World's Most Dangerous Road - Bike Ride

So a while back, dad heard about a company, Gravity Rides, which takes you down the World's Most Dangerous road on BIKES! He wanted to do it, and of course I had to do it with him! It was by far one of the coolest things I have ever done!

You start in La Paz, which is the highest capital in the world, and go even higher to La Cumbre (15,400 ft.- which is so high you could sky dive at this altitude). When we get there it is snowing and so cold you can't feel your feet after 5 minutes. From here, we begin our 6-hour bike ride, where we will eventually drop to 3,600 ft. The beginning of the ride, about 20 km, is on a paved road but it is a busy road and it is snowing so hard I could not even see the bike in front of me, much less a car being able to see me.

We then enter the World's Most Dangerous Road. The road is, at the widest point, 3.2 meters wide and the jungle cliffs on your left are sheer drops of 3,300 ft. The road is dirt and gravel and is often washed out by rain and landslides. Our bikes had 12 gears but we were told to put it in the highest gear and leave it there. At times we reached "tear-streaming" speeds of 80km/hr without ever pedaling.

But, as they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so enjoy and if you ever get the chance to do this, DO IT!

I love this picture. This is what our bikes looked like on top of the van. There were 13 riders on our trip including two guides.

Before you take off on the road you must toast to the god Pachi Mama for a safe travel. We also poured the 95% proof alcohol on our bikes. This is me making my sacrifice.

Dad drinking the stuff. If I had known how cold I was about to be I would have drank more! By the way, can you see Wyatt in the window of the van and Jordan taking pictures? Yes, my children were with us! They rode in the support van down THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS ROAD! I was actually more nervous about them in the van than us on a bike. Especially when I saw how narrow the road was. There were times when a wheel would actually go off the road! Please do not call CPS on me.

When we got to the WMDR we received a few words of advice before heading DOWN. You will never believe what side of the road we HAD to ride on? The LEFT. The side of the 3,300 ft. drops. Bolivian Law says that we had to give way to anything bigger than us, meaning cars get the side of the mountain and we get to fall off the side of the mountain.

Dad on his bike. I know the road looks wide but trust me it is not, this picture is right at the beginning.

This gives you an idea of how cloudy it was at the top.

The one and only guard rail on the whole road.

Proof of why the road got its nickname.

Postcard corner.

A look down.

It was a little disturbing to see these monuments to those who have passed all along the road.

We stopped halfway down to have a sack lunch and enjoy the views.

Dad and I. We literally could not see the bottom.

As we dropped down into the valley the clouds cleared. It was so beautiful.

Our crew. We ended our ride at Yolosa, 3,600 ft. We stayed the night at La Senda Verde Animal Refugee. If you have not read that story please scroll down and check it out.

La Senda Verde

At 3,600 ft. in Bolivia, near the bottom of the Andes, and near the village of Yolosa, is La Senda Verde, an animal refugee. This is where we ended our bike ride (see earlier post). It was snowing at the top of the mountain, where we started our ride, and as you can see, it was beautiful at this latitude. We were the only ones in our group who stayed the night, and I am so glad we did. Spending time here will definitely be a highlight of this trip.



A little background:

A husband and wife had this land and used it as a vacation spot for their family. A friend had a monkey that they had rescued from somewhere and needed someplace for it to heal and be safe. The owners of La Senda took the monkey to this land and that is how they started. Word got out and now they work with several agencies that help animals in need. They mostly come from illegal trade or from people who thought it would be cool to keep a wild animal as a "pet".

Check out their website: http://www.sendaverde.com/





The bridge that takes you over to the refugee.





Jordan with Nina, a spider monkey. There is no doubt in my mind that one day Jordan will return here or to another refugee to work with animals. We had to pull her away when it was time to go. One time I was walking down the path and came around the corner and there was Jordan curled up in the corner with a monkey. Another time I look out the "tent" and Jordan was walking down the path holding hands with a monkey.



Wyatt is much more a bird man. He liked the monkeys but he LOVES birds. Never knew. This was his favorite, Willy. Willy was a "House Bird." They clipped his wings too close and he will never fly again. I just can't imagine. Birds should fly.

Wyatt with a spider monkey. They are so loving. But the workers here really would rather see them in the wild. There are reasons with each animal why they can not be re-released.

