Panama, Oh Panama

First of all, I wanna comment on the map to left. This is our travel path, requested by a friend, and published here for your enjoyment. The blue line is travel by car. The dotted blue line is travel by airplane, and the red line is travel by cargo ship, which the car was loaded on to and shipped to Cartegena, Colombia.


Now for the rest of the story.

So when we last left off we were in La Fortuna, Costa Rica, at the foot of the Arenal Volcano.

* A quick disclaimer about volcanos... they are friggin amazing. Absolutamente astounding and powerful. *

That said, we pulled into the Arenal national park midday and made our way to the parking lot and beyond the sign stating - Park with car facing the exit - so as to be ready to make a quick getaway in case of volcanic eruption. We hiked into the jungle at the foot of the volcano, lush and exotic fertilized by the volcanic soil. Not 20 minutes into the hike, we reached the climax of the journey, the lava flow from the 1992 eruption. You climb the short trail to the top of the lava flow where Arenal comes into full view and the sound of somewhat cooled, lava breaks off from the top of the volcano and begins falling down the side of 'er, creating a thunderous eruption of sound all around. We made this area our temporary base for viewing the monumental show at nightfall, in the dark, and oh what a treasure it was. As the lava falls in chunks the size of vehicles and violently bursts into a fiery display as it hits the side of the volcano. It was absolutely amazing, our jaws dropping to the rock below. We celebrated this awesome evening with those around us, surrounded by laughter, by hoorays, and by...God.

A few nights spent round ole Arenal in the Hotel Dorothy, were a gleeful opportunity to relax and get some laundry done while learning about some new and interesting friends. An oil explorationist from Colorado, now living in Hungary named Vard and his wife shared stories and wisdom concerning modern times and future risks of our home, America. So many perspectives on our country, so many possibilities.

On our way to San Jose, to meet up with Keith, a friend Garrett had made while living in Costa Rica, we came across a fine hostel with many more interesting friends, most headed home after a good journey, all excited about our adventure and their own.

We met Keith at a wonderful restaurant in San Francisco, outside of San Jose and near Garrett's home there. The next few days would be full, and highly rewarding with treasures of friendship, signs of God's grace and provision and love, and the chance to serve some beautiful families. We repaired a section of a series of stairs built to help the families up and down the muddy hillside so they would have a safer time getting to their humble homes, in a ravine where trash was abundant and the water was unsafe to even look at. It was here that pain and suffering was felt. That injustice and the plight of the world could be seen. It was here that three year old little boys and girls limped. Just one small sign that things aint right in the world, but oh what a weight on our hearts.

We would soon leave Costa Rica, but not before tasting some of the worlds best coffee, watching one of history's worst news broadcasts (of the storm that blew through Atlanta, Georgia during March Madness), re-visiting our friendly hostel, and driving through a wild and gorgeous jungle.

Arriving in Panama was a bit strange, almost a bit to familiar with its American style roads and the use of the American dollar as currency. We decided to drive on in to Panama this night and find ourselves a place to stay, or rather, live for a bit. After hours of searching all through the city for the right price, we landed at Hotel Colon, in the old part of town. Just a block or two away was the so called ghetto, a mean place off limits to tourists whom were kept out by the tourist police.

So we ran into quite a few interesting people in the ole Colon, amongst them were an Aussie named Simon, an older British fellow whose name I am forgetting, and a local called Fast Eddie, for he could get you anything from a bottle of coke to a cab if needed, fast. More about him in a bit. We spent quite a few nights up on the balcony, overlooking all of the city, with these guys hearin their story, tellin ours and when blessed, listenin to the musical accompaniment of Miss Amber. Garrett especially got acquainted with a few of these folks, Simon becoming an entrusted friend to him. This granted Garrett access to many good stories of Simon's adventure packed life including base jumping, sailing the Galapagos, thousands of sky dive jumps, and the list goes on. Alot of good time can be spent with folks up on a roof, and alot was, for which we are enriched and thankful.

