February 14, 2011
After a brief visit to Granada and a flight from Managua to Big Corn and a VERY VERY hair raising, air born, almost fall out of the boat ride... we arrived in Little Corn Island. No cars or any motorized vehicles. Peace.
Little Corn is a magical place and when we went beach combing we came across these beautiful sea hearts, which the locals referred to as the 'heart of the jungle,' (corazón de la selva). These pods were heart shaped and looked so cool! It was a nice way to start off Valentine's Day!
I found some more interesting information:
Sea hearts have a long and colorful history in fact and fiction. Early naturalists thought the unusual heart-shaped seeds came from strange underwater plants whose origin was shrouded in mystery. Christopher Columbus was fascinated with objects that drifted ashore on beaches of the Azores off the coast of Portugal. It is said that a sea heart provided inspiration to Columbus and led him to set forth in search of lands to the west. In fact, the sea heart is called "fava de Colom" or "Columbus bean" by Portuguese residents of the Azores.
In Norway, a bitter tea was made from sea hearts to relieve pain during childbirth. In England, sea hearts were used as teething rings and as good luck charms for sailors embarking on a long ocean voyage.
If sea hearts could survive a long and perilous journey across the ocean, perhaps they could also protect their owner. Sea hearts were also carried as an amulet to protect the owner from sickness and to ward off evil spirits. Sea hearts commonly wash ashore on islands of the Caribbean, and in Jamaica they are beautifully hand painted and sold as lucky pendants.
These sea hearts ride the ocean currents of the world, sometimes drifting for months or years--eventually washing ashore on the beaches of distant continents or exotic tropical islands. Natural resiliency...
Here is the cute little yellow cabanas with some nice deck chairs where we enjoyed the breeze off the Caribbean Sea!
The sunrise on this side of the island was Spectacular! We also ventured to the other side and spend a few days in the village with the village people and watched the sunsets.....
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