The Spectacle Black Bear is the only bear native to Bolivia and is endangered. La Senda Verde has managed to rescue one. Here we are feeding it peanuts, her favorite snack. I know you see a fence but believe me she has an awesome "cage". REALLY big, like half and acre big. She even has a natural river running through it and a mountain. They hide her food through out the area so she can forge. Much better than someone's backyard where she was chained up.

They lure her away with peanuts while another volunteer cleans her food area and hide food. She actually eats porridge for breakfast.

So we were sitting on the balcony of our treehouse when a parrot flew into the tree right next to us. So we gave it a cracker. Well next thing we know there are six of them and now they are on the treehouse, inches from us, and wanting more crackers! We finally have to go in and they start pecking at the screens on the windows. TOO FUNNY - ATTACK OF THE PARROTS !

This was our amazing TREE HOUSE. It was so much fun. It had no beds, and after riding all day I could have used one, but sleeping up in the trees in the jungle was awesome. I was actually getting dressed in the morning, and you know how you know someone is watching you? I looked out the window and there was a monkey looking in!

This is how you had to get to the treehouse. This long bridge that only one person could be on at a time. Whenever someone was coming across the bridge the whole treehouse would shake.

This monkey was funny. She loved to have you blow in her mouth. Unfortunatly she also loves to kiss. She and I had a moment!

Jordan spent hours here playing with the monkeys. They just come and go pretty much on their own. The volunteers play with them and so we joined in the fun. Jordan and I both have monkeys on our laps. The water bottle next to me was a great toy. They all wanted it. They are like children, when one has something the others want it.

Wyatt and monkeys. His Yankee hat was also a hit with the monkeys. At one point a spider monkey had it on his head. I have a picture somewhere will post it when I find it. We later found Wyatt's hat down by the river.

This truly was an amazing experience and already when my kids see birds or animals in cages they talk about La Senda Verde. I am so proud that they are taking things from this trip and will better their community with the things they are learning!

Sunday

Mom and Dad go to Cochabamaba International Church on Sundays. It was really nice. They speak mostly English during the service and the music is in English. They have someone translating the whole time for the native speakers, and they use headphones. I was so surprised to see how full the church was. Right now they are using a local school until while they build their church. Their regular pastor was on vacation in the States, so they had a mission team from California there today. Sermon was on Faith and I really enjoyed it. It was also great to see all the people worshiping and to be in God's house.

After church, it is common to go to lunch. So dad took us to one of his favorite restaurants. It was VERY nice. We don't know the name but they call it the parrot restaurant because it has birds and monkeys there. I have never been a real fan of keeping animals in cages but since our trip to the animal refugee here, I have an even greater dislike for it. But the food was wonderful and the grounds are just beautiful. Wyatt and I split a white fish called Surubi which was great. They serve your main dish but all they sides are served family style. We had rice, bread, and a dish of tomatoes, heart of palm, and avocado.

Market

On Saturday mornings, they close a street right here by Mom and Dad's apartment for a farmer's market. This is where everyone gets their meat, veggies, fruit, etc. for the week. It is pretty amazing. Some of the most beautiful fruits and veggies I have ever seen. It was a little weird to see meat just sitting out without refrigeration but I guess it works. What is wonderful down here is the cheese! Too bad I have not been able to find any wine, YET!

Yes, the flowers are real and they cost about 5 bucks. Unbelievable. There is not much I love more than fresh flowers.

Meat just out with no ice or anything. They just cut whatever you want. What would the FDA say about this?

Jana, this picture is for you. Cotton Candy all over the world. I "tasted" the kids and it was really good.

No shopping carts, so you hire these kids to push a wheel barrel around with your stuff in it. They were everywhere and they would just follow you, stop when you did, and wait for you to shop. You can see the flowers mom bought in this one.

An example of all the produce. Most of the women wear their head wrapped, a hat, and an apron.

These taste as good as they look. They let you taste everything here. From the cheese to fruit. I wanted some oranges and the lady would cut one open and give me a slice of all these different oranges. There were bags of rasins, nuts, etc. and you could just taste away.

Pet Stores

So, there are no pet stores here. What happens is EVERY Sunday morning if you have a pet to sell, whether you are a breeder with papers or just have puppies, you set up a "booth" by the stadium. So Mom and Dad, before church, Sunday walk down and look at all the animals. Surprising, these animals look very well cared for. Groomed with full bellies. There was every type of pet just on the street. Everything from fish, to hamsters, to birds, to cats and dogs.

