza side
The bay that is home to the only village on Little Corn Island.
bathing art
Couple walks past a log construction on Little Corn's idyllic coastline.
Tropical Collection
Resident picks coconuts on a quiet beach on Little Corn Island.
Creole Volleyball
Natives play volleyball, in a game that had ice cream in plastic bags as a prize.
Perfect tropical settings and genuine local life are the only luxuries available in the so-called Corn Islands or Corn Islands, an archipelago lost in the Central American confines of the Caribbean Sea.

Taking a bus from a terminal in Managua is not an experience where you take lightly.

The city breathes an atmosphere of latent hostility.

The grids containing stores, housing and security guards armed with shotguns are intimidating.

Our passage through the capital was thus confirmed in a hurry as we had foreseen. There followed a journey as uncomfortable as it was enigmatic through the interior of the country, along muddy dirt roads, rivers hidden by jungle and fog.

We arrive at Bluefields, already on the Atlantic coast, at the end of the day.

With time to feel, in the streets and in one or another bar, its Caribbean garifuna and reggae pulse, heavy and arrhythmic due to cocaine traffic "white lobster” that gripped the village a long time ago.

Bluefield, Corn islands, pure caribbean, nicaragua

A resident of Bluefields – on the Nicaraguan coast – watches a boat pull away towards the Corn Islands.

Sunday and Morning Arrival at Big Corn Island

Early the next morning, we flew 60 km over the Caribbean Sea and the two Corn Islands, before landing on the biggest, Big Corn.

We settled in Casa Blanca, a small guest houses family operating in a green and yellow wooden house, aged, worn like almost all around.

With no time to waste, we cool off in the crystal-clear sea on the beach in front. Then, we set out to discover, in two old rented pastries.

snorkeling, corn islands, pure caribbean, nicaragua

Visitors to Little Corn Island explore the deep coral sea off the island.

The trails run past closely spaced clusters of spartan dwellings that tropical storms and cyclones often toss around.

As did Joan in 1988, which cut down most of the coconut trees and the island's vital copra production, leaving it dependent on fishing and negligible tourism.

It's Sunday. We come across picturesque families in full costume on their way to their favorite churches. As in other parts of Nicaragua and the Caribbean, religion supports community. at the same time, it divides it among the various branches that have been installed.

From the crowd that heads to her temple, the Adventist woman seems to have won over most of the faithful. Even less frequented, the Anglicans and the Baptists, do their best in their ceremonies, here and there, performed in the style of a musical gospel.

The natives who did not adhere to any of the faiths, stayed in the houses and small adjacent gardens.

Let yourself be lulled by the Caribbean rhythms that arrive in short wave from the other side of the sea.

Ferrugento boat, Corn islands, pure caribbean, nicaragua

Big Corn Island natives dive from the top of a stranded boat off Brig Bay.

Meanwhile, they check out the long cooking of yet another lunch of rice and beans, perhaps enriched with some fried fish.

The History and Ethnic Adventure of the Corn Islands/Islas del Maiz

The population of almost seven thousand inhabitants of the Corn Islands / Islas del Maiz was predominantly Creole. Formed by a mixture of indigenous blood with African slaves brought from other parts of the Caribbean, such as Jamaica.

The British colonized the Corn Islands until 1894.

In recent times, the ethnic landscape of the Corn Islands has become more complex.

The islands attracted Hispanic Nicaraguans from the mainland and Miskitos (from Costa dos Mosquitos), both responsible for Castilian being about to overtake English Creole as the most spoken language.

The Miskitos proved themselves to be an unlikely genetic combination.

Several historians attest that it was generated by the maritime indifference of a Portuguese.

Baseball, Corn islands, pure caribbean, nicaragua

A Big Corn native trains baseball on the turf of the island's main stadium. Baseball is the main sport in Nicaragua.

The Revolt on the Ship of Lourenço Gramalxo that Africanized the Costa dos Mosquitos

Lourenço Gramalxo he was a captain of a slave boat that transported slaves from Samba Island, off the SenegalWith the Brazil as a likely destination.

During the transatlantic journey, the slaves seized your ship.

Without any navigation knowledge, they didn't prevent it from sinking in the Cayos Miskitos area. In a first phase, they were imprisoned.

