04/12/07.
It seemed like today was going to be a pretty uneventful day with me continuing to work on plumbing issues around the mission. We had a problem with a pesky dog that has constantly gotten into the garbage meant for the worms, this time he had uncovered Jackson. The boys, Dylan, Austin, and Josiah had a mission to get rid of him once and for all. They had gone so far as throwing knives at him.
We had just all showered and eaten supper and were preparing to crank up the generator
to watch a movie with Greg and Ben. Ben was commenting on how orange the sky was.
It was almost 7pm so the sun had already been down for 30 minutes. We went to the side
of the property to see several ridges engulfed in fire. The fire was separating us from our
other mission in Mantasano. Sarah and Melanie were returning from Zacapa and would
have to pass through there. They were already 2 hours late. We called the mission in
Mantasano and were told the girls had made it that far and would spend the night there.
Armed with shovels and hoes Dylan, Austin, Ben, Greg, William, and I took off down
the mountain road. We could see villagers silhouettes against a fiery backdrop as the
yelled back and forth to each other and used there machetes and garden hoes to make a fire break. We had to climb a steep ridge to get above the fire and prevent it from crossing to the other side. We grabbed at briars and weeds to help us up and literally had to use our hands to almost crawl up the steep embankment. We all would find ourselves sliding unintentionally down the mountain and into already burnt underbrush before the night would be over. At the top of the ridge was a man and what appeared to be his sons using machetes and sticks to cut the tall grass and swat at the burning fire. I stumbled on a mound of dirt and noticed crosses and assorted relics on top of mounds and realized we were in their family burial ground. We joined in chopping away underbrush and removing pine needles from the top of the ridge trail to keep the fire from jumping down the other side. Once that seemed contained, Ben and I would move further down the ridge where the men were hooting and hollering as the flames quickly approached the ridge they were trying to hold. Dylan and Josiah’s job would be to make sure nothing flared back up where we had already been. The wind shifted and we now had a breach were the fire had crossed the fire break and was heading toward the Pinalito mission. We needed to get down in the valley to prevent the fire from heading up the other side of the mountain. While perched above the fire we would take shovels full of dirt and throw it on the fire below while attempting to maintain our balance. Sometimes that didn’t work out very well and you would see one of us slide down toward the fire before we regained footing or had someone grab us. It was now about 4 hours into the fight and Koos had arrived from Mantasano with shovel in hand. You have to understand Koos. He is Dutch but has lived in the US most of his life and is 23 years old. He is an avid runner and is very intelligent, but can be a bit annoying and a know it all. He was now lecturing Josiah on not leaving his shovel behind and the technique of using the point of the shovel to lower you down the mountain. At this time Ben and I were sitting in the soot trying to catch our breath and chuckling over the one-sided reprimand. There was a blaze about 100 yards below and to the right of us. Ben and I had decided to go up to the ridge, cut across and search for a better descent route. Koos on the other hand decided to head straight down and cut across at the bottom using the technique he had just explained to Josiah. Koos walked to the ledge with shovel in hand and a head light on bright. He took one more step as Ben and I watched in amazement as he tumbled out of sight. He appeared to be caught in the spin cycle of a wash machine, but being spun vertically with his headlight constantly appearing than disappearing as he continued into the abyss. When he stopped he had covered nearly 100 feet in a matter of seconds. The natives, as well as us are laughing hysterically. Five minutes had passed when a bright light now appears climbing over the ledge. It was Koos coming back to find the shovel he had lost with his first misstep. When I questioned him about his short cut, his response in a high squeaky voice was FAST!!!! The last hotspot was only accessible by us sliding on our rears. This was a two tear process, sliding down about 30 feet before landing on a short 2 foot ledge than another slide of the last 30 foot with a four foot vertical drop to a hard clay road to finish the descent. Josiah and Dylan were the first down sliding on there backs before hitting the 4 foot drop and abruptly landing with a thud on the road. They were followed by Austin, who found the angle too steep and did a front flip and was caught by his older brother, Dylan, who suffered a black eye in the ordeal. Ben had taken his shovel across his lap and stood perched on the 2 foot ledge facing downhill as I began my slide with my shovel across my lap. I couldn’t find any traction and definitely had too much speed as I slid between Ben’s legs and nearly took him down the remaining slope in Jamaican bobsled form. This constant game of chess trying to outmaneuver the flames and smoke went on for close to 5 hours. Beat, exhausted, covered with soot and smelling of smoke we were never so happy to feel warm water and hold a bar of soap in our hands as we were tonight. I was complaining about an uneventful day and not getting in a hike-----I don’t think I’ll complain about that for awhile!!!!! I guess the boys won’t complain either, I’m finishing this up the next morning and it is now 11:30am and they are all still fast asleep. I’m proud of them—they did well. They are some tired puppies and I think I’ll let them sleep as long as they want this morning.
