And they rested.....

Yesiree.....there is reason for rest on that seventh day! Our two weeks of travel and trekking with Barb, Cammeo, Scott and Kristy has us rested and mellow. Did some of you think you would ever catch us in rocking chairs?

We are on Isla del Sol, where we hiked and stayed one night in a charming little spot.

Scott trying to ditch me in some of the ruins on Isla del Sol. The island, according to Incan legend, is where the first Incas arrived from the sun and rose from the lake. It is therefore an island full of spiritual significance to this day.

Copacabana, Bolivia....the focus of our Border Mission in Bolivia. We have four church communities in the area in which we are training "Promotores de Buena Salud", community healthcare workers whose focus is on education and prevention. We discovered some new places to hike and explore this time. The hill you see on the left is where we will be perched in the next photo.

Scott, Bev, Scott and Kristy from the top of the Copacabana Cerro post-sunset.

Part of the Cordillera Real as seen from Isla del Sol on Lake Titicaca out of Copacabana. We had conversely just seen great views of the lake while trekking up Illampu, which is on the far left.

And we looked back to Lake Titicaca from here!
This was our base camp while trekking up Illampu , about 4000 feet above Sorata, which is hidden far below the clouds. We then climbed another 2000-2500 to reach our destination, Laguna Glacier on Illampu. Quite a fancy new dining tent....Scott is trying to figure out how we can get one for Alaska and just drive the car in to camp!

Scott and Kristy at Laguna Glacier as we basked in the sun and listened to the crevasses expand and avalanches cut loose in the distance. When we saw the number of MUCH younger trekkers that were unable to reach the glacier, we appreciated the pace of our guides and our health.

Ricardo, our very experienced guide, who lives on a small farm part way up Illampu. He is a gentle spirit with a great sense of humor. He has trekked and climbed throughout Bolivia and South America....including the highest peaks. He is the father of three and has many dreams for their education and future. He is desperately trying to make those dreams come true by working 6 days a week in a new tin mine....hard, dangerous work.

Andy's college roommate, Ben, has been fun to reconnect with in La Paz. He works as a guide, so he not only helped us put together the trek, but came along as our cook. What a patient guy with us seniors,

"Los Silverados"!

Thanks, Ben!

Some of our hiking buddies along the way. The small hillside communities consist of subsistance farmers and hopeful miners. Each home has their sheep, chickens, alpacas, pigs, crops, and kids!

Even though you can't see our faces, just know we were very proud and happy to have made it to the Laguna Glacier. Gorgeous views, good weather, yummy lunch, and safe return back to base camp! We recommend trekking in the Cordillera Real of Bolivia and hope to do more before we return to the states.

Exploring Bolivia

Scott and the girls! Bev, Scott, Barb and Cammeo in Sucre exploring a new part of Bolivia. Highly recommended by all!











We took a 14 km. day hike in the mountains outside of Sucre. These pictographs are 20,000 years old. It was not hard to imagine the pre-Incan culture which lived and traveled through these mountains. We saw the caves where they rested, streams where they drank as they ran to the next village carrying messages written on paper-thin bark.















The interesting jagged rock formations and huge valleys still inhabited by villagers and their sheep.










Our Iowa girl trying out her balance and skill! Cammeo had not done much hiking before, but did awesome.

















Barb and Bev on a section of the Inca trail....there are thousands and thousands of miles of Inca trail to be hiked on in both Peru and Bolivia.


Hint for anyone coming to hike any sections of the trail: stair step training before you come!












Yes, Scott is leaving his mark of balancing rocks throughout Peru and Bolivia. I had illusions of grandeur .....a giant on top of Cerro Rico of Potosi?









Close....this is the real Cerro Rico looming over Potosi. Eight million indigenous lost their lives mining this mountain for the Spanish. Average life span is still just 10-15 years after they begin their mining career here because of silicosis which destroys their lungs.










Barb at St. Teresa Convent with cloistered nuns. Their fund raiser: you ring a little bell, put money on this revolving tray and door, and place your order for candied fruit.














And it magically appears! We decided it was very sweet and sticky, but a unique experience. We did manage to get the nun providing our fruit to speak....Barb got a response to her question regarding how many nuns lived there.

"Hay muchas."

And he´s off! Don´t know if he will get very far, but someone had fun making it.

March Team

Meet our March Mission Team.....minus Kade, who unfortunately was sick at the time we took this photo at Chani outside of Copacabana. Jill and Dave Wagers brought their three kids Kade, Savannah and Delaney who did absolutely great. Jill is my current dentist, and we love to remind everyone that her husband Dave runs Idaho Candy Company! We were so glad that Dave´s brother Gary blue jacket in second row, was able to replace his passport and stay with us after being robbed in Puno. What would we have done without our always-smiling banker who kept our finances organized? We were also so grateful for the experience and input of John Kriz, our retired (?) dentist and Barbara King, physical therapist. Their contributions to the education of our Promotores de Buena Salud and their communities were appreciated.

Dental needs are huge here. We spent two days on Taquile Island assisting our friend Dra. Paola, who volunteers frequently in outlying communities.

We all had the opportunitiy to receive training in different areas and functioned very well as a team. Jill and John were both patient and good teachers!

You can tell lighting was not great....we had to use flashlights and headlamps. We maximized daylight hours, no late night clinics!

Dave and Jill proved that married couples can indeed work well as a team!

Not aerobics.....Barb doing one of her energizing and very helpful physical therapy instructional sessions with the Promotores de Buena Salud. Most of the people here live physically demanding lives, working hard in their fields and hauling huge loads on their backs.

Education and prevention is especially critical when working with the children. It is not uncommon to need 3 to 6 extraccions by the age of 6. We saw many mouths completely full of decayed teeth, some rotted to the gums.

Gary and Scott working on a 14 year old, applying some flouride in hopes of saving some of her remaining teeth. We left flouride with a promotore to apply monthly to certain children in need, but it is never a substitute for education and prevention.

We visited the small school in this community and were teaching toothbrushing with the use of blue tint. Healthcare and preventative care have not been part of their culture. There is interest....now we need followthrough,

In La Paz we spent a morning at the Methodist Instituto Americano, their huge Pre-K through 12th grade school of 3400 students. The Wagers family led an activity to set up penpals between Anser School in Boise and the Instituto Americano.
Good time was had by all!

Our friend Moises is the director of their bi-lingual program, and we appreciated his organizing our visit to the school. Needless to say, there was a lot of interest in these three blondies....the only in the entire school.

The three dentists...Paola, John, and Jill.

And our hope for continued education and prevention lies with these Promotores de Buena Salud!