Later adopted by the Tawira people who accepted unions of Africans with women of their tribe and their children as free members.

We appreciate the intrusion of Hispanics and Natives Miskitos in the Corn Islands at the bars on Main Street and the Picnic Center beach.

There, the reggae and Calypso and national beers, Toña and Vitória liven up the atmosphere and lead to the easy conversations of Latin Americans.

Trunks, Corn islands, pure caribbean, nicaragua

Couple walks past a log construction on Little Corn's idyllic coastline.

Gifted by the weather calm, the days succeed one another, glorious, under an always blue sky, caressed by a breeze that softens the tropical heat.

A few clouds venture into the sunset.

The rain that irrigates the island's tropical vegetation only falls at night, in fulminating squalls that cleanse the impending morning atmosphere.

Coconut Bay, Corn Islands, Pure Caribbean, Nicaragua

Coconut palm highlighted above the Caribbean Sea.

Sailing Time from Big Corn to Little Corn Island

After three days of Big Corn Island, we moved from speedboat to the miniature sister, Little Corn Island. The Pequeña Isla del Maíz, as mainland Nicaraguans prefer to treat it.

We quickly understand that it's much more than size that distinguishes Big from Little Corn. The first houses the archipelago's cultural soul and headquarters.

Little, on the other hand, remains on the fringe of events, in a tropical retreat that only its XNUMX inhabitants and a few dozen visitors a day, in high season, are privileged to enjoy.

Shortly after settling in, we took the trail that skirts the island. We discovered the variants of its coast, slightly urbanized on the west coast, protected from the wind and surf.

West Bay, Corn Islands, Pure Caribbean, Nicaragua

The bay that is home to the only village on Little Corn Island.

Almost divinely wild on the opposite side, where the sea is broken by an extension of the second largest barrier of coral of the world. There, it assumes a strange streaked pattern of blues and greens that extends to the white sand and almost touches the line of coconut trees that shade it.

Along this trail and others that branch from it, we come across natives. We greet them with a conventional “Hi” or “Hello”. But, whatever we say, the greeting we get from them is always “OK”.

After some time without understanding the logic, we confirmed with one of the passers-by the explanation for the phenomenon that we had arrived at in the meantime.

The island is so small and has so few trails that its 600 inhabitants end up crossing them several times a day.

In order to avoid the discomfort and boredom of the constant repetition of greetings, they simplified the approaches to the extreme of omitting the question and exchanging only the most basic of answers, “OK”.

The Perfect Panorama From Casa Iguana

A steep slope takes us to the property of Casa Iguana, a guest houses with an almost zero ecological impact that has been installed on a high ledge on the coast and has the best view of the island.

View of Casa Iguana, Corn islands, pure caribbean, nicaragua

View of the promontory where the guest house Casa Iguana was installed.

"It's something really special, isn't it?" asks us Jeff, a kind of partner-overseer of the place who has moved from vast, frigid Canada to enjoy, for a while, the beauty and cozy warmth of that setting.

“I even get goosebumps when I come back here.”, he confesses to us. And it continues to contemplate the verdant forest of the interior, the curved coastline outlined by the sand and the blue Caribbean that meets it.

The sun falls over the horizon. Without any source of light, we worried about getting back to the west coast before the dark hid our paths.

Prado, Corn islands, pure caribbean, nicaragua

Tropical meadow inland on Little Corn Island.

We follow a shortcut marked on the “official” sketch of the island. In an area almost at the top of the island, we come across an enigmatic yellowish meadow.

Beach Volleyball and Fresh Coconut Water

In the village, we stopped to watch the end of a home volleyball tournament on the sand. Adolescents and seasoned men dispute it.

Volley, Corn islands, pure caribbean, nicaragua

Natives play volleyball, in a game that had ice cream in plastic bags as a prize.

Between headlines and effortless shots, they shout, argue and curse in both Castilian and piracy English, almost incomprehensible on the island.

Five hundred meters to the side, in a minimally planted beachfront bar, a group of Scandinavian visitors delights in drinking coconut water.

Coconut palm, Corn islands, pure caribbean, nicaragua

Resident picks coconuts on a quiet beach on Little Corn Island.