So, we went to Panama City to find a shipping agent for the RUNNER and found tht this would not be taking place untill the following week due to Semana Santa, Holy Week. So the next week was full of parades, including one with a march by some folks resembling a bit the KKK, and people carousing around having good times, all in the name of... Holiness? Funny thing. Carder's birthday came as the Grand Finale to this holiest of weeks, in conglomeration with that other special day, ummm, can you give we a wooooop for Easter, thank you Jesus for your gift of life to us. The other three were really good to me on my birthay, takin me out for one of my favorites in the morn - crepes, then to the zoo in the afternoon, and finale to see a movie that night. The whole town came out to honor me, and once again that other famous person, our beloved Jesus with a final grand parade and finished the night out back at the Hotel Colon with a most awesome concert done for me by the one and only Piratess Amber.

Now I just feel I must talk a bit here about the concert the night before my birthday, out on the balcony, with a couple of the locals and us in attendance. There was a large bellied jolly fella who just absolutely fell in love with her songs and voice and after each gave a long clap and some special enhancement - "You have a voice, like an angel. Your angelic voice is soldering, my heart. Before, it was broken. And now, you have soldered it back together. Mi Amor, thank you" I thought this was such a beautiful way to have your music described, how awesome. Fast Eddie was in attendance. Fast Eddie even talks fast you see, and when he began talking about how her music was, could not contain his movement nor his emotion. He said that the city around him was full of negativity and oppression and that every day when he woke and walked it, pressure and weight fell upon his back. That all he could see and hear was wrong and dead, but Miss Amber's music brought life and light to him, and he felt the pressure leave, even if only for a bit, and he was able to feel hope for the future. Another awesome testament. And whats more is that he kept inquiring to the meaning of some of the music and Amber got to relate some of the messages in the Bible that fueled her writing.

There was also a woman up there that could not contain tear or emotion and just began weeping. She explained, like Eddie, that the music brought hope and light to a dark world around her and that she hoped this music would fill the world and all people could hear it. I do to maam. So i sat and watched all this, and couldn't help but feel thanks for the powerful presence of the Lord being with us out there in a special way that evening. One of the last songs she sang was a worship song that we had sung together a few mornings before. I asked her if she would sing it up there and she sad I had to accompany. This made me nervous, I am not good in fornt of a crowd, but somethin inside told me to go for it. So she began singin, i accompanying, and the crowd gained more and more energy and before the end of it all, everyone had joined in a beautiful raising of voices to our Lord.

This was one of the most moving things I have ever experienced. I would give anything to be apart of moments like this day in and day out the rest of my life. Fantastic!

So Amber departed that following monday and we three got hard to work at get the ole Runner on a boat headed for Colombia. A week later, 5 or 6 offices, a couple more dollars, and half a day at the port in Colon and the car was packed up and ready to go.

We spent two days in Portobello, a bit of scuba out in the Carribean, some of the best fried sea bass ever, a cool fort and some wonderful octopus and we were back on our way to Panama City.

This is where my story ends. I ran out money ya see, and it became evident I would need to return home. Garrett and Jason headed on to Colombia to continue the adventure.

I was sad to depart them, sad to leave good friends, sad to leave the journey, sad to leave our beloved 4-runner, it had become somewhat of home to me. Returning home would not be the same, I knew this beforehand. But upon arrival, the reality hit even harder. Amber calls it "reverse culture shock" and man was it strong. So soon I hope to re-unite with Garrett and Jason in Alaska. Untill then I bid them farewell, I pray for them, and I look forward to hearing what they have to say about the rest of the journey.

Via con Dios, Hasta Pronto, Ciao

At the Foot of a Volcano in Costa Rica

Hello Hello to our Friends and Family, we are sorry for the long absence, but we have been well and full of activity, sort of.

So as of now, we sit in La Fortuna, Costa Rica, at the foot of the Arenal Volcano. Shes an active one, sputtering a bit of lava daily since 1968, so we are excited to be in her path. We just got in to Costa Rica 2 days ago, and so we spent some time up around LIberia, where a large festival was in full operation. People were everywhere, and last night we joined them at the bull ring for some chaotic bull riding. The men would bust out of the shoot riding the bull and there were hundreds of people in the ring. after the guy bailed from the bull, it was time for the bull to chase the masses around and try to get his horns into them. This made for spectacular viewing, and of course we cheered for the bull. We arrived here in the middle part of Costa Rica today, driving around Lake Arenal to get to the volcano. What a beautiful road it was, with a large market for property consumption, a very popular American destination you see. But enough about the place we have only just arrived in, how bout the journey getting here ay.

