Today was by far the craziest day I've experienced here in Bolivia. Grant's parent's are visiting so we have been going to some of the fun spots to visit around the city. One of which is Los
Espejillos. We've been before and it was a lot of fun so we decided to return with Gary and Diane. It's a 30 minute drive on a paved highway and then it's a dirt/mud road for about an hour. On the way there I was nervous because we are borrowing a vehicle that is a 4x4 in order to make it back to the falls. You have to cross a very wide and deep river with water past your tires at the beginning and then you cross about 20 other streams some with steep banks.
We had a great time while we were there. We jumped off some cliffs, slid down some natural slides and swam all afternoon. Our director and his family and some friends came the same day and we hung out with each other. We started to hear some thunder so we immediately packed up and left trying to beat the rain.
As soon as we started driving after about 3 minutes a huge rain storm began. It was raining very heavily. Instantly the rain made the roads slick. Grant was driving fast trying to beat the rain and once it began raining we started fish-tailing. We had only driven barely 10 minutes when we rounded a bend slowly yet recklessly and we saw two vehicles stopped ahead of us. The furthest one was sideways in the road--he had slid sideways and got stuck in the mud.
There was no getting him out from our perspective so Gary jumped out of the car and directed us to turn inch by inch around so that we could go back and get help from Ron our director. As soon as we got our Land Cruiser turned around without it falling down into the deep drop off two more vehicles came behind us and blocked our path. The road was impassable in the conditions because the mud was really soft and if you got too close to the edge you would sink and get stuck.
At this point we were thinking we were pretty much stranded and our cell phone didn't have any reception in the jungle. After about a half hour of trying to get the first vehicle out and moving again Ron drove up. I had to go down and tell him why all the vehicles were stopped and I couldn't make it to him. I was barefoot and soaked and sliding all the way down the hill to his car. I finally yelled at him and told him what happened and then returned to our car.
The first vehicle finally got out of the mud with a whole lot of help. So we were all off again driving slowly carefully trying to stay on the road. That lasted about 5 minutes tops. Another car completely slid off the road and landed in the ditch. This time it was the one behind us so after realizing they could not push it out we backed up and pulled it out with our vehicle.
THIS CONTINUED FOR THE NEXT FIVE HOURS! Keep in mind this dirt road normally takes 1 hour. We would drive an average of 100 yards and someone else would be stuck. The amazing thing to me was that no one left anyone behind. There were a couple vehicles that got stuck or went in the ditch considerable more times than others. But the stronger vehicles stayed with the group and 6 vehicles made the trip together.
We never got stuck too badly ourselves. We had to drive in the ruts that were made by a bigger truck that had gone through. Grant didn't have to steer much. You just stayed in the ruts and bounced off the sides like bumper cars. We had to really push our engine to make it up some hills and we had to back down an embankment once because we could not make it up it was so steep. Our director Ron was not so lucky. Going down a steep hill with tall embankment to one side he slid into the side of the road with a huge crash and was stuck. It took his wench to get his vehicle out and it did some damage. He lost his power steering and his steering was messed up after that.
Thinking that this was the worst of it we cheered when we reached the big river because that meant we were close to the highway. That was not the case. It was dark. Normally people don't try to cross in the dark, it's hard to find a good spot for crossing. All six vehicles lined up on the shore and had their lights shining across the river. We picked a spot and the first strongest vehicle made it's attempt. It made it with not too much problem. The second went across and made it OK. The third was a smaller vehicle and the current actually picked it up and took it down the river but it was able to get it's tires on the ground again and made it through.
The last vehicle before Ron's and ours gunned it and started into the river. All of a sudden it's lights were under water and it stopped. He threw it into reverse and then forward again but to no avail. He was sinking fast. He jumped out of the car and starting making his way to us to get help. Immediately they pulled the wench out and Gary and Ron walked to the truck as fast as they could. There were kids in the car and they started to come out the windows and adults from our side of the shore went to carry them in. The Mitsubishi was sinking into the sandy bottom and tipping to one side. They got it pulled out but too late. The engine was flooded and the
interior had gotten soaked. We left the vehicle sitting in the middle of the river, on a sand bar.
Now it was our turn.....who wants to cross a river after seeing that happen. We decided it would help to make the vehicle as light as possible so anyone who could walked across the river. I didn't think that would be too bad but in the middle it was very strong and the sandy bottom wasn't stable to walk on but fortunately we were holding hands and pulling each other through.