Esteban, the Hispanic owner, barman resident harvests them from a coconut tree in his backyard with the meticulous help of a machete and his wife. We join the conviviality.

We admire the simplicity of your business. We compare it to the frenzy of European daily life and praise the lazy life of those almost unknown Caribbean.

Amberris Caye, Belize

Belize's Playground

Madonna sang it as La Isla Bonita and reinforced the motto. Today, neither hurricanes nor political strife discourage VIP and wealthy vacationers from enjoying this tropical getaway.

south of Belize

The Strange Life in the Black Caribbean Sun

On the way to Guatemala, we see how the proscribed existence of the Garifuna people, descendants of African slaves and Arawak Indians, contrasts with that of several much more airy bathing areas.

Lake Cocibolca, Nicaragua

sea, sweet sea

Indigenous Nicaraguans treated the largest lake in Central America as Cocibolca. On the volcanic island of Ometepe, we realized why the term the Spaniards converted to Mar Dulce made perfect sense.

Cahuita, Costa Rica

Dreadlocked Costa Rica

Traveling through Central America, we explore a Costa Rican coastline as much as the Caribbean. In Cahuita, Pura Vida is inspired by an eccentric faith in Jah and a maddening devotion to cannabis.
Morro de São Paulo, Brazil

A Divine Seaside of Bahia

Three decades ago, it was just a remote and humble fishing village. Until some post-hippie communities revealed the Morro's retreat to the world and promoted it to a kind of bathing sanctuary.
Cartagena de Indias, Colombia

The Desired City

Many treasures passed through Cartagena before being handed over to the Spanish Crown - more so than the pirates who tried to plunder them. Today, the walls protect a majestic city always ready to "rumbear".
Henri Pittier NP, Venezuela

PN Henri Pittier: between the Caribbean Sea and the Cordillera da Costa

In 1917, botanist Henri Pittier became fond of the jungle of Venezuela's sea mountains. Visitors to the national park that this Swiss created there are, today, more than they ever wanted
Margarita Island ao Mochima NP, Venezuela

Margarita Island to Mochima National Park: a very Caribbean Caribe

The exploration of the Venezuelan coast justifies a wild nautical party. But, these stops also reveal life in cactus forests and waters as green as the tropical jungle of Mochima.
Île-des-Pins, New Caledonia

The Island that Leaned against Paradise

In 1964, Katsura Morimura delighted the Japan with a turquoise novel set in Ouvéa. But the neighboring Île-des-Pins has taken over the title "The Nearest Island to Paradise" and thrills its visitors.
Residents walk along the trail that runs through plantations above the UP4
City
Gurué, Mozambique, Part 1

Through the Mozambican Lands of Tea

The Portuguese founded Gurué in the 1930th century and, from XNUMX onwards, flooded it with camellia sinensis the foothills of the Namuli Mountains. Later, they renamed it Vila Junqueiro, in honor of its main promoter. With the independence of Mozambique and the civil war, the town regressed. It continues to stand out for the lush green imposing mountains and teak landscapes.
Host Wezi points out something in the distance
Beaches
Cobue; Nkwichi Lodge, Mozambique

The Hidden Mozambique of the Creaking Sands

During a tour from the bottom to the top of Lake Malawi, we find ourselves on the island of Likoma, an hour by boat from Nkwichi Lodge, the solitary base of this inland coast of Mozambique. On the Mozambican side, the lake is known as Niassa. Whatever its name, there we discover some of the most stunning and unspoilt scenery in south-east Africa.
Masai Mara Reservation, Masai Land Travel, Kenya, Masai Convivial
safari
Masai Mara, Kenya

A Journey Through the Masai Lands

The Mara savannah became famous for the confrontation between millions of herbivores and their predators. But, in a reckless communion with wildlife, it is the Masai humans who stand out there.
Thorong La, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal, photo for posterity
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 13th - High camp a Thorong La to Muktinath, Nepal

At the height of the Annapurnas Circuit

At 5416m of altitude, the Thorong La Gorge is the great challenge and the main cause of anxiety on the itinerary. After having killed 2014 climbers in October 29, crossing it safely generates a relief worthy of double celebration.
Luderitz, Namibia
Architecture & Design
Lüderitz, Namibia

