We couldn’t take enough pictures of the demure children of Little Corn Island.
One morning when we walked past the school on the path through the jungle to the centre of the island, we took some photos of the school children on a break.
We stopped to talk to the teacher. He said that they desperately needed new buildings, classrooms, computers for the school, and so on. Later we found out that teachers only make $120 per month on the island. It was sad that the school lacked a lot of supplies, and we vowed to gather and send some when we returned home.
Moving along the path into the jungle that morning it was dead quiet, and hot! We were walking quietly along, and stopped dead in our tracks when a reclining bull lay completely across the path.
We stared and stared. He was not going to move.
“Too hot”, he said. “And I’m bigger than you – much bigger!”
We contemplated shouting or shaking a stick or throwing a stone…
Or maybe we’ll just take that branch in the road we saw earlier… and with that we turned heel and reversed direction…
We came across a baseball diamond too…
On the other side of the island, at Derek’s Place, we talked to the owners who bought a few acres there for $100,000, with very well maintained cabanas, big and clean, nice grounds, but separate shower. Derek was your typical burned-out hippie, complete with long hair and braided beard. He was a local and she was from the states. It was here that I missed a great photo of a 3 or 4-year-old about to chop off the top of a coconut with a machete!
As we strolled through the grounds of another backpacker cabana, we stopped to have a drink. It was hot and I slipped off my flipflops. When it came time to go, my shoes were gone! We looked and looked. Perhaps one of the wandering dogs had taken them. As we were looking, a man called out,
“Did my daughter take your shoes?! She has a habit of doing that.” Hearty laughter.
He called his daughter and insisted she return the shoes. At first the three year old denied taking them, but a few minutes later she returned them, still saying,
“I did NOT take them!”
My shoes were in her hands. Too funny.
Everywhere, children were full of smiles, sometimes posing shyly, and they were usually flattered when we would take their pictures.
This little guy was sitting in a crate, happy as could be, eating his lunch… the salivating dogs politely waiting for a scrap…
These kids were playing on the beach…
Some were not so happy…
But most of the children had beaming smiles…
Some were busy working…
And this little girl might have been practicing to be a mechanic – or, maybe she was just having a rest…
This little girl had an umbrella…
But the warmest most beguiling smile ever…
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