Back to the Big City

Well, we are off the big city today. The people of CERENID had a little going away ceremony. All the kids made little gifts for us, and CERENID gave each of us a T-shirt. All of the group experienced a sudden case of allergies or something, I think, because there was a lot of sniffling going on and there was not a dry eye in the house. There are some very big hearts in Bolivia. I am amazed at what they are willing to give, having so little.  

I promised some of the crew that we would have lunch at the Burger King. It is surprising how you crave something not because it is good, but just because it is familiar.  I took the opportunity to run across the park and see Jackie at he New Tribes Mission House. As it turned out, Marg and Jake were staying there, waiting for another family to come in. It is a small world! We checked back into the Suiza Hotel, and walked down town to the central plaza. 

The rest of the day was spent down town shopping and looking. We had a great dinner at a place called Cafe 24--right off the square.  There was talk of ice cream, but, after the meal, only Neil and Alicia  had room for it. The group split up after dinner to go to the internet café or the art galleries or to go on a marathon hike led by Corinne and Lyle.  Eventually everyone walked back home and retired to their respective rooms settling in for a good nights’ sleep.

Earth, Wind and Fire

Today was a work day after a long day of hiking yesterday. Some of the group went across the river to help harvest corn with Florencio. This involved tearing the ears from the stocks, shucking them, and then stomping the stocks to the ground. They made a dent in it, but there was still lots to do when the heat drove the group from the field. The white dots you see in the strip of harvested corn is piles of corn cobs.

I fixed the oblique camera trigger and made a second flight to get the pictures of the corn field and others. Brent did an excellent job of co-piloting, and the second flight was not as hairy as the first, but the wind was even stronger. I needed full throttle for just about the entire flight. Brent said that, for most of the flight, a bird followed us but did not attack. In addition to bird-spotting, Brent guided me in for a good landing, and we decided to quit while we were ahead.

In the afternoon, Jenna made cookies with Alfa house because Corinne, the scheduled cook, was feeling a little under the weather; it had to happen to someone at some point I guess. Corinne is a hard lady to keep down, however, and she painted doors all afternoon! Others in the group did electrical and plumbing in the renovated kitchen. Some of us built a new water valve for the kitchen. Crystal learned some new skills in plumbing, but became especially valuable when we needed someone to climb down into a muddy hole and bail out the water. She was a very good sport about it!

After a long day of work we gathered in the church to see a sample of the photos taken by our group. The kids love to see pictures of themselves! The people of LaHas came over as well, since there were many air photos of their community. After the slide show, we went outside for a great fireworks display sponsored by some of the contributions of Crystal’s officemates. The boys love fireworks, and it was a perfect end for our last night together.. It is too hot to sleep right now, so I am just swinging in the hammock for a bit. Till tomorrow.

Huh, It’s Not a Dream

First words out of Brent’s mouth this morning, "Huh, its not a dream". He is getting better at sleeping on the top bunk. Last night he never dropped his pillow or blanket, too bad there are only 2 sleeps left here at CERENID. Corinne is making popcorn for the hike today, we know what her comfort food is. Crystal dreamed that we met Brad Pit in Samaipata and then she and Michelle Obama became best friends as they raced speed boats down the Amazon river. I think the river reference was her allergies kicking in last night!

Jaun did a front break cylinder this morning, he is a talented man! Lyle observed the process and commented that we are definitely not in Canada. It is a good thing that he did the brakes, because we drove to the fern forest today and the road was the scariest I have ever been on! It wound up one mountain, down another, then back up a third. Neil is not a fan of heights, and bailed out about three quarters of the way up the first mountain. We picked him up at the bottom on the way back.

The fern forest was a lot of walking if you were not a plant person, but for Wilma it was very cool! For the rest of us the scenery was very spectacular. They call it the cloud forest because the clouds continue to roll over the mountain peak. Brent took the GPS with him today so he could tell us that we started at about 1500 m and topped out at 2333m, I swear it felt like we walked more than that!

I am sitting in the central square in Samipatia right now writing this, by the time I will get to post it, I will be back in Santa Cruz, so I am sucking in the calmness of this place now while I can. I feel very much at peace when I am here, can’t explain why, but I do. We are off to a German smorgasbord and I have no doubt I will be far too full to write anything tonight so till tomorrow, peace be with you.

A Great Day!

A day of trials and triumphs, ups and downs, great food and great fellowship. We drove to El Forte, well, most of the way to El Forte. The road into the fort gets progressively worst, so at some point, the lowest point, the bus had to stop. It is a 3.5km walk straight up, then another2 km around the summit. We had to pull some of the team up in the steep parts, but everyone made it to the top in the long run. The fort is very old and the complete history is still a mystery. 

One of the interesting things is that the fort is so high up, a got cell service, the first time in 5 days. I received a text from home containing very good news, and was able to send a couple of texts to let everyone know we were alive and well. After we toured the site, we took a break for cookies and coke, the lunch of champions, then started down the hill.

We drove into Samipatia, the Banff of Bolivia, for a late lunch, some internet, the market and phone calls home. I posted a bunch of blogs, not easy when the interface is in Spanish, and I had to get my USB stick to interface with an antique computer. My we are spoiled!. we met in the park in the center of town were Jenna received a present from a bird above while relaxing on a bench, be careful where you sit!

For dinner we visited Latinas, a restaurant I have visited before. It was an incredible meal and everyone laughed and had a great time! Brent tried something new, and loved it. Corinne got her chocolate brownie fix, and there was even great coffee. The meal must haved been good because the whole group was quiet as a church mouse when the food arrived, the first time all day and it didn't last long. Jaun navigated the bus home in the dark with great skill, and, as I type from the hamock, almost everyone is asleep. Off to the fern Forest tomorrow, bye till then.

