an island tour...

George, our taxi driver/tour guide, took us on a tour around the island and showed us the sights. One stop was Mama Lola's. It looked like it might be a hopping nightlife place but all was quiet during the day when we visited. I LOVED the decor!!
From the rooftop you could see a 360 view of the island...
The beauty was astounding!!
What do you think they are plotting?
After the tour, the boys went snorkeling with Dorsey... the water was a little rough but they had a blast!


The girls took to the beach... it's a tough job but someone had to do it...
Dale, in worship of our awesome God, relishing the sound and spray of the powerful ocean which shows off just a tiny fraction of the power of Creator God.
our porch area where we hung out at Angela's House...our rooms while on the island.
peace, quiet, fellowship...
The last day on the island... a storm was brewing! We went back to Dorsey's for fresh lobster...
at his sister's store next door to his snorkel shop.
It was scrumptious!!!! mmmmmmmm......
Then they peeled a fresh papaya for us. The turtles enjoyed the peels...
We enjoyed the fruit meat!! It was the best papaya I've ever tasted.
None of the fishermen were willing to set out to sea because of the brewing storm, so we caught an airplane to the mainland, then set sail up the river with a young man headed that way. The night came while we were traveling and we were treated to a jungle cruise with a fantastic sunset! Then the darkness fell and it was rather intimidating cruising up the river by floodlight, watching out for debris in the river and whatever else...(my imagination had me watching for drug runners and pirates!!) We reached Rama safely.
One of my favorite critters... I love how they chirp!
In Rama, finding a grocery store still open to buy snacks for the next day's bus ride... love these little taxi carts!
What an exciting adventure, traveling by buses, a cargo ship, speedboats, taxis on water and road... it sure is exciting and fun following God around!!
Back safely to Wisdoms' home in Costa Rica...

a bus and a boat...

San Carlos: see the gringos. see the gringos mill around. what will they do next?
the buses all had these fancy window decorations...
we needed to catch the bus to make our connection to the next bus that would take us to Rama.
ta da! here it is. looks road worthy enough, so we pile in.
do we know what to expect? no, not really. I didn't really get pictures that could tell about that bus ride. vendors came in the bus and sold their wares...you could buy watches, plates of food, newspapers, ice cream, chips & snacks... all this while people are trying to board the bus. finally we take off, stopping randomly throughout the next 6 hour ride to load and unload, both people and wares. toward dusk, they load vats of homemade cheese on top of the bus. later i think it has started to rain lightly...no, it's milk from the cheese vats, dripping and blowing into my open window. (hey! people pay big bucks for milk baths at the spa!!! i got mine for the price of a bus ticket!) finally the bus lets us off, the driver shows us the next bus stop just down the road. we set off and the bus roars off. we get to the bus stop and there is a little stand selling pop and snacks. No, they say. our bus came through 10 minute ago. we sit around trying to decide what to do. the next bus is in 2 hours. after a half an hour, Dale says maybe this is a divine appointment. a taxi pulls up and the driver yells out the window: "Rama?" Exactly where we need to go. Clint says get in... luggage in the trunk, dale in the front, 5 of us in the back seat, the taxi driver's buddy sitting on the outside of the back end. Yes, we are stacked in the back seat. off we go for a 2 hour,very bumpy ride, with a couple of stops...one stop is to let the buddy off the back end, one stop is to let the smoking brakes cool off. at last, we arrive in Rama. the taxi driver pulls up to the gate of a hotel and honks. they open the gate and check us into our rooms at "the house of dreams". it's late but construction starts on the hotel in the early morning hours. so we get up and get ready to go. we all have headaches from the bumpy, cramped ride the night before and from the insecticide they sprayed in the rooms right before we went inside them.
we go down to the boat dock in Rama and got breakfast, boat tickets, and COFFEE!
it's time to load, so we climb down to the boat. we're all thinking that it's a nice big boat with a roof over the sitting area.... No, that's not our boat! it's the little one over there...
we pile in with the locals. no roof but it's cloudy with a life-saving breeze.
it's an uneventful and beautiful 2 hour ride to Bluefields.
we step out of our little water transport onto docks bustling with activity. we are met by pastor henry and pastor larry...
farewell, small Sea Master. time to get on board the cargo ship, the Captain D, which will take us out into the ocean to the Corn Islands. it's 6 hour cruise up the mouth of the river and across the ocean to the islands.
stay tuned for the continuing saga of the gringos in Nicaragua...

first leg of our trip out to Corn Island, Nicaragua...

After 6 hours of driving from San Jose, Costa Rica, we arrived here in Los Chiles, where we left the car locked up in the garage behind this pink house.

the next step: fill out the customs paperwork and get our passports stamped here. The milling around... that became a normal thing.
Yes, this picture proves I really was with them. I don't make it into many pictures, since I'm always beind the camera!
At Los Chiles, we caught a river taxi to the next stop. It was about an hour ride down the river on a nice hot day.
We arrived San Carlos. There we had to go through customs because we were now in Nicaragua.
It was a quaint, rather run-down little town with cobble streets and little shops and it rained on us there.
Dale finally got to stick his feet in Lake Nicaragua...
!We were momentarily the local entertainment... all the gringos hanging out on the corner.
Half a day of traveling under our belts...
Off into the unknown, wondering what to expect next.
Love and hugs to you all

out to the jungle...

the road to Llano Verde...
past the local cows...
past the iguanas...
Dale pondering the questions of the universe...
yes, the dirt really is this red. and when it rains, it becomes slick red clay.
Clint, making a decision about crossing this temporary bridge...
hmmmm... can we take a 15 passenger van over this?

well.... let's try it.
all the passengers have bailed out and are waiting to see what happens.
Dale, helping guide him across the just-barely-big-enough-for-the-van temporary "bridge"...
sure glad we missed the wheel-sized hole there....
past pineapple fields...
past the Vocano Arenal, which showed itself to us... most of the time it remains hidden behind clouds.
yes, the 15 passenger van can pull over most anywhere if there's a picture that needs taking!
our day is graced with a gorgeous sunset...
oohhhh! ahhhhh!
more of Llano Verde soon. for now we are off to the Corn Islands of Nicaragua for a week. another adventure into the unknown... a drive, a boat ride, then another boat ride... stories to come later! all our love to all of you!! Keep us in your prayers, please. and Katie, too, as she leads her own adventure in the village of Llano Verde for a week!