Costa Rica

Don:

Next up was Lexi’s hideout with a family in Costa Rica. Reading Psalms 28, I felt God telling us to wait and he would deliver the right family into our hands. Driving toward the jungle town of Sarapiqui, the Lord sent a rainbow to confirm his guidance.

The road was treacherous, it was raining, and we had a wimpy map. We would come to an intersection and pray about which way to go. The Bambu Hotel in Sarapiqui was our goal. Three hours drive into the night, we passed through Sarapiqui without realizing it. Less than a kilometer later, the road was blocked by a flood. We turned around, confused and sad, and drove back the way we’d come.

In a cluster of buildings, Grady spotted a sign: Bambu Hotel. We had missed Sarapiqui town and the hotel sign, so God turned us around. The next morning there was no flood, no blocked road.

At the Bambu we met Diego before checking in. He was a nature freak and had us exploring poison dart frogs into the night. I still don’t know exactly who Diego was, the nephew of the manager or something like that. He took us under his wing with his excellent English and became Lexi’s love interest in the book. Go, Diego, go!

A boat ride up the river and we met a potential family, but something didn’t feel right. We pressed up the swollen river and the second family provided the ideal hideout.

Grady:

Maria was hospitable from the moment we met her, making us coffee and delicious banana bread, of which I had three pieces. She offered a greeting with a kiss and was perfect. Her husband and his six brothers owned the surrounding land which made the story better considering the brothers would offer protection.

We thanked God he had delivered to us the right family as we waited on Him.

Darien Gap

Don:

We arrived in Panama City and rented a 4x SUV for the drive south toward the infamous Darien Gap. It was dark and dangerous on the roads so we stopped in a small village about half way to Yaviza. We found a church and worshiped with them, then the pastor took us to a hostel. The room was cheap (I think around $5 p/p), but about as primitive as we would hope to go.

The next day we made it to where the road that runs all the way down from Alaska ends in Yaviza. The police found us wandering in the town and asked us to go the headquarters to register. They hopped in the back of our car and we drove to the riverside station.

After a significant delay, while they sent for the local school teacher who spoke English, we told them about our research for the book and asked if we could park our car in the compound for protection while we went on by boat. Permission granted, along with stern warnings, we found a log canoe with a lawnmower engine connected to a long shaft and a prop on the end.

In El Real we stayed for two nights and, once again, met just the right people for characters in the book. One man, Isaac, made the 50 mile trip from El Real into Columbia through the dangerous drug lord infested Darien Gap at least seven times. He was a great help with information which meant we could write authoritatively about the gap and not have to go through it ourselves.

We drove back up to Panama City and flew to Guayaquil, Ecuador. From there, we rode a bus for 31 hours to Lima, Peru. The landscapes were diverse and fit well into the growing storyline of our project.

El Real, where they take parties seriously

Indian Children in El Real, Panama


El Real, where they take parties seriously

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