Long update...

Alright, I've put up some more pictures - now it is time to describe the day's events.

We had a wonderful buffet breakfast at the Volcano Lodge. Such a beautiful morning! It was humid, but warm and beautiful. The volcano was hidden by clouds, but we enjoyed made-to-order omelets, fresh fruit, bread and coffee. After loading up the bus with all of our luggage again, we headed to the jungle canopy zip line tour.

This was with a group called Ecoglide, and it was very professional and very exciting. They carefully explained all of the safety measures, helped fit us into our harnesses, and had us practice going down a short and very close to the ground zip line. Then we headed up (up, up, up) into the jungle. We basically were about 1,500 feet up onto the side of the volcano. We walked up a few hundred stairs, and then would get on a platform, zip line down to the next platform in the trees, and they would hook us up to another zip line, and we would go about 200-300 feet down to the next platform, another 400-500 ft. to the next platform, on down through the rainforest. There wasn't even enough time to get nervous - you just clicked in and off you went.

The views from the zip lines were incredible - blue skies, visibility for miles. All of the pictures of the zip lines are from the photographers from Ecoglide. The staff there was very professional, very friends, and very safe. It was an incredible experience.

After about 12 zip lines, we came to the "Tarzan Swing." This is basically a giant rope swing, where they hook you into your harness, and you drop straight down and swing up into the trees. It was a real rush. I'll try to upload some videos later. James had the best scream though - it scared away all the monkeys.

The canopy zip line tour was certainly a highlight - lots of fun. We ended early, so we had about an hour extra to wander around La Fortuna (named "Fortune" because when Arenal erupted in 1968, it blew the other way and the town was spared). The shopping was typical tourism, but still, the kids found some organic coffee and some t-shirts.

We enjoyed another wonderful lunch in an open-air restaurant, and then headed to the La Fortuna orphanage. There are only about 11 kids at this orphanage, but they are very cute. They had a lot (A LOT!) of energy at first, but then we took out the blank canvas shoes we had brought to decorate, and they really focused in on the project. The GCCS students did really well speaking Spanish, helping the kids decorate, and just having a great time. The pictures say it all.

After the orphanage, we loaded up the bus around 2:15 and started the anticipated 3 1/2 hour drive back to San Jose (with a plan to stop for a little more shopping). However, about an hour into the drive, the bus started acting funny. Our very capable driver Rafa (short for Rafael), said that there was plenty of gas, but the bus was saying there wasn't any - so perhaps it was a filter or a leak or something. Regardless, we spent about 20 minutes on the side of a very steep hill while Rafa crawled up inside the bus trying to fix the problem. It was sunny, hot and moist. But he got it working.

We drove (very slowly) about a half mile. Then we stopped again. It started to rain. We waited, and waited. We sat in the bus - we played cards in the bus - we sat outside in the rain - we sat under the bus to stay out of the rain - we made our guide, Cherith, knock on the doors of the houses nearby so we could use their bathrooms. And we waited some more.

The students were very patient, and it was a long wait. Eventually Rafa (after getting covered in oil, rain and dirt) got the bus running again, but it was rough going. So he called another bus to come and meet us to take us back to San Jose. This bus met us about a half hour later, and we took all of our carry-on luggage (but not our full suitcases) onto this much smaller bus/van. Our group of 23 filled about all of the 30 max capacity seats (that includes flip down middle seats - yeah it was tight).

So, about a 1 1/2 hour drive later, we arrived at dinner, another great meal. Rafa met us shortly after, and we transferred all of our gear back. Then we made it back to our hotel and everyone is enjoying showers, swimming, and sleeping.

Tomorrow we go to the "Abraham Project" for the first time. I have heard nothing but good things about this ministry, and most exciting of all, they are very glad we brought lots of supplies. We only donated about 3 suitcases of gear to the orphanage at La Fortuna (they are state run and not in as much need), but the Abraham Project is a unique ministry that is in a lot of need, and so we are excited to bless them.

The word is that tomorrow we are doing concrete mixing and laying. From experience, I know this is very hard work, but lots of fun and very rewarding. We will be working alongside another Joshua Expeditions group, along with about a dozen local workers. Hopefully we get a lot done!

I hope you are enjoying the pictures and the updates. If you leave comments, I pass them along to the students. We are in this hotel the remainder of the week, so updates should be more regular. I may not get one in tomorrow morning, but I'll be sure to update tomorrow night.

Blessings.....