We last left off in Chetumal, heading into Belice. What a thrill it was to be heading into a place where reggae is not only a musical favorite, but a way of life. We spent our first night in Belice City, and met a new friend named Harry Beeks, a Bob Marley loving rastafarian. He spent the next few days traveling with us, showing us around his small country. We all wound up at the YWAM base in Belmopan, where we visited Santi and Liliana, some friends of Garrett´s family and the directors of the camp there. We spent the day with them, poured some concrete with them, and learned to make tortillas. We then headed to Spanish lookout to be with Harvey Pletts and his family, members of the menonite community and also friends of Garrett´s. They were awesome. We wanted to go to a cave, and so we, and quite a few others piled into their truck and all went. We enjoyed our few days with them as they showed us around and treated us to good home cooking and many stories. Wonderful.

So soon to leave, but with a long road ahead, we made our way through the border into Guatemala. We had been nervously anticipating this place, as all the reports say it is dangerous and to make your way through quickly. But shorlty after arriving, we ran into beautiful terrain. The jungle soon surrounded us, and the people seemed almost welcoming, not dreadful at all. So we ended up for a few days in Rio Dulce, a port town of a few retired sailors from the states and some friendly locals. We met a man from Massachusets who owned a lil pizza parlor there, and would ya believe it, he had the best apple pie you ever ate, mm mmm good.

So after a few days here, and deciding this would definately be a place we needed to return to, we set out on a driving frenzy. We went south to El Salvador and ended up somewhere outside of San Salvador in a small market town. We pulled in late, and there was not a hotel to be found. Finally we found a bicycle cop and he was willing to lead us to one of our old standbys, the autohotel. We began following him through town and before long another cop joined him and we weaved through some sketchy areas and began getting a bit nervous. We werent sure if he was leading us to jail, to a place to rob us, or by God´s grace, to a hotel. We finally arrived at the latter of the three, our hotel, and became ashamed at our mistrust, but hey, ya never now. So the next day we made our way up into the mountains to a small artistic community by the name of Alegria, where a lagoon in side an old volcano was said to hold mystic healing powers. Who wouldnt wanna swim in that, can ya tell me. We hiked up the trail to the lake, and the lone Carder took a dip, and came out healed, from, ummm, somethingi guess, but definately healed. On the walk back to town a little old lady remorsed with Carder about the days of her youth, and visiting the lagoon, and its work in restoring her beauty, and ohh how happy she was that we had visited it, cute.

So this sums up our time in El Salvador, now for the borders of Honduras, ohh what despair comes with crossing here. We arrived at the first border between El Salvador and HOnduras and 3 guys come running at the vehicle. Why the heck are they running at us and what are we gonna have to do to get outta this one we thought. This would soon be our helper, an agent if you will, who reduced our crossing time from the said 6 hours, to a mere 2 hour jaunt. Garrett and Jason went with him to the office to get our permits, then to the next, and the next and on and on and on it went untill many offices later, a bunch of copies and $150.00 in fees we were on our way through Honduras. A mere mile inside the country and we were asked to pull over and told we didnt pay the toll for the road.

¨There is no toll¨we said.

¨Oh yes there is, and if you like you can pay it here, or return to the border and do it there¨

¨Ok, we will return and pay the $20.00 there, and you can come with us.¨

This dint please them and they reduced the fee to $10.00 and we were on our way, feeling good at negotiating our first bribe, the first of many more, which i will add, we havent payed a bribe since. We have become quite keen on the methods employed in extorting money, and we will have no part in this dirty practice.

So the next border was no better. Honduras to Nicaragua, a negotiator, $100.00 more dollars, and we were in, on our way to Leon. We spent the evening and a bit of the next day relaxing and enjoying the the modern art gallery (including some Picassos and some very innteresting metal works) in this mid sized town. We then headed for the beach, Ponelayas to be exact, and the three of us rolled around in the waves and enjoyed some more relaxation. Matter of fact, the next week or so would probably be defined by this one word, relaxation.

