Friday

Friday was a day full of adventure! We began the day with breakfast and devotion time before going to Talita Cumi, another home for children. Some of the girls opted not to go to the home and they went and had manicures and pedicures. The medical team check the children from the home, some of the staff, and a couple of others who had been invited to come in. We were able to see and purchase some of the beautiful scarves, tableclothes, etc. that the children had made. While the medical team was seeing patients everyone else was interacting with the children. We left the home and went to Danny & Vanessa´s home for lunch. It was amazing, they had some people to cook for us and it was wonderful food in a very relaxed setting. Once we were finished with lunch we headed to the waterfalls.
We expected the drive to be about 45 minutes, over 2 hours later we finally made it to our destination. The group was on 2 busses, these busses never ceased to amaze us. They went through sand, standing water, rocks, hills, etc. From time to time the "road" (a term I would use very loosely) or path would be too rough or have such large ruts that we would have to get off the bus so the bus could get through that area, then it was back on the bus. This happened a few times going in and coming out. This ride outdid any rollercoaster or other theme park ride. We finally made it to the clearing for the bus to park and we walked to the waterfalls. They were gorgeous, there were several areas where people were able to jump off rocks/cliffs into the water. We had about an hour an a half to see the waterfalls in the jungle of the Andes Mountains. Then we get back on the bus, we make it a little ways out and the first bus dies. There was a problem with the fuel filter, so everyone had to get off the bus. They tried fixing it, that worked for a very short time and then we stopped again. By this time it is pitch black in the jungle, they jack the bus up with a tiny jack and proceded to work on the bus again with a couple of flashlights. This time they were able to bypass the fuel filter and get the bus going again. On the way out a couple of times we had to get out, like when we were going in. The second bus got stuck once and it had to be pushed out. FINALLY we made it back to a paved road, the trip from the time we loaded the busses in the clearing until we were back in Santa Cruz was about 3 hours. What an adventure...to say the least. :)
We had dinner at an Italian restuarant and came back to the hotel.
We got back around 11:30 and the group that was flying out this morning had to meet in the lobby of the hotel at 6:15. They got to the airport and are headed home. There are 8 of us who will spend the day here and fly overnight.
I will put Steve Parker´s story on here soon.
We are praying the first group has a good/safe day of traveling home.