It seemed like today was going to be a pretty uneventful day with me continuing to work on plumbing issues around the mission. We had a problem with a pesky dog that has constantly gotten into the garbage meant for the worms, this time he had uncovered Jackson. The boys, Dylan, Austin, and Josiah had a mission to get rid of him once and for all. They had gone so far as throwing knives at him.
We had just all showered and eaten supper and were preparing to crank up the generator
to watch a movie with Greg and Ben. Ben was commenting on how orange the sky was.
It was almost 7pm so the sun had already been down for 30 minutes. We went to the side
of the property to see several ridges engulfed in fire. The fire was separating us from our
other mission in Mantasano. Sarah and Melanie were returning from Zacapa and would
have to pass through there. They were already 2 hours late. We called the mission in
Mantasano and were told the girls had made it that far and would spend the night there.
Armed with shovels and hoes Dylan, Austin, Ben, Greg, William, and I took off down
the mountain road. We could see villagers silhouettes against a fiery backdrop as the
yelled back and forth to each other and used there machetes and garden hoes to make a fire break. We had to climb a steep ridge to get above the fire and prevent it from crossing to the other side. We grabbed at briars and weeds to help us up and literally had to use our hands to almost crawl up the steep embankment. We all would find ourselves sliding unintentionally down the mountain and into already burnt underbrush before the night would be over. At the top of the ridge was a man and what appeared to be his sons using machetes and sticks to cut the tall grass and swat at the burning fire. I stumbled on a mound of dirt and noticed crosses and assorted relics on top of mounds and realized we were in their family burial ground. We joined in chopping away underbrush and removing pine needles from the top of the ridge trail to keep the fire from jumping down the other side. Once that seemed contained, Ben and I would move further down the ridge where the men were hooting and hollering as the flames quickly approached the ridge they were trying to hold. Dylan and Josiah’s job would be to make sure nothing flared back up where we had already been. The wind shifted and we now had a breach were the fire had crossed the fire break and was heading toward the Pinalito mission. We needed to get down in the valley to prevent the fire from heading up the other side of the mountain. While perched above the fire we would take shovels full of dirt and throw it on the fire below while attempting to maintain our balance. Sometimes that didn’t work out very well and you would see one of us slide down toward the fire before we regained footing or had someone grab us. It was now about 4 hours into the fight and Koos had arrived from Mantasano with shovel in hand. You have to understand Koos. He is Dutch but has lived in the US most of his life and is 23 years old. He is an avid runner and is very intelligent, but can be a bit annoying and a know it all. He was now lecturing Josiah on not leaving his shovel behind and the technique of using the point of the shovel to lower you down the mountain. At this time Ben and I were sitting in the soot trying to catch our breath and chuckling over the one-sided reprimand. There was a blaze about 100 yards below and to the right of us. Ben and I had decided to go up to the ridge, cut across and search for a better descent route. Koos on the other hand decided to head straight down and cut across at the bottom using the technique he had just explained to Josiah. Koos walked to the ledge with shovel in hand and a head light on bright. He took one more step as Ben and I watched in amazement as he tumbled out of sight. He appeared to be caught in the spin cycle of a wash machine, but being spun vertically with his headlight constantly appearing than disappearing as he continued into the abyss. When he stopped he had covered nearly 100 feet in a matter of seconds. The natives, as well as us are laughing hysterically. Five minutes had passed when a bright light now appears climbing over the ledge. It was Koos coming back to find the shovel he had lost with his first misstep. When I questioned him about his short cut, his response in a high squeaky voice was FAST!!!! The last hotspot was only accessible by us sliding on our rears. This was a two tear process, sliding down about 30 feet before landing on a short 2 foot ledge than another slide of the last 30 foot with a four foot vertical drop to a hard clay road to finish the descent. Josiah and Dylan were the first down sliding on there backs before hitting the 4 foot drop and abruptly landing with a thud on the road. They were followed by Austin, who found the angle too steep and did a front flip and was caught by his older brother, Dylan, who suffered a black eye in the ordeal. Ben had taken his shovel across his lap and stood perched on the 2 foot ledge facing downhill as I began my slide with my shovel across my lap. I couldn’t find any traction and definitely had too much speed as I slid between Ben’s legs and nearly took him down the remaining slope in Jamaican bobsled form. This constant game of chess trying to outmaneuver the flames and smoke went on for close to 5 hours. Beat, exhausted, covered with soot and smelling of smoke we were never so happy to feel warm water and hold a bar of soap in our hands as we were tonight. I was complaining about an uneventful day and not getting in a hike-----I don’t think I’ll complain about that for awhile!!!!! I guess the boys won’t complain either, I’m finishing this up the next morning and it is now 11:30am and they are all still fast asleep. I’m proud of them—they did well. They are some tired puppies and I think I’ll let them sleep as long as they want this morning.
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