As I'm sure I've mentioned many times before...I love the life that comes with living in a foreign country. A simple drive to the supermarket can turn into some crazy adventure. Or in this case a simple drive to some pretty cool waterfalls on a little dirt trail an hour back into the jungle.
Okay...maybe the supermarket/waterfall-jungle comparison wasn't exactly even.
Be that as it may, what started out as a relaxing day in the sun turned out to have a few interesting twists in it.
But then, doesn't it always?
A friend from church volunteers at a children's home about an hour out of the city. She called me Monday evening to ask if I was free the next day to drive the kids and a few staff members out to some waterfalls we know (I've written about them before).
Let's see...hang around the city in 40 C weather or go spend the day playing in the water? Wow...decisions are hard! That one took at least three and a half seconds to figure out.
So bright and early we all piled into my truck (twenty one of us) and headed off into the jungle.
One of the little guys (Franco) had never ridden in a truck before. He was facinated with everything. He had his nose right down in the air vents and he asked me what they were. So I reached over and turned the air conditioning full blast. Poor Franco... The look on his face was awesome though. You know...it's the little things that keep you entertained... =)
We had a great day at the falls. I had a good time schooling a group of Bolivian teenagers by showing them that old, gringo guys can jump off cliffs where Bolivian teenage guys fear to tread. And also the ladies from the home grilled some chicken that made you think you'd died and gone to heaven. So...yea...good day.
As I sat there in the sun in my Superstore foldy chair, I thought, "I really enjoy my life. Do what you will Bolivia...I'm winning!"
Huh...I should know by now...never taunt a country.
Eventually the day began to wind down and so we all piled into my truck for the ride home. Along the way we had to stop to let a spider cross the road. No kidding...we saw it from about fifty feet back. It was bigger than my hand. Probably about the size of a small dinner plate. And hairy. And it seemed to have more legs than normal.
I got out to take a picture with one of the staff member's camera. By now it was in the longer grass alongside the road, so I tapped my sandled foot near it's backside to get it moving to where I could take a better picture.
As a side note...until that moment the spider had been crawling across the road at a reasonably slow rate. There had been no indication it could move any faster than it already was. So...putting my bare foot near it's scary, hairy legs didn't seem like that big of a deal. Seriously.
So...disclaimer aside...the moment I tapped my foot, the big, scary spider jumped and went shooting off through the grass. Scared the flipping whits right out of me. I suddenly realized, "That thing could have run up my leg and bitten me on the face before I even knew what was happening!"
My respect for nature was once again renewed. Well, for sure at least until next week...
The kids wanted to catch it and sell it (which you can actually do...people put big bugs under glass and sell them to tourists). But I figured live and let live was a better philosopy.
Once we got passed the big spider, we dropped the kids off at their home and headed back into the city. Only to be stopped a few miles later by a big line of trucks. I didn't realize what was happening at first. I thought the trucks were just parked along the highway waiting to get into a grain terminal that was nearby. But then one of the ladies said, "Oh, oh...bloqueo!"
Blockade.
I've mentioned this before, but for those of you who might not know...everytime someone...anyone...is annoyed about something...anything...they block a road. It doesn't really matter why. They just dump a pile of dirt in the middle of the road and toss a few burning tires into the mix and they figure they're making a political statement.
And the crazy thing is, people here respect it. Everyone's just like, "Oh well...another blockade..." It's just a part of life...
So we bumped and bounced as I u-turned over the centre boulevard and we headed back the way we came. We discussed everyone walking across the blockade and catching a bus on the otherside while I waited in my truck for the blockade to come down. People can walk across the blockades...you just can't drive past them. But someone commented that I could be waiting a couple of days depending on how serious the blockade people were. Yea...toss that idea.
Then someone suggested we follow the line of cars and see if someone knew a route around the blockade. Since it seemed we had nothing else to lose...away we went.
Eventually we were way out in the middle of nowhere where no one ever goes...along with about a hundred other cars. It was pretty funny actually. Every little road or two lane track had a row of cars randomly trying to find a way past the blockade back to the main road.
These two enterprising gentlemen were charging people to use their gate. I got mocked my the people in my truck 'cause I overpaid. How was I supposed to know the going rate for bribing some random guy to let us through his gate to get out of his cow pasture?
Eventually the line of vehicles came to a stop and I started to worry. We were literally in the middle of nowhere and if there was no way to go on, we would be hours trying to turn around and go back the way we came.
The line of cars and trucks stretched out for miles in both directions. We were pretty much stuck.
But not to fear! According to the truck in front of us, we were in a "Convoy Zone". And if I learned nothing from 80's trucker movies, I learned that convoy's are never defeated!
Although...truth be told...this convoy didn't seem to be rolling the way I'd always imagined convoys rolled.
Eventually, after driving through a ditch and another field...we were moving once again and my faith was renewed...
There were a couple of confusing traffic moments. Afterall...who has the right of way in a cow pasture?
But eventually we made it through. And after only two hours of driving through some of the most scenic backroad pastureland Santa Cruz has to offer...we were once again on the main highway and past the blockade.
That makes the score:
Ken - 1
Bolivian - 0
Well...Ken - 2 if you count not getting killed by a giant spider.
Okay...maybe the supermarket/waterfall-jungle comparison wasn't exactly even.
Be that as it may, what started out as a relaxing day in the sun turned out to have a few interesting twists in it.
But then, doesn't it always?
A friend from church volunteers at a children's home about an hour out of the city. She called me Monday evening to ask if I was free the next day to drive the kids and a few staff members out to some waterfalls we know (I've written about them before).
Let's see...hang around the city in 40 C weather or go spend the day playing in the water? Wow...decisions are hard! That one took at least three and a half seconds to figure out.