After spending the night at the YWAM base in Diriamba, Nicaragua, we embraced the arrival of a fourth companion for the trip, Amber Dunnavant, a friend whom Jason met in China. She is accompanied by her guitar, Martin, which makes for some nice music in the evenings. We four spent a day or two in Granada, where we visited a huge volcano by the name of Mombacho. An awe inspiring thing occurred atop this beast, she moaned, like the sound of thunder groaning from below is. It definately caused an irregular palpatation of the heart.

So finally we arrive at last week, where we spent its entirety on Lttle Corn Island, a friendly little place of just under a thousand people. This place is near my heart, as all of us were touched in some way by the life, or the people of this island. The pace is very slow, the main goal being, once again, relaxation. Everyone has a friendly side, and once you see them a few times, which you indefinatley will, small conversations and smiles galore abound. We hadnt planned on staying here for a week, but we decided to get scuba certified (which if you are gonna, this is an excellent place to do so, full of coral reef dive sites, sting rays, sharks, and beautiful fish) and the process lasted about a week. Unfortunately Garrett had to stop short of finsishing the course due to a ruptured ear drum, a painful occurrence he could have done without. Our instructor was an interesting gal from French Canada named Maly- a very enthusiastic girl, searching for answers about life, about our age, who loved traveling and loved being under the water, very fun to be around and definataely close to our hearts.

We feel very priveleged to have gotten to dive here and i must say that i have never seen anything more breath taking than the flight of an Eagle Ray (stingray). The creature looked to be about the size of one of us and protruding from its sides were two long wings, that gently floated up and down as it glided through the water, as if in flight up in the sky. This was amazing, absolutamente beautiful. I have much respect and admiration for this creature, and i must say it was a little intense being around them, due to the loss of our dear friend Steve Irwin, may he rest in peace. I just cant say enough about this magnificent creature.

We ended our time here with a little more color on our skin, scuba certified, relaxed and hearts ablaze for the community of Little Corn Island. A flight back to Managua, a cab ride and bus trip to Diriamba to get the car and we were off, on our way to Costa Rica. The border crossing was relaxed and fairly void of hassle and that brings us to the current.

Thank you all for your prayer, your love, and your thoughts always. We love you all and look forward to hearing from you. Untill next time, Buen Viaje in this voyage of life.

Heading for Belice

Hello again. As of now we are sitting in Chetumal, just north of the Mexican border with Belice, and just west of the coast of the Caribbean sea. We journeyed through many types of terrain and all sizes of cities on our 3 day drive to this point. We bribed a bit, we negotiated a bit, and we definitely drove, alot.
We had to drive back up the Baja and return to La Paz for the ferry, as there is no ferry in Cabo San Lucas any more. We rode for 5 hours back to Topolobampo, deciding that while being a good way to travel, ferries can be a sketchy place, especially in the bar area, where the seats are comfy but the company is not.

Question - Is it safe to load a bunch of truck drivers up on booze and then turn them loose into the mountains with big trucks? - you be the judge.

So anyway, we drove down just south of Los Mochis to an Auto Hotel - an inexpensive ($25 - $30 a night) and clean little place generally having a garage to part your car in and pull either a curtain or a garage door over the entrance. These are basically a glorified brothel, where you can pay for a set number of hours, or the whole night, but they are cheap, and clean, and we need that.
We had hoped to stop through Guadalajara and see some friends Claire and Raul, but they have returned to Alaska already and so we made a pass through the town - a nice place, very large with 2 million people, and drove on down to a small town just off the toll way. Upon exiting the toll road, we came across a sign stating that "Here your safety ends" meaning we were entering the smaller, less maintained roads. So, we decided to stop in and rest at the AutoHotel Trebol, spanish for AutoHotel Clover, an omen of sorts for the clover loving Carder.

Trying to get to Mexico City was tough, and frustrating. In the town of Metepec, we were ushered into a police check point where they notified us that in addition to a vehicle permit, we needed a receipt for this permit, and therefor were in violation of the law for not having one. A quick slide of $50.00 in to the hands of our officer and we were back on our way. Bribe time has now officially begun, but we feel fortunate to have made it this far for free.

