2019-10-01 Wanderlust

NICARAGUA

wanderlust.co.uk October 2019 139

yogashalaandgourmetfarm-to-

tablefarefromtheorganicgardenor

hand-deliveredbyfishermen,itwas

theperfectbasetodiscoverthe

country’sCreoleculture.

It’ssaidthatColumbuspassedby

theCornIslandsonhisfourthand

finalvoyagetotheNewWorldin1502.

Bythe1700s,though,itwaspirates–

includingWelshprivateerCaptain

HenryMorgan–thatpatrolledthese

watersandforgedastrongalliance

withtheindigenousMiskitopeople.

Onmyfirstmorning,Iwadedout

toYemaya’ssea-colouredwooden

boatcaptainedbyaMiskito

fisherman,alsocalledHenry.The

breezefilledthesailandbuffeted

usgentlytothefirstofthree

pristinereefswhereIfloatedabove

aseeminglyinfinitearrayofcoral–

forestsofflat-toppedtable,

mushroom and staghorn – while
iridescent fish like the blue midnight
parrot fish and four-eyed butterfly
fish darted around me.
The following day, I took an
exhilarating ten-minute water-taxi
ride to the island’s only village in the
south west. A single paved pathway
hugs this part of the coastline,
winding past hand-painted wooden
signs, alfresco grocery shops and
open-sided restaurants where you
can feast on lobster in jalapeño sauce.
The occasional blast of reggaeton
and salsa exploding from feet-in-the-
sand bars was the only thing to
disturb the tropical torpor.
At the edge of the village, the path
turned into one of the sandy tracks
that crisscross the island, and
I meandered back to Yemaya, past
AWL Images colourful clapboard houses where