I neglected the blog, only because we had such a wonderful time filled with love with our daughter who came home! Three of our five children were with us, and it felt a little bit better. But we are not home, you would say! I thought about that a lot, but I realised that I found home, wherever I found love, and I can give "home" to my children wherever I am. This photo was taken as she got off the bus, trying to get our emotions under control....but it was too sore, too raw!
We spend our last week and a bit in Valle Escondido, and said good bye to the wonderful "home" and gym and sauna, and "my garden". (The white big rock in the photo came all the way from Las Tablas, to the disgust of the boys who had to carry it for me..)
But before we left we decided to go on a hike. We heard about a hike from a friend in the gym, and we went to a tour agency for more info, when the girl told us about an even better hike, Queatzales! Joe and I were in charge, and we decided that, we all are going to do that the next day! We stocked up on snacks and water, and got every one into the bus to David. An hour an a half later in the black and yellow school bus, we left with another bus to Cerro Punta. This was such a scenic trip with a small bus, and the little town, Cerro Punta was even more beautiful. We asked the bus driver about the Cambio les Queatzales, and he decided to drive us all the way to the road leading to the Entrada! (entrance) Little did we know that it was still 6 km walk to the real Entrada, but our spirits were so high, not even the dark clouds could dampen them. With our indigo feathers in our hair, we started up the hill.
Two young guys gave us a short lift, about a kilometer, on the back of their truck, and soon the feather brigade were on their feet again! It was steep, and not so easy for all of us, but my poor children know, with 'mom' behind you, there is just no stopping!
Not for too long! As soon as we were starting to go down on the other side of the mountain, it started pouring, and the trees weren`t of much help anymore, but when we heard the howler monkeys, we forgot about our wet bodies.
Marco and Janlie, were far ahead of us, trying to get out of the jungle, maybe to find a shelter or a dry place. We were soaked and the wind came up, and we were loosing body heat, and we tried to walk as fast as possible, but the trail was getting slippery. It felt like hours before we reached the end of the jungle, and we were looking forward to the bus around the corner, according to the 'girl' at the agency!
Already the hike of 10km turned into 10 plus the 6 on your way to the Entrada.......so we were cold and hungry and wet and tired!
Of course there was not a bus or a taxi in sight in this rain, washing down in buckets, and the wind blowing icy cold around the mountain, as we saw a post saying, 13km to Boquete! We shared the last two sandwiches and a squashed pear. Who planned this hike?
Along the way we were trying to get the few cars passing to have mercy on us, but no one had space for five people! When a guy stopped his truck close to us, Johan started talking in Afrikaans, to this Spanish person...."Kan ons opklim?" (Can we get on?) Of course this poor guy said something like, "Si" and he got his whole family onto the back of the truck in no time! Hmmm, but not for long....when the Spanish and poor English and no-Afrikaans got into gear, we realised that this guy is not going to Boquete, and the five of us had to get off, and started walking again. It was getting late and we still had a long way to go. It was amazing to have my family around me, to see and hear inner strength coming out of no where, encouraging each other, helping a frozen Marco to forget about his aching body. It was wonderful to see their joy when we found an old man selling potato chips, eating it as if it was the best warm cooked meal ever...while dreaming about hot chocolate!
My toes were starting to burn like fire! Luckily I wasn`t wearing my baby blue crocs again, but my old running shoes didn`t do any better. I knew that I was starting to get into trouble, and I asked for help silently in my mind...and soon!
A little while later, we walked passed a little house with a family, standing in their garage, with a red car parked in it! That was all I saw! Joe and I walked towards them, and in our little bit of Spanish we begged them to take us into town! The young man smiled, looked at our blue lips and noses, and told us to wait while he gets his keys! The angel took us into town, the last 7km, I knew was going to be too far! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
No comments:
Post a Comment