05
November, 2002
Well, well, well - the Well is well
Finally!!!
We finished our well! After 2 months of digging and frustrations,
we have water at the top! We had started the first dig near the
plateau and dug ~40 feet deep until we decided to stop and look
elsewhere. So we dug at the bottom of the property, and ~20 feet
later found water. As luck would have it, we also found oil -
no I mean coral where the water was...thus giving us a truly filtered
water!!
So
now the question on everyone's mind is: How do they find water
/ dig wells in your country? Answer: the old fashioned way!!
Finding
the location of the well is up to one of a few local indians that
have the 'gift' of finding water. They place a piece of metal
wire in front of the waist and walk around until it bends and
contorts. When it does that, you start digging.
With
the bulldozer? With a drill? NO. That would be TOO easy! They
dig wells by hand. It takes about three guys, one shovel, one
bucket, one rope and several weeks. One guys digs, while the others
pull the dirt / sand / rock with the bucket attached to the rope.
This process is relatively easy during the first few meters, but
gets extremely difficult as the hole gets deeper. The hole is
about 4 feet in diameter - and straight down. Once water has been
reached, they lower the cement tubes one by one and then dig a
few more feet inside the tubes until there are about 6 feet of
water. The trick then is to dig faster than the water comes in!
In our case, because of the coral (which is like stone), it took
several weeks to do those last few feet of digging.
Once
the tubes were in and the water in the well, we installed a 1
HP submersible pump and 500 feet of wiring and plumbing to pump
it up to the top. Right now, since we still do not have electricity,
so we are using a gas powered electric generator (thanks Jonathan!)
to pump up the water.
It
may sound silly...but we are so excited to have water...take NOTHING
for granted!!!!
We
have a road...or does it have us?...
It
was supposed to take 3 weeks...it actually lasted 4 months, but
we now have a road. After several weeks of cutting it out with
the bulldozer, 92 truck loads of riverbed rock, and all sorts
of challenges along the way - our road is now functional. It rises
over 150ft from the main road and is about 600 meters in length.
Trucks and 4 wheel drive vehicles have been coming up and down
now for several weeks. Regular 2 wheel cars can go up, but only
during the dry season.
Although
the road is officially 'complete', it is in fact only the beginning
of a long struggle of continuous maintenance and continuing challenges.
It is steeper than most engineers would recommend and the risks
of erosion and wash are significant. Our main problem right now
is water runoff. We had a significant rainstorm a few weeks ago
and lost several cubic meters of road in several areas! This was
not a complete surprise as we expect to have issues until we learn
where the problems are are eventually train the water to go where
we want it to go. We are doing this placing drainage and culverts
in certain strategic areas to remove the water far away from the
road. In certain areas, the drainage ditches are being cemented
with large rocks to slow the speed of the running water. The scary
thought is that in one significant rainstorm, an entire portion
of the road can be washed away.
Until
we are confident that the water drainage and erosion issues have
been well addressed and controlled, each time it rains hard (day
or night - even at 3 am!!), we go to the finca to observe the
water flow and fine tune small issues before they become significant
problems.
All
in all, this was and will have been the biggest, most challenging
and most important project that we have undertaken towards our
goal of building our own paradise!
Home
Construction Begins
Since the road has been completed and we can haul materials
up to the top, we have begun construction of the house. As of
this writing, we are just completing the foundation. It is about
1 meter underground and 1 meter wide at each post. Each post will
tied together underground by steel rods in all directions. This
is a common design in earthquake prone areas.
Once
the foundation will be complete, it should be relatively quick
assembling the structure. All the wood and posts are on the site
and have been cut to fit.
We
expect to complete the house by April 2003...we'll see and let
you know!
OUI
OUI Update
Oui
Oui is missing. After all, he did survive his first weeks with
Maya, but now that he is growing older and bigger, he decided
to have a social life and check out the other dogs in the neighborhood.
We are on the lookout for him and are asking everyone if they
have seen him. If he is found, we will, of course, let you know.
| Archived
Writings: |
| October
30, 2002 |
Gisele
and Marlene's Vacation |
| October
4, 2002 |
Building
plans are in
Snake in the yard
OUI OUI Update
Welcome Christain
New Wheels
Manuel in Miami |
| September
21, 2002 |
The
trucks are rolling in
OUI OUI Update
Where's the water? |
| September
14, 2002 |
Bridge
is finished |
| September
7, 2002 |
Jeep
birthday
A
new Arrival
A
day on the waters
|
| September
4, 2002 |
The
NONI plant |
| September
1, 2002 |
August
in a Flash |
| August
10, 2002 |
Tornadoes and Earthquakes |
| July
11, 2002 |
The
Road Begins....and ends |
| July
9, 2002 |
The
Container |
| July
1, 2002 |
We
Made It |
| June
1, 2002 |
We're
Moving! |
|
