Bolivia …. here we come!

Our departure day would be the busiest travel day of the year!  We made it through Charlotte to Orlando without issue. We were then met with 2 delays from Orlando to Miami which caused us to miss our flight to Bolivia. 

Our flight from Orlando to Miami was quick but then we had to wait to taxi to the gate causing further delay.

Imagine the running through the airport scene in Home Alone 2…. that was us desperately trying to catch our flight to Bolivia. It was literally a ghost town at the Boliviana de Aviación   check in. At that point we returned to American Airlines and requested assistance - they were able to comp us a hotel room, travel to  and from hotel and a $24 food voucher. Additionally they gave us certified letter explaining they’re delays caused us to miss out flight.  We tried unsuccessfully to reach   

Boliviana de Aviación over the phone so we departed the airport for our hotel with plans to rebook in person. We arrived at our hotel after 12 am. There was already a long line of displaced travelers waiting for rooms. By the grace of God we secured the last two rooms. There were many unhappy travelers behind us who had to look elsewhere for a room. By the time we regrouped and showered we made it to bed at 2 am for a cat nap. We were up at 6:15 am with plans to return to the airport as early as possible. Luckily 

Boliviana de Aviación got us on the 12 pm flight with no additional fees or baggage fees. 

We got checked in and through TSA without issue and had 2 + hours to wait. We cashed in our food vouchers at the only restaurant - a Pizza bistro - that would take them. Pizza is good any time of day!

Here we are boarding the plane - Boliviana still requires you to wear a mask!

The plane was a spacious and not full so we were able to spread out! The plane was an older model and did not have tvs for each seat - we were filled with nostalgia looking at the retro cabin computer screens.

Originally our plane was scheduled to land in Santa Cruz where we would get on a puddle jumper over to Cochabamba. We were pleasantly surprised when the plane was rerouted to Cochabamba allowing us to get to the guest house and settled a lot earlier than originally planned. I had prayed that God would redeem our time. When we landed we learned that the Santa Cruz airport was shut down due to protestors protesting the arrest of Bolivian Governor Luis Camacho. Not only did God redeem our time he kept us safe from the protests.

Jonathan and Goretty met us at the airport. Jonathan and David went to get us supper while the rest of us went to the Guest House  and unpacked & sorted our materials. 

After dinner we stuffed the stockings and prepped the craft materials we went to bed! 

Adjusting to the high altitude is no joke!