Ron was the first to go. He gunned it and as soon as he hit the deep spot his lights went under water and he slowed down but he made it. Then it was Grant's turn. He went the same route that Ron went but not as easily. He slowed down and we thought he was stuck and not moving but he kept it going and made it across.
Overall it was quite a day. What should have taken an hour maybe a little more took us 6 hours. We did some damage, got really dirty and wet, lost one vehicle to the river but everyone was safe and unharmed. It was a crazy day but one I will never forget.
This is the last and tallest falls of Los
Espejillos and some crazy brave souls jumped from the top.
I didn't jump off the high cliff but I found a
littler version that was just as fun to me without the risk of breaking one's neck :)
Before the craziest adventure started this is the reason we brave the bad roads--gorgeous falls and cold cold water.
Even 4x4s could hardly manage to get up some of the steep banks we had to cross and it was difficult just to stay on the road it was so slippery our tail end was sliding most of the time.
Here is a picture of the mud and the ruts. Someone was stuck again so we were all stopping and getting out to push, pull, wench or pray.
Unfortunately this was the vehicle that did not make it across the river. Before we got to it it's taillights were under water! It's not a good picture but we were stuck in our vehicle waiting to cross the river ourselves. If Ron hadn't had a wench and immediately ran to the vehicle and started to pull it back in it would have tipped and floated down river.
This is one group of us that had to cross the river on foot to make the vehicles lighter. We held hands all the way through to help prevent losing someone. This was at about 9:30 at night.
This was what my Dad was most interested in--the Condors. Supposedly they are almost extinct and can only be found in the wild in Bolivia, Ecuador and California. They can have a wing span up to ten feet! They were pretty impressive looking.
Gary trying to get close to one of the monkeys that was not in a cage at all just running free.
Here is one of the feared Jaguars. Pretty crazy that there wasn't better security.
This was some strange giant variety of fox.......weird animals.
This is my Dad climbing all over the vehicle to get pictures of various things all along our road trip.
My Dad and Grant waiting at La Yunga for our guide to return.
Once we drove for over two hours and finally made it to the first signs of life--a tiny village called La Yunga a woman came and told us she would be our guide. As soon as we paid her and signed her book she said I'll be right back and took off. So we were thinking hmmm are we ever going to see the woman who just took our money. She did come back eventually with a machete and different clothes on. While we waited Grant tried to see if he could pet this little family of burros that were milling around us. He got pretty close but I don't think any of them wanted to be petted. When the guide came back she climbed into our vehicle and we drove 5 more kilometers straight up hill to where we hiked.
Still trying to pet the donkeys......:)
After driving some more with our guide we stopped at a little clearing at the end of the road and started hiking. I was wearing flip flops which was not a wise decision for it was a little more of a hike than I had imagined. Here is a shot of Grant and I just after we entered the fern forest. It was about a half an hour hike before you reached the fern forest and the whole time I was thinking this is not that impressive it looks like normal jungle to me but once we reached the fern forest it was amazing. There were over 800 variety of ferns and some of them were huge where one prawn was as big as a person. 
Here is my Dad and our guide. She was a grandmother and she liked telling stories the entire hike about the tigers that lived in the forest and how the hippies are not to be trusted. We did see a lot of big paw prints that she said were tigers and she showed us some bones that were at one point a cow that was eaten by the tiger. My Dad thought it was likely not a tiger but some kind of mountain lion. It made me a little nervous-the paw prints were very fresh. The hippies did not make me nervous they did the whole hike barefoot. We saw their tracks all over the trail. Our guide did not want my Mom to return to the vehicle because she thought she might be in danger from the hippies. They looked pretty harmless to me but who knows :) 
I love this picture of Grant and I. Look at the crazy tree branch that Grant is leaning on....it bends into a sharp 90 degree angle and it was actually still alive and growing. 
This was the view from the lookout point. As we approached the lookout tower we started to hear music. Our funny guide lady told us to shoosh and we creeped toward the source of the music. I did not know what to expect as we snuck up the path. It ended up being the three hippies that our guide was so worried about all day. They were playing a flute and a churango, which is sort of like a Bolivian ukulele 
On the crazy dirt road back to Samaipata we saw a lot of cattle and horses and donkeys.
