Stephan Schwab

This Sunday we had a meeting with the administrator of the Chepo district. We wanted to see the crossing over the Brazo de Chuluganti river to determine what needs to be done to improve it so that it can be crossed during high tide. Last time we were there on horses and it was still in the wet season. Crossing the very same spot on horse got us wet feet as the horses were in the water up to their bellies. Now we are in the dry season and this time we tried it with the Jeep. This provided some photo opportunity. We rarely take pictures of the Jeep in the water simply because we cross the river in it and don’t want to go back and forth multiple times. The pictures in this post were taking by Luis while I was in the driver’s seat.

There are many little rocks all over the place. During high tide water flows over them making them round over time. Those that are hidden in the water have a smooth surface which provides less traction for the tires. That plus the force of the water flowing down creates an additional challenge.

Usually dirt roads crossing a river do so in a straight line. This one is different as you have to follow the river and then make a sharp turn while in the water. In the center of the river flow there is some kind of a canal where it is deeper. You can see the Jeep bending to the left. I tried to stay as close to the shallower side and avoid the deep center.

When we where there with the horses – with a higher tide – they did the same by instinct. Horses are very good and finding the best path.

As you can see in one moment you are deep in the water while in the next there is a bigger rock and you have one tire going up. There can be holes and you may drop into one and have the hood dive into the water. The Jeep’s air intake is at the highest point right under the hood but without a snorkel that can be too low. Once water enters the engine … Well … It gets expensive. There is always some risk involved when you drive in water. However, it’s a very special experience and fun too ;-)

A few meters further I had to make a steep turn towards the exit where the next challenge was waiting. The exit has some rocks plus loose and muddy dirt. All that makes the Jeep show its belly. I think the picture shows quite well that these are unusual situations and it takes a vehicle that’s designed for this kind of stuff.

To get out of the river took more than one attempt. Putting the transmission into 4L and blocking rear and front differentials finally allowed to have power and traction to move us out of the water and onto the dry dirt about 10 m away from the river.

You can clearly see that this section needs some work. It is too narrow, the combination of wet dirt and rocks makes it slippery and the slope is too steep. We plan on bringing a Caterpillar D3 bulldozer to the place to rebuilt the whole thing. The river isn’t very wide but it’s kind of a canal. Removing a lot of the material on both sides will allow the water to use more space which makes the tide lower. The alternative would be to build a bridge and have it rest onto those steep banks on either side.

Our work to build an access road to the farm is well underway. As we’ve contracted local workers for this we visit each weekend and maintain contact every few days. Of course it would be easier, if we were living in the area. Unfortunately it takes 3 hours to drive the 320 km from our current home to the farm.

This time we encountered a new problem on our way to the end of the road where we wanted to put the Jeep to good use a logging tool.

All the leaves from the past weeding and tree felling activity had dried and that created a loose cover on the road. In our first attempt going slow we could not climb that section. It’s not that steep but without traction … No chance. So we changed the trasmission setting from 4L to 4H and tried it with some speed. We got up a bit further but hit another spot with those loose cover of dry leaves and got stuck there again. While backing up we hit this tree stump you can see in the picture with the trailer hitch. Now we had an issue. :-)

We cleared the area to the right with machetes so that we see what kind of ground we have there. With slow back and forth movement we managed to turn around and return to the base of the slop for another try. Before that we removed all the leaves from the path with some sticks.

After all in all two hours we managed to get up the hill. This is definitely a section that needs some work. We learned there is a bulldozer – it’s a Caterpillar D6H – in the area that is scheduled to perform some work in the forest close to our road. Maybe we can buy a few hours machine time and have it level a few sections and remove stumps for us.

We arrived near the end of our road where a big tree was blocking the path. Our task was to cut a well sized section and move it out of the way. The tree is a margo amargo and makes good construction wood. The wood has bitter taste and therefore termites and other wood eating insects don’t like it.

We put that chain which served us well before with another log under it.

Then two cuts on each side were made.

And finally the Jeep pulled … but the chain broke.

The log is so thick that we should be able to cut four 8×8 posts from its heartwood.

Without the chain the only solution to get the log moved was to wrap the steel cable around it. That got the log a bit further out of the way but the cable broke as well. That cable was meant to tow a car. I’m not so sure about the quality of these products. Here in Panama all the hardware stores are owned by Chinese families and of course they import most of their products from China as many people seek solutions for little money. Looks we need to look for higher quality tools. We had the same issue with Chinese parts for the Jeep.

To finish the task Luis and Gregorio took thick sticks and with human power the log moved.

We now have about 80% of that section of the road cleared. There are some challenges but while it doesn’t rain (we are in the dry season for a few more months) it will be good enough. Once we can drive all the way down to the river crossing we can start processing the wood with our chainsaw mill and move the product to the other side where we intent to build the horse stable.

We have our first seedlings in the tree nursery down in the garden of our house here in Sora. In a few months once they are grown to about 30 cm in height we will transplant them to a nice place on the farm.