Water, Water Everywhere

This morning, Brent the Spider Killer lived up to his name more than once while some of the group were cleaning up around a storage bin. The story is that one spider was so big that it fought him for the wrench, but Brent won in the end. Crystal and I were sent to the kitchen to help chop veggies. I cried the whole time; I was chopping onions. After the chopping, we went and helped repair roads by hauling broken brick and concrete from the yard up to the road. Brent and Neil drove a 4x4 with no 4-wheel-drive, limited clutch and no gauges.

After an early lunch we put 52 people into an 18-passenger bus and a truck and went to a set of waterfalls. The drive to the falls was beautiful. At one point we came around a corner to find a mansion with stunning landscaping out on a ridge.

The falls were awesome! It was great for the kids and the cooks to have an outing, and we all loved it as well. It had rained a bit in the morning (maybe misting is a better description), but the sun came out when we arrived and stayed out until we were ready to leave. The bottom of the river is all sand, so there was lots of burying of people and making sand castles. The water coming over the falls contained a lot of sand as well, so, when you stood under it, you would get a shower and the added bonus of an exfoliation. The water would just about knock you to your knees; I am glad the falls weren’t any higher! We came home for the start of Sabbath. As we were waiting for supper Martin, the monkey, came to visit us. Please enjoy the pictures below.
See you soon!

Up Up and Away

It was a busy day today! I am not sure what everyone else did this morning, because I spent the morning rebuilding my airplane (thanks to the friendly customs officers who unpacked my case and then just threw everything back in without securing anything!) When I finally sifted through all the pieces, I did find a note telling me that they checked the contents of my bag for security reasons and that they are not responsible for any damage to my lock. My lock??? I didn’t even have a lock! Three kinds of glue, two kinds of tape, some donor wood and an able-bodied assistant to hold and tape, and by noon she was ready to fly, sort of. She wasn’t as straight as when she left Canada, but I thought she might hold together.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group was slashing through jungle to map, working with the gardener, fixing tractors and generators, sweeping rooms and much, much more. Lyle started to work on the ignition system only to discover that the problem was that they lost the key! The local mechanic had a work-around that seemed to meet Lyle’s exacting standards. Neil wired in a bunch of light fixtures without getting electrocuted or falling off the ladder! The mapping team of Brent, Wilma, Alicia and Florencio walked and slashed their way through 11 km of jungle including 150m of vertical rise.

We all split up at lunch and ate with the boys in their houses. It is great to see them in a family setting. They all introduced themselves and told us their names. I always get a chuckle out of introducing myself because they can’t say Gordon; it comes out more like “gordo” which means fat. Even the house mother had to chuckle. I can’t believe how much those little boys can eat! A great soup, a sort of salad (tomatoes, pickled beets, and onions. Very good!) and then a big plate of rice, beans and peas. Even I could not finish my plate, gordo as I am!

After lunch, I took the plane up for pictures. It was the hairiest flight I have ever had. Not only was the plane out of trim and the takeoff and landing site very small, but the wind had come up and killer thermals filled the steep valley. I had my hands full just keeping it in the air let alone taking pictures. The thermals and slope winds flipped the entire 8 foot airplane over more than once. I was very thankful for the very large ailerons! In the end, I managed to get the plane back on the ground in one piece thanks in part to Brent, my co-pilot. He did you proud Murray.

In the afternoon we worked again on various projects. Lyle wired batteries with Wally.

Corrine made 150 cookies with the newest house of boys. She had to improvise because she couldn’t find baking powder. She used something--we don’t know what--and they where great!

Just before dinner we presented the bikes and balls to the families. This was followed by some great soccer and volley ball. Some of the group joined in: Neil in goal and Brent playing forward. Jenna, Corinne and Wilma were playing volleyball. Neil commented on how well the kids would sleep tonight with all that exercise. He promptly fell asleep to the sound of kids still playing.

The highlight of the day for me was the finding and capturing of a wild cuy. We gave Pequeno Gordo (little Gordo) a bath and a temporary home in the bottom of a new garbage can. He hung out with us for the day eating veggies and drinking vitamin C-spiked water. Later in the evening, Pequeno Gordo jumped out of his new home and went back into the jungle full and happy. I hope we meet again.

Coffee Beans, Biting Ants, and Bicycles

After a slow start, we headed into the mountains, and it did cool down. We stopped part way to buy some bikes with the money Crystal collected from her coworkers. We found some great little bikes and a patch kit for the tires. While we were away from the bus Jenna, Brent and others put on an impromptu circus for people on the street near the bus with the hula hoops and balls they purchased at a store nearby. When I returned, I heard a taxi driver muttering, “loco, loco, loco!” We loaded the bikes on the roof and off we went.

Next stop was “Gingers Paradise,” an organic farm/B&B/Craft-, Coffee-, and Chocolate-shop. We played in the river for a bit While the owner finished lunch, then he collected us and took us on a tour. He certainly has a holistic approach to everything. We talked microhydro, coffee, permaculture, and the need for biting ants. We saw the dry toilet (important for many in the group), a tree that makes soap, and finished up in the gift shop/bedroom/living room.

Back on the bus one more time, we arrived at the driveway to CERENID just before dark. I wondered how the bus would get down the driveway since we had to hike down the last time I was here. The road was improved somewhat, however, and with the skills of our excellent driver, Juan, we made it all the way. We received a warm welcome, unloaded most of the bus, settled into our great little house and met all the boys. It was beautifully cool so a good sleep was had by most.

Till tomorrow, keep us in your thoughts