In no time were trying to make our way through Mexico City, one of the largest cities in the world. Might I say that the map in our trusty .7 cent Mexico travel book was sure to help, as there was no city map for this largest city int he world. We made some definite circles, but feel we did good only being there for about an hour and a half. Very soon we were driving on long, winding roads through huge mountains of a tropical nature. Due to the holiday of Carnaval, thousands of people were riding bikes and running along side these roads, in a parade to Mexico City. We had steak and cactus tacos, somewhere along this road, that were out of this world.
We decided to stop in the coastal town of Agua Dulce, or the Mexican town of Sweetwater, so close to home, yet so far away. A good nights rest and the next day we headed into the jungle, through some beautiful terrain indeed. Tropical forest surrounded us, and we getting into more indigenous peoples and farming communities.
We got deep into the jungle, on a road with no shoulder, trees and steep mountains on either side, and definitley no room to stop, and our gas light came on. WE started sweatin and pulled into a lil town out in the middle of no where, with no gas station in sight. This is probably the most friendly place we have been to yet. A broke down truck driver led us to a convenient store where they just happened to have a little 8 liter container of gas that we were able to buy. We chatted with the man for a while, all of thanking God for His hand over us, and then headed on to Chetumal. WE passed through Xpujil, a place of noted archaeological status with Mayan ruins, and eventually landed where we sit now, in Chetumal.
It was a long road through the jungle yesterday, a mystifying and enchanted area indeed. I could just imagen the days of ancient when Mayans controlled this area and called to the spirits of the world for life and power. In the whisper of wind and crickets I could hear the voices of the hunters chattering through the woods. I just cant even properly describe the power of this region, and the awe we have for kingdom that once was. The remnants remain even today in the ruins and in the people, a small and mystical group indeed.
So today we enter Belice, a new country, with new rules, new peoples, and adventure galore. Until next time, Ciao.

4 Days in Mexico

Well, we finally arrived in Mexico tuesday afternoon. We cruised through Nogales and picked up a travel permit at kilometer 21. Then it was smooth sailin' all the way down to Guaymas, where we had expected to stay. But, we didnt like the "feel" of it so we scooted on down to Obregon for the night. Had a cute little hotel room there in what was a rather European style little town, complete with american car dealerships, restaurants and of course, a Wal-mart.
We got up early the next day and headed for Topolobampo, where we thought we would be catching a ferry at 11:00 in the morning. Upon arrival we discovered the thing didnt leave untill midnight,thanks be to our 7 cent travel book, so we had some time to kill. Around the bay a bit was a rather deserted little tourist beach, with open-air restaurants and clean sand. So we ate a huge fish and stuck around untill a bit after dark, feeling like this was a good place to wait and see a most excellent sunset. Turns out, not too many people wait around after dark here.
We were soon approached by a truckload of local police or federales, not sure which, whereupon they questioned us as too what we were doing there. Did we have drugs. Again, what were we doing there and on like this for a bit. God was good, they soon seemed to figure they had no need in trying to question us farther, got in their truck, machine gun in tow, and headed on down the beach to look for more trouble. So we got outta there and soon were driving on ot a huge 1,000 vehicle ferry, or transbordador, where we would spend the next 6 hours trying to get comfortable in a movie room with theater style seating. Through cold, loud movies, and uncomfortable seats we slept and finally around 6:00 in tha morning arrived at La Paz, on the Baja peninsula.
If you haven't figured it out yet, we were headed for Cabo San Lucas, the world renowned beach resort, home to fine beaches, world class resorts, and many American folks we discovered. We are happy to be here, it is nice and beautiful, but we have decided that from this point on we will be searching for a more culturally diverse experience, seeking out indigenous peoples and smaller town settings.
But, a note on the beauty of this area. The beaches are pristine here, the up-keep is magnificent, there is seafood galore, and good seafood at that. Last night we ate at a rather inexpensive little restaurant, El Pescador, and Jason and Garrett had delicious steak and lobster and Carder had an octopus ceviche that was out of this world. So after having a wonderful dinner we "went out walkin, after midnight, just a walkin" and ended up makin our way through the lobby of a private hotel, onto a private beach, a completely empty beach. These beaches are closed in by hhuge rocks and cliffs on both ends, but if you make your way over the rocks, you will find yourself on your own private little beach. So we made our way over a few sections of these and found ourself on a beach with a view of the city, and one of the most amazing things we had ever experienced.
There is a phenomenon I have read about, but never seen, where the algea is in a certain season of its life. During this season, it glows, as kryptonite would glow, and makes for a most amazing surf rolling in off the ocean. We stayed right there for a good while, blown away by this amazing, glowing surf coming in. How blessed we were to be there. We returned to the hotel and plan to be in Guadalajara by Sunday, which entails another ferry trip, and a good days worth of driving.
I would also just like to say, that at the moment, we enjoy free internet in a bar home to the largest margarita I have ever seen, the thing has to have at least a gallon of liquid, including the waiter says an entire bottle of tequila, good thing we came for the internet only ay.