On the note of animals, they are very well cared for here. Even "street" dogs are well cared for. And what is crazy is even with the CRAZY driving here I have not seen one animal hit and there are dogs everywhere. I do not know how they keep from getting hit but when I want to cross the street I just follow the dogs!

Visit to Milton - World Vision

This is going to be going to be one of my longest posts, but it is probably the most important story of our adventure. So bare with me as I tell this story.


Last spring, Wyatt was baptised. As a special gift, Bill "adopted" a child, through World Vision, in Wyatt's name. Since Mom and Dad were in Bolivia, he choose a child from there. It turns out the child is actually from a village not far from Cochabamba, where Mom and Dad are. When we were making plans for this trip, we thought it would be an amazing experience for us to visit him.


So our visit was yesterday, July 22nd, and it was incredible. We wanted to take the family gifts, so before the visit we went to the market.





Here Jordan and Mom are buying grains, sugar, flour, etc. As you can see in this picture, you have to buy it by the kilo. It does not come pre-packaged. We had also gone with Bill at home and bought the kids American candy, coloring books, cars, dolls, stuffed animals, soccer ball, etc.



So yesterday, two trucks picked us up at 8:30 in the morning. The Director of World Vision- Turaque, the village where Milton lives, and a translator drove Wyatt and I in one truck and the office manager and the agricultural director drove mom and Jordan in the other truck.

After an hour drive, we arrive at the ADP (World Vision) office. Very nice but bare minimum. They were all waiting for us and served us breakfast of bread and cheese made by the village. We were going to have a long day and they wanted to make sure we were fed. They introduced us to everyone who worked there including the education director, the nutritionist, and the chaplain. All very nice and so welcoming. They kept saying how grateful they were for our visit, when really it was we who were honored. We were given ADP or PDA hats to wear to identify us as World Vision people. You will see us wearing them in the pictures.


Here we are sharing cheese and bread. They explained that they hired women in the village to make the bread and cheese, and then they would deliver it to the schools and each child would receive a roll for breakfast. I explained to Jordan and Wyatt that the children did not have choice of cereal or pancakes, etc. like they do. Just one roll, every morning.

After our "meal" we then traveled to one of their "projects". They wanted to show us where some of our donation monies were going. Another 20 minutes away, on a rough dirt road, they were very proud to show off a village of 34 homes. Each home had a greenhouse and a reservoir that World Vision had helped them build. The reservoir helped supply water during the dry seasons for their crops and animals and the greenhouses helped feed their families. These "simple" additions to the village make life possible for these families. It was great to see how proud they were of these accomplishments and I was so grateful to have been a very small help.

Wyatt in one of the greenhouses where they grow celery, strawberries, tomatoes, etc. to help feed their families. Other harder plants such as barley and potatoes were grown in the fields.

One of the 34 reservoirs that literally supplies life to this village. The reservoirs are built to collect rain water during the rainy season and to last through their dry season, which is now.

A view out the truck window gives a perspective of how dry and desolate the landscape is.

Another "project" of world vision is to supply schools and pre-schools to the villages. We were honored to stop by one of the pre-schools on our way to Milton's house. It was crazy to see the conditions these children were learning in. My job is to make sure the conditions of Sierra Vista KDO is up to and above state codes so to see these children with dirty faces and dirt floors, no windows and no heat was crazy to me. Yet they were happy and learning and so sweet. It is such a big deal for World Vision to offer such a facility and I can not express how grateful I am that they do. Pre-school is so important and they are doing a wonderful job with what they have.

The children were making these cute little ducks when we got there. You can see by the walls that they are teaching. The teacher was very proud of her students and showed off scrapbooks, YES, a type of scrapbook that she was doing on each child keeping track of their work. What a saint. One of the mother's of the children had prepared us a traditional drink made of corn. It was very sweet but we knew what an honor that was so we drank.

It was very hard for me to leave the school. I could have stayed there all day playing with these kids. I love my job working with kids and these children.... well I truly can not explain how they touched my heart.

We then were on our way to Milton's house. We were told that we had to go on another road because the one we were on was too dangerous. We drive for another hour on the worst "road" I have ever been on. I would not even call it a road. We are told that Milton's family even poorer then the families we have seen so far. I can not even imagine this, as we have seen poor already. We are also told that Milton walks this "road" to school everyday, taking him 1-2 hours.