On the way home from the forest adventure my Dad kept spotting boulders on the side of the road and had the idea that Grant and he could push one and watch it go forever. They picked a very large boulder and were unable to make it budge :)
Yesterday I went to pick up my 5th grade class and I couldn't find a route that we would not have to just walk in water. Our entire campus is underwater and most of the staff were going barefoot. I opted to leave my sandals on because of the worms and frogs and all other manner of creature that were trying to find dry ground on our sidewalk.
The library is surrounded by deep water so there is a path of bricks to skip to the library. Some of the bricks had gone under. 
Some of the staff have been joking that now we all work on lake front property. The sidewalks are at least six inches above ground level and they are underwater so the water is at least 8 inches deep in the middle of this shot. 
Here is our soccer field underwater. You can see the goal and the bleachers.
These are some catfish and an eel that were caught on our school campus! In case I haven't mentioned it we don't have a pond or river on our campus. After seeing these many of us were disgusted that we had been walking through the water with these creatures unbeknownst to us.
Christmas Eve we spent at church then a supper at Talita Cumi. Here were all the kids when they got their presents after doing a presentation of the Christmas story for all of us. 
My Mom with Juan de Dios. He loved her and hugged her all night.
Edwin and Juan de Dios on their first Christmas they have ever celebrated! They were more than excited. 
Christmas Eve before we went to church for the candle lit service--notice our wardrobe....it was a hot Christmas this year!
A great shot of Rick and Ruth with the mountains. 
My Dad and Grant monkeying around climbing trees. 
My Mom and I shocked how much pressure the waterfall had. 
Here is a shot of my Dad and Grant being cavemen behind the waterfall. 
On the way down from visiting Volcano Lake on the only road to get back to the highway we encountered a little bit of a roadblock. The workers had just dumped a load of dirt and then took a lunch break. There was nothing to be done so we just waited. 
This was Volcano Lake. A hotel is being built but currently if you have a 4X4 vehicle you can drive up and enjoy the view...which is amazing. 
We of course took my parents to Samaipata where the drive alone is worth the trip. We stopped at the Indiana Jones bridge that leads to a hippie settlement on the other side of the bridge which offers a chance to live free in paradise. :) 
They had carriage rides so after lunch we thought, oh that would be nice to see some of the grounds. Wrong! It was the craziest carriage ride I've ever been on. It was through the jungle and there wasn't anything to see except brush. It was muddy and steep and we weren't sure we were going to make it up the hill. My Mom held her breath the entire ride :) 
This place has fifteen pools that spill into one another with waterfalls and slides. It's so beautiful and so much fun with that many pools to choose from. The bottom of the pools are sand. 
We went to the butterfly farm twice with my parents we all loved it so much. Here is right after we got there the first time. These chairs overlook a lake that has kayaks we took out. My only complaint was the smell of the life jackets we had to wear :)
Here is Rick and Ruth...my Mom is wearing the necklace and earrings I bought her for Christmas. 
Here is my Mom and I at Michaelagelo's. We had a great time trying some of the restaurants in the city. 
Since the Kuhns' came before the my parents left we stayed at Camino Real Hotel. It is a beautiful place and we had a lot of fun swimming and enjoying the high life :) This was Sunday morning December 30th right before we took Rick and Ruth to the airport. We had a lot of fun together.
This is us standing around waiting for another vehicle to be unstuck.
Here are a few of the diggers trying to get a vehicle turned back onto the road.
This is our director's vehicle when it hit the embankment. Notice the tires aren't touching the ground!
This is the last and tallest falls of Los Espejillos and some crazy brave souls jumped from the top. 
I didn't jump off the high cliff but I found a littler version that was just as fun to me without the risk of breaking one's neck :)
Before the craziest adventure started this is the reason we brave the bad roads--gorgeous falls and cold cold water.
Even 4x4s could hardly manage to get up some of the steep banks we had to cross and it was difficult just to stay on the road it was so slippery our tail end was sliding most of the time.
Here is a picture of the mud and the ruts. Someone was stuck again so we were all stopping and getting out to push, pull, wench or pray.
Unfortunately this was the vehicle that did not make it across the river. Before we got to it it's taillights were under water! It's not a good picture but we were stuck in our vehicle waiting to cross the river ourselves. If Ron hadn't had a wench and immediately ran to the vehicle and started to pull it back in it would have tipped and floated down river.
This is one group of us that had to cross the river on foot to make the vehicles lighter. We held hands all the way through to help prevent losing someone. This was at about 9:30 at night. 