So bright and early we all piled into my truck (twenty one of us) and headed off into the jungle.
Franco's first ride in a truck...
The waterfalls...
We had a great day at the falls. I had a good time schooling a group of Bolivian teenagers by showing them that old, gringo guys can jump off cliffs where Bolivian teenage guys fear to tread. And also the ladies from the home grilled some chicken that made you think you'd died and gone to heaven. So...yea...good day.
The kids playing in the water...
As I sat there in the sun in my Superstore foldy chair, I thought, "I really enjoy my life. Do what you will Bolivia...I'm winning!"
Huh...I should know by now...never taunt a country.
Eventually the day began to wind down and so we all piled into my truck for the ride home. Along the way we had to stop to let a spider cross the road. No kidding...we saw it from about fifty feet back. It was bigger than my hand. Probably about the size of a small dinner plate. And hairy. And it seemed to have more legs than normal.
I got out to take a picture with one of the staff member's camera. By now it was in the longer grass alongside the road, so I tapped my sandled foot near it's backside to get it moving to where I could take a better picture.
As a side note...until that moment the spider had been crawling across the road at a reasonably slow rate. There had been no indication it could move any faster than it already was. So...putting my bare foot near it's scary, hairy legs didn't seem like that big of a deal. Seriously.
So...disclaimer aside...the moment I tapped my foot, the big, scary spider jumped and went shooting off through the grass. Scared the flipping whits right out of me. I suddenly realized, "That thing could have run up my leg and bitten me on the face before I even knew what was happening!"
My respect for nature was once again renewed. Well, for sure at least until next week...
The kids wanted to catch it and sell it (which you can actually do...people put big bugs under glass and sell them to tourists). But I figured live and let live was a better philosopy.
Once we got passed the big spider, we dropped the kids off at their home and headed back into the city. Only to be stopped a few miles later by a big line of trucks. I didn't realize what was happening at first. I thought the trucks were just parked along the highway waiting to get into a grain terminal that was nearby. But then one of the ladies said, "Oh, oh...bloqueo!"
Blockade.
I've mentioned this before, but for those of you who might not know...everytime someone...anyone...is annoyed about something...anything...they block a road. It doesn't really matter why. They just dump a pile of dirt in the middle of the road and toss a few burning tires into the mix and they figure they're making a political statement.
And the crazy thing is, people here respect it. Everyone's just like, "Oh well...another blockade..." It's just a part of life...
So we bumped and bounced as I u-turned over the centre boulevard and we headed back the way we came. We discussed everyone walking across the blockade and catching a bus on the otherside while I waited in my truck for the blockade to come down. People can walk across the blockades...you just can't drive past them. But someone commented that I could be waiting a couple of days depending on how serious the blockade people were. Yea...toss that idea.
Then someone suggested we follow the line of cars and see if someone knew a route around the blockade. Since it seemed we had nothing else to lose...away we went.
Line of cars behind us...
Eventually we were way out in the middle of nowhere where no one ever goes...along with about a hundred other cars. It was pretty funny actually. Every little road or two lane track had a row of cars randomly trying to find a way past the blockade back to the main road.
Toll booth...
These two enterprising gentlemen were charging people to use their gate. I got mocked my the people in my truck 'cause I overpaid. How was I supposed to know the going rate for bribing some random guy to let us through his gate to get out of his cow pasture?
Stalled...
Eventually the line of vehicles came to a stop and I started to worry. We were literally in the middle of nowhere and if there was no way to go on, we would be hours trying to turn around and go back the way we came.
The line of cars and trucks stretched out for miles in both directions. We were pretty much stuck.
But not to fear! According to the truck in front of us, we were in a "Convoy Zone". And if I learned nothing from 80's trucker movies, I learned that convoy's are never defeated!
Although...truth be told...this convoy didn't seem to be rolling the way I'd always imagined convoys rolled.
Eventually, after driving through a ditch and another field...we were moving once again and my faith was renewed...
There were a couple of confusing traffic moments. Afterall...who has the right of way in a cow pasture?
But eventually we made it through. And after only two hours of driving through some of the most scenic backroad pastureland Santa Cruz has to offer...we were once again on the main highway and past the blockade.
That makes the score:
Ken - 1
Bolivian - 0
Well...Ken - 2 if you count not getting killed by a giant spider.
5 comments:
Ok, ok, so I took time out of my busying cupcake making to read your blog. Some points:
*LOL
*You actually DON'T really know better than to taunt a country. And that's ok. Because it is very entertaining for the rest of us. And you know God snickered at you, right?
*Truth be told, I was rooting for the spider. Don't you watch the discovery channel man? You need to lay off the survivor and watch educational stuff that might like, you know, save your face some day. And I can see you yelling and jumping. Which leads me to my next point...
*LOL
*PLUS we all know that your respect for nature has NOT been renewed for the next week. Maybe for like an hour after the spider thing. Then if another cool photo op presented itself...well, you get the idea.
*I don't think SK cow fields are all that different from Bolivian ones sooo...the person on the right has the right of way. Which is always you. Unless the guy in the bigger truck is going by Jamaican rules. In which case you better get the heck out of the way. Just sayin'.
*And Bolivia may have more than 0...because you have misjudged bribery money before, n'est pas?
But just think, we are all laughing WITH you. Not AT you. You know, like that time I fell down that really big hill full of red Jamaican dirt in a white skirt. You were laughing WITH me...right?
Busying? What am I on glue?
Been a while since you blogged...and you did not disappoint in the entertainment. Thanks for a good laugh but an thinking a farm boy like you should more than a little experience driving across some cow pasture!
Oh I'm experienced Jen. However, there aren't usually big Greyhound busses coming at you in Saskatchewan cow pastures...
Funny - two hours isn't that bad is it?
Mary H
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