Our flights were not what we were expecting but you take what you are handed - the Denver bunch left at 12:50am out of DIA and flew to Miami (yes, we took the long way!!!) for a 3 hour layover and then left again around 8 for the final leg into Managua, Nicaragua!
There were 49 of us from the US but customs was pretty fast! It was pretty darn warm (Ok, it was HOT) waiting outside for the bus to load us all up! All of the luggage was handed to the top of the bus and strapped down for our hour trip to the Mission House - the place where we stay before heading out to the village and the place we return to for a couple of nights after wards! It's nice to have a little bit of luxury before you head to the village!
The view from the Mission House is beautiful as it overlooks Lake Managua - it was hazy out when we arrived!
Even though nobody got much sleep on the flights, everyone was just anxious to relax a little bit and enjoy a good meal!
For once, Jaime did NOT get sick on the airplane - I think she finally has found the solution with wrist bands and benadryl!!
Even though the eating area and common room are not air conditioned, there is usually always a breeze coming through - but the rooms themselves are air conditioned and it was so nice for sleeping! We grabbed the smaller room so there was just 5 of us in one place - and we enjoyed taking one last warm shower before we headed out in the morning!
7:00am was our time to be on the bus so it was an early morning getting our suitcases back out to the semi carrying them and eating a quick breakfast! The interrupters and other medical personnel were also there so we ended up with 3 school buses full of people to start the journey! Sack lunches were made early that morning to eat on the way!
We made 3 total stops during the 9 hour journey - but you can imagine how long it takes for 100 people to use the restroom!!! The first place we stopped at (I call it a mini-Walmart because it has a little bit of everything) had 3 women's stalls so it went much faster as the other stop only had ONE! Everyone bought a cold drink and snacks for the remainder of the trip and I discovered some really good chips and cracker type cookies!
At our last stop before we headed onto the dirt road (or ATV trail as I called it) it started pouring rain and didn't stop for a long time!
Here is the terrain we drove through - think Colombia - think of the movie "Romancing The Stone" and that's what it looked like - jungle - hot - humid - mosquitoes!!!
But it was fun on the bus! Jaime and Rayna had become good friends with Kevin who works on the vet team and his son Kayden who would be helping us in the pharmacy. They are both SO FUNNY and made the trip go a lot faster!!
It was a LONG journey with many hills to climb and go down - I was used to hills since we take the ATV out a lot but Jaime was a little freaked out with how steep they were! But we made it just fine to the village of Kuskawas ! And then it was set up time for sleeping and the clinic!
2 comments:
What an exciting trip!
Looks beautiful! I would have a tough time with the mosquitoes!
Post a Comment