Here is the first view we get of Milton's house. Where the dark shadow is, is actually a little valley with a tiny creek where the family gets their water. I mean a tiny trickle of water.

We are introduced to the family and then taken into their house because the wind is blowing like crazy (but we are told it is actually a very warm day). The house is actually a two room (but you have to go outside to get to the other room) adobe home. The father made the home out of mud and straw bricks, that he made. The roof is made of branches and the doors are just pieces of wood. The room we are taken to is actually the bedroom. It is just big enough for two full beds. Five people live in this room. There is no dresser, the clothes are hanging on rope from the ceiling. If you look behind Wyatt and Milton, you will see potatoes piled in the corner to keep dry. I am sitting on the other bed, that is how close they are together.

Here Wyatt and Milton are getting to know each other. Milton speaks a traditional language of
Quechua'. The Chaplin for World Vision translates to Spanish to our translator and then she translates to English, making communication very difficult but we managed. Milton was very shy at first. I can only imagine how strange this all must have been.

Here we are still in the bedroom handing out the gifts we brought. The two girls are Milton's sisters. We brought gifts for them as well. The doll the little one is holding speaks in Spanish and English, she did not let it go of the doll the whole time we were there. Other than a stuffed car I saw on the bed, the toys we brought were the only ones I saw in the tiny room.

After a bit, the mother brought us out a bowl of food. It was potatoes, pasta, onion, tomato, and the white is cheese. It was good but hard to eat knowing what a great "expense" to the family it was to feed us. We ate, as to not insult, and I was very humbled by her hospitality.

Running the width of the home, on the outside, is this bench. She had it covered in blankets that were woven by her, with wool she made from her sheep. This is where we sat to eat. She also served us a traditional drink made from barley. It was sweet and hot and we were told it was a very religious drink.

When mom and I brought our bowls to the other room of the house, we found the kitchen. As you can see, mom is warming herself by the "stove". There is no table, no sink, no refrigerator. In fact, we later discussed that there was not even an outhouse.

This is the other side of the kitchen. You can see the remains of their preparing our lunch.

After lunch we walked up the hill to their field. Here they are demonstrating how they get the barley off the stalk. The "broom" she is brushing the barley with is homemade along with many of the tools he uses. The field is plowed with their cow sometimes but most of the time by him with her guiding it. These people work so hard to try and feed their family. It is so humbling. They keep a lot of the barley as food for themselves and their sheep and then sell the rest to buy other supplies. They also have a potato field that helps supply them with food. Later the mother gave mom three bags of potatos. We hated to take it, knowing it would feed them for weeks, but did not want to seem rude.

Jordan and Wyatt are showing the kids how to do a puzzle. Milton is loving one the suckers we gave him. His little sister ate candy and cookies the whole time we were there. Our World Vision "guides" explained how sugar is a great expense and that the parents can not afford it for the children. I hope she did not have a tummy ache after we left. We also brought the kids jacks and that was fun watching Wyatt teach them how to play.

Milton then took great pride in showing off his sheep. If you go back up to the picture of the house you see a rounded rock wall attached to the house, this is the sheep pen. This picture looks dirty because it was that windy-dirty.

Here is all of us: Milton's mother, father, older sister, me, Jordan, Wyatt, Milton, his younger sister, and mom. At one point mom had the girls outside and their poor checks were so dry, mom pulled out lotion from her purse and was putting lotion on them. They loved it. Of course, mom gave them the lotion.

The little sister was so cute. She was not shy and loved it when mom or Jordan would tickle her.

Wyatt and Milton saying goodbye. I kept telling Wyatt it was time to go and he did not want to leave. When they finally said goodbye, Milton's eyes welled up. There was not a dry eye there. Every one's heart was touched, and I pray that these children remember each other, and that all their lives are changed. I know I am.

A note about World Vision: I have always been leery about sending money to organizations. You know, wondering how much money really goes to the children and if they really are helping. I can not say enough good things about World Vision. Our experience could not have been better and there is no doubt in my mind that the money we send is changing lives. If you ever feel a calling to donate to an organization, I strongly recommend you look into World Vision. You could see the love in the the workers eyes for these families and I have now personally seen the good they are doing.