Untill next time, we love you all, and wish you could be here with us.

G,J, and C

1-30-2008 The days leading up to our Departure

It is Wednesday of the week we are to leave and I feel as though the trip began long ago. Two weeks ago I started getting everything together, a bit late for a three month journey, nevertheless things are beginning to come together. We are traveling into a far away land, a land of jungles, mosquitoes carrying any number of illnesses, wild animals, new and exotic peoples, amazing colorful foods and adventure beyond comprehension. In these final days before departure, feelings and dreams about our upcoming journey are abundant.

For Carder, the preparation took place in Dallas researching the area to be traveled and gathering supplies for the journey. Through travel books and the internet I found a wealth of information on the land we would soon be traveling. It became apparent that I would be needing vaccinations for the trip, seven of them to be exact and so I set out to get these. The first six were found at the County Health Department and the seventh and final, yellow fever vaccine, had to be obtained from a travel health consultant. She had a wealth of information concerning the region of our travels and filled me in on all the viral, bacteria and parasitic enemies we would be encountering, and how to avoid them.

The three of us Garrett, Carder, and Jason, or G-C-J, decided we would need a video camera and a laptop computer for the trip, to document the adventure and hopefully story telling of all our new friends. So, I set out lookin for a deal, and found it on the internet, where many a deal is to be had. These two weeks were filled with more shopping than I have had in the past few years, needless to say a very painful experience. A bit of advice would be that a trip of this length needs months of preparation, and a well thought out list of essentials.

Meanwhile, Jason and Garrett were on the same shopping spree in New Mexico, loading up on documentation supplies and travel gear galore. During all of this they also put great effort into upgrading some essential elements of our trusty vehicle, a 1991 Toyota 4-Runner VR-5. They added a front bumper/grill guard, and a rear bumper to the vehicle, both fabricated out of 2" square steel tubing. A new roof rack was fabricated as well, made of 3/4" square tubing. Among other improvements: new tires and shocks, new plugs and wires, changed all fluids, new air filter, and added a speedometer cable. The vehicle is lookin good, lookin strong and ready to roar through the countryside.

Some final preparation needing mention is that of a spiritual nature. I, Carder, personally have seeked God's direction for this trip and am looking forward to some of the desires i feel he has placed in front of us. We leave seeking adventure, which God gives us in order that we may live a rich and fulfilled life, and seeking to learn about the peoples of the Latin world. We fill God's direction in getting to know the cultures down there, and getting to know their needs and desires in life. We also feel led to serve in areas of need whenever crossing the path of service. On the other side of the coin, our desire to truly know the Lord, to know His will for our lives, and to know the direction He would have us go, leads us south. Prayer, meditation, and biblical study shall all be a part of our seekings and your prayers for us in hearing His voice shall be appreciated.

ON Thursday evening I, Carder arrived in New Mexico and am currently staying in the Goodloe's house, where Garrett finishes up his packing and some last minute details on the vehicle, Jason readies his things and I enjoy the warmth and kindness of the Goodloe family. The land is a vast area in the mountains of Lincoln County where Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid once roamed and Native American Indians once settled. The rolling hills and scattered trees are a perfect landscape for the memories of a time when life was simpler, and people lived in harmony with nature respecting its power and beauty. A time when families stuck close together and there was seemingly enough land for all to enjoy. It is a promising beginning for a journey to a similar place, where life runs at a different pace reminiscent of the native peoples of this beautiful land.