Wilkommen in Africa

Chancellor Bismarck has always disdained overseas possessions. Against his will and all odds, in the middle of the Race for Africa, merchant Adolf Lüderitz forced Germany to take over an inhospitable corner of the continent. The homonymous city prospered and preserves one of the most eccentric heritages of the Germanic empire.
Full Dog Mushing
Aventura
Seward, Alaska

The Alaskan Dog Mushing Summer

It's almost 30 degrees and the glaciers are melting. In Alaska, entrepreneurs have little time to get rich. Until the end of August, dog mushing cannot stop.
Newar celebration, Bhaktapur, Nepal
Ceremonies and Festivities
Bhaktapur, Nepal

The Nepalese Masks of Life

The Newar Indigenous People of the Kathmandu Valley attach great importance to the Hindu and Buddhist religiosity that unites them with each other and with the Earth. Accordingly, he blesses their rites of passage with newar dances of men masked as deities. Even if repeated long ago from birth to reincarnation, these ancestral dances do not elude modernity and begin to see an end.
city ​​hall, capital, oslo, norway
Cities
Oslo, Norway

An Overcapitalized Capital

One of Norway's problems has been deciding how to invest the billions of euros from its record-breaking sovereign wealth fund. But even immoderate resources don't save Oslo from its social inconsistencies.
Beverage Machines, Japan
Lunch time
Japan

The Beverage Machines Empire

There are more than 5 million ultra-tech light boxes spread across the country and many more exuberant cans and bottles of appealing drinks. The Japanese have long since stopped resisting them.
Kigurumi Satoko, Hachiman Temple, Ogimashi, Japan
Culture
Ogimashi, Japan

An Historical-Virtual Japan

"Higurashi no Naku Koro never” was a highly successful Japanese animation and computer game series. In Ogimashi, Shirakawa-Go village, we live with a group of kigurumi of their characters.
Bungee jumping, Queenstown, New Zealand
Sport
Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown, the Queen of Extreme Sports

In the century. XVIII, the Kiwi government proclaimed a mining village on the South Island "fit for a queen".Today's extreme scenery and activities reinforce the majestic status of ever-challenging Queenstown.
Entrance porch in Ellikkalla, Uzbekistan
Traveling
Uzbekistan

Journey through the Uzbekistan Pseudo-Roads

Centuries passed. Old and run-down Soviet roads ply deserts and oases once traversed by caravans from the Silk RoadSubject to their yoke for a week, we experience every stop and incursion into Uzbek places, into scenic and historic road rewards.
Karanga ethnic musicians join the ruins of Great Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe
Ethnic
Great ZimbabweZimbabwe

Great Zimbabwe, Little Bira Dance

Karanga natives of the KwaNemamwa village display traditional Bira dances to privileged visitors to the ruins of Great Zimbabwe. the most iconic place in Zimbabwe, the one who, after the decree of colonial Rhodesia's independence, inspired the name of the new and problematic nation.  
portfolio, Got2Globe, Travel photography, images, best photographs, travel photos, world, Earth
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Portfolio Got2globe

The Best in the World – Got2Globe Portfolio

Kennedy Space Center, Florida, United States
History
Kennedy Space Center, Florida, United States

The Launch Pad of the American Space Program

Traveling through Florida, we deviated from the programmed orbit. We point to the Atlantic coast of Merrit Island and Cape Canaveral. There we explored the Kennedy Space Center and followed one of the launches that Space X and the United States are now aiming for in Space.
Vanuatu, Cruise in Wala
Islands
Wala, Vanuatu

Cruise ship in Sight, the Fair Settles In

In much of Vanuatu, the days of the population's “good savages” are behind us. In times misunderstood and neglected, money gained value. And when the big ships with tourists arrive off Malekuka, the natives focus on Wala and billing.
St. Trinity Church, Kazbegi, Georgia, Caucasus
Winter White
Kazbegi, Georgia

God in the Caucasus Heights

In the 4000th century, Orthodox religious took their inspiration from a hermitage that a monk had erected at an altitude of 5047 m and perched a church between the summit of Mount Kazbek (XNUMXm) and the village at the foot. More and more visitors flock to these mystical stops on the edge of Russia. Like them, to get there, we submit to the whims of the reckless Georgia Military Road.
View from the top of Mount Vaea and the tomb, Vailima village, Robert Louis Stevenson, Upolu, Samoa
Literature
Upolu, Samoa

