THE TRAVEL ADVENTURE
SATURDAY NIGHT, JULY 26, 2008.
   Getting there is always an adventure.  This year is no exception.
   Over the years, we have come to expect some adventure, some excitement, and a few glitches whenever we agree to try to be God’s hands
and feet in some poor part of our world.  Every time we go, something unexpected occurs.
   This year, we were only going to travel to Ecuador, which is only one country South of Colombia in the upper part of South America, so…. how
difficult can that be?
  1. When do we leave?  Well, this time, our flight was on Avianca Airlines out of Miami.  This Colombian-based airline was the least expensive carrier available for
    our team when we were buying tickets a few months ago.  The problem?  Well, we were to depart MIA at 7:30 AM, and, as is true in all international flights, we
    were to be there at least 2 hours before the flight.  So we had 2 choices:  leave New Smyrna Beach just after midnight and drive the 4.5 hours to Miami, or go the
    evening before the flight and stay the night in Miami.  Since many of us are not Spring chickens any more, we took the stay-the-night-in-Miami route, departing on
    Friday at noon.
  2. What could possibly happen just going to Miami?   How about a busy Interstate 95, reaching Miami at the onset of Friday night rush hour, making a wrong exit
    and heading back across town…the wrong direction, and having the hotel desk clerk say, “I don’t see anything under that name”?  Well, they DID find our
    reservation, and the hotel shuttle van only had to make 2 trips to accommodate the 13 of us and our 26 checked bags and 13 carry-ons at 5 AM today.
  3. Checking in at MIA?  The infamous Yellow Shirts worked again.  They see our group coming since we are all wearing our Yellow Shirts, so an airline rep takes us
    around the line and to the front, where Avianca’s Carolina Cruz dutifully goes through all of our passports, issues all the luggage tags, and gives us the special
    labels for the carry-ons.  Then it’s on to the annoying security line, and 2 of us had to stand in that silly 360-degree X-ray thing.  We feel so naked....
  4. The flights?  MIA to Bogota, Colombia was uneventful, but we then had a 6-hour and 42 minute layover, awaiting our departure to Quito.  This was our first time
    in Bogota International, and let’s just say it’s not a hotbed of entertainment and tourist activity, especially for that long…
  5. Did we mention Martin?  Unfortunately, Martin’s family had undergone a GI bug 3 or 4 days ago, and – you guessed it – he was exposed then.  It hit him en route
    to Colombia, and he spent the entire 6 hours and 42 minute Bogota layover either on the floor with an appropriated airline blanket or in the bathroom.  The rest of
    us spent the time trying not to touch him and hoping that this North American virus wouldn’t be a widespread menace for the team this week in South America.
  6. Speaking of weak…..well, he certainly was by the time we got onto our flight to Ecuador, passed by some incredible Andes snow-covered peaks, and the pilots
    executed that amazing descent between the mountains and into Quito.
  7. We spotted our new friend and Missionary Ventures missionary, Don Wolfram, just beyond the Customs desks waving to us, and we and all that luggage – about
    1500 pounds of it – were loaded onto the team bus and headed for our Quito community house, with Martin lying in the back.  Within a few minutes, using our
    bag-inventory-lists that Brenda carried in her “important-stuff” bag, we pulled out the bags with our emergency drug and IV supplies, climb ed the 3 flights of stairs
    (which, up here at 9000 feet, is quite a chore), and Max had Martin hooked up to some IV saline.  We did close that room’s door while she put some Phenergan
    into his gluteal muscle.  He had no vomiting the rest of the night!
  8. What’s next?  Sunday morning, we are to leave Quito about 8 AM after re-loading our bus, and we are to travel down through the mountainous center of this
    country for a few hours, making our way toward Centro Yuu.  Don promises us a few interesting sights and stops along the way, and we look forward to our
    thatched-roof hotel on the Pastaza River on Sunday evening.  Will we really need the mosquito netting?
   We’re on our way….
Ahhh....those long flights.
Layover in the Bogota airport..
So this is Ecuador....above the clouds.
Some IV fluids for Martin, and it's only our first night here!