C2C Day 2

The first day of real biking started on December 30. This morning I woke up to find my bike with streamers, a pink horn, and a bell that said "I love my bike." This was a post-birthday surprise thoughtfully arranged by Carey and Rachel. So that is how I started out my first day: driving in style.

The roads the first day were a bit muddy, the dirt looked like the red soil of Prince Edward Island, and the terrain was flat with some hills. The communities we passed through this day were were of Miskito background. The eye of the hurricane had passed through this area and so we saw snapped off trees and homes still in disrepair. We crossed the Rio Wawa by a cable barge which was a fun experience. Thankfully the motor was running so we didn't have to pull ourselves across. While waiting for the barge some women and children approached us to shake our hands, but none could really understand English or Spanish. Along the road we heard about a strike in a upcoming community and sure enough we encountered it. We were told we would have to wait 3 hours before passing through. Some of our team from Accion Medica went ahead and spoke with the protesters and we were soon peacefully passing through the road block. We biked about 65 kilometers the first day and spent the night in Nazareth Uno.

With a Miskito family prior to getting on the ferry

I think our stay in this community was perhaps the most memorable. We spend the night in a house on stilts as are all the homes in this area. Accion Medica works in this area as well. The latrine was a toilet seat with black plastic held up by four posts. The shower was a wooden platform with black plastic held up by four post and a bucket. You couldn't stand up straight because the plastic was a little short. That afternoon we washed out the mud and grim off our bikes in the river.

The surrounding communities welcomed us warmly this evening. They prepared a special meal and cultural program including several traditional dances for us. It was a very rich experience to spend time in this community and we felt very blessed by the hospitality of the people there.

Carey, Allie, and I on day one. Take note of the well decorated bike.