Stevenson's Treasure Island

At age 30, the Scottish writer began looking for a place to save him from his cursed body. In Upolu and the Samoans, he found a welcoming refuge to which he gave his heart and soul.
Girl plays with leaves on the shore of the Great Lake at Catherine Palace
Nature
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Golden Days Before the Storm

Aside from the political and military events precipitated by Russia, from mid-September onwards, autumn takes over the country. In previous years, when visiting Saint Petersburg, we witnessed how the cultural and northern capital was covered in a resplendent yellow-orange. A dazzling light that hardly matches the political and military gloom that had spread in the meantime.
Sheki, Autumn in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Autumn Homes
Autumn
Sheki, Azerbaijan

autumn in the caucasus

Lost among the snowy mountains that separate Europe from Asia, Sheki is one of Azerbaijan's most iconic towns. Its largely silky history includes periods of great harshness. When we visited it, autumn pastels added color to a peculiar post-Soviet and Muslim life.
Serengeti, Great Savannah Migration, Tanzania, wildebeest on river
Natural Parks
Serengeti NP, Tanzania

The Great Migration of the Endless Savanna

In these prairies that the Masai people say syringet (run forever), millions of wildebeests and other herbivores chase the rains. For predators, their arrival and that of the monsoon are the same salvation.
Vairocana Buddha, Todai ji Temple, Nara, Japan
UNESCO World Heritage
Nara, Japan

The Colossal Cradle of the Japanese Buddhism

Nara has long since ceased to be the capital and its Todai-ji temple has been demoted. But the Great Hall remains the largest ancient wooden building in the world. And it houses the greatest bronze Vairocana Buddha.
Ooty, Tamil Nadu, Bollywood Scenery, Heartthrob's Eye
Characters
Ooty, India

In Bollywood's Nearly Ideal Setting

The conflict with Pakistan and the threat of terrorism made filming in Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh a drama. In Ooty, we see how this former British colonial station took the lead.
Tombolo and Punta Catedral, Manuel António National Park, Costa Rica
Beaches
PN Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

Costa Rica's Little-Big National Park

The reasons for the under 28 are well known national parks Costa Ricans have become the most popular. The fauna and flora of PN Manuel António proliferate in a tiny and eccentric patch of jungle. As if that wasn't enough, it is limited to four of the best typical beaches.
church, our lady, virgin, guadalupe, mexico
Religion
San Cristóbal de las Casas a Campeche, Mexico

A Relay of Faith

The Catholic equivalent of Our Lady of Fátima, Our Lady of Guadalupe moves and moves Mexico. Its faithful cross the country's roads, determined to bring the proof of their faith to the patroness of the Americas.
End of the World Train, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina
On Rails
Ushuaia, Argentina

Last Station: End of the World

Until 1947, the Tren del Fin del Mundo made countless trips for the inmates of the Ushuaia prison to cut firewood. Today, passengers are different, but no other train goes further south.
Executives sleep subway seat, sleep, sleep, subway, train, Tokyo, Japan
Society
Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo's Hypno-Passengers

Japan is served by millions of executives slaughtered with infernal work rates and sparse vacations. Every minute of respite on the way to work or home serves them for their inemuri, napping in public.
herd, foot-and-mouth disease, weak meat, colonia pellegrini, argentina
Daily life
Colónia Pellegrini, Argentina

When the Meat is Weak

The unmistakable flavor of Argentine beef is well known. But this wealth is more vulnerable than you think. The threat of foot-and-mouth disease, in particular, keeps authorities and growers afloat.
savuti, botswana, elephant-eating lions
Wildlife
Savuti, Botswana

Savuti's Elephant-Eating Lions

A patch of the Kalahari Desert dries up or is irrigated depending on the region's tectonic whims. In Savuti, lions have become used to depending on themselves and prey on the largest animals in the savannah.
Passengers, scenic flights-Southern Alps, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand

The Aeronautical Conquest of the Southern Alps

In 1955, pilot Harry Wigley created a system for taking off and landing on asphalt or snow. Since then, his company has unveiled, from the air, some of the greatest scenery in Oceania.