TERRACE WALLS

It's a little scary standing on the enormous expanse of roof spanning two thirds of the house, so Ed props himself against the 5 metre column.

You can just make Ed out standing on the far side of the roof.


On the right is a photo showing the two levels of the roof. We will divide the terrace into two parts to make it a more intimate space.




Florensio builds the wall on the roof above June's bedroom. This part will be 1.50 metres to shield against the prevailing wind. On the right is a view from down the hill showing the back of the house.




A view of the wall from the other side of the building.

A LUZ AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

We really wanted to be off grid on our property, especially given the intense sunlight and regular afternoon wind all year round. But solar energy is rarely used in Bolivia, due to the incredible cheapness of electricity, generated by hydro-electric power. We investigated buying solar panels, but they were more than 4 times the price of those in first world countries, and wind generators were not available. Ed consulted his old school friend who ran an alternative energy company in Canada, but was advised that it was not viable to ship panels from outside the country, given the cost. He recommended we start off on grid and, when time and funds permitted, make our own solar and wind generators. This particularly made sense as we were going to be running a hospitality business where we could, in the future, back up alternative energy systems with power from the grid on cloudy or windless days.

In Bolivia, the law states that, unless a property is so remote that it is impossible to connect, the local electrical company Cessa (a monopoly) is obliged to provide electricity to consumers. The Spanish for electricity in Bolivia is luz - literally meaning light. This pretty much sums up what electricity is used for - the average house has a very weak input running lights for the house, a fridge and a television. Oftentimes, one of the aforementioned items has to be switched off in order for another to function.

In order to be hooked up to the grid we had to write a letter with multiple photocopies of numerous docujments to Cessa requesting a connection. There was power as far as the last group of houses in Mosoj Llajta, the nearest village to us, but we needed to have poles and cable brought further up to our property. In true Bolivian style I was sent backwards and forwards for months between the central office in Sucre, the agency in Yotala (the nearest town to our land) and the 'plant' office in Sucre, where the engineers assessed and organised the installation. Nobody wanted to take responsibility for the installation and connection, and with every visit I was given new and contradictory information about their latest survey of our needs, what we would need to function and who would make it happen.

We had to build a pillar incorporating a metal box for the meter and tubing for the cable to link from the pole to the meter. We asked each department where it would need to be sited and, after requesting a personal visit to make sure of the location, Ed built the pillar. Then we had to have it confirmed by another surveyor, who told us it was in the wrong place and that we had to knock it down and rebuild it.

Eventually, it was decided that, given the 'huge' amount of electricity we would require to operate our business, we would need to buy a 3 phase transformer and a quote was prepared. With cable and an extra electricity pole from the road (Cessa agreed to provide poles and cable to the edge of our property) the price came in at $8,500. I was appalled, and asked if a 3 phase transformer (which had formed the bulk of the cost) was really necessary. Not really, I was told, as those kind of transformers were normally used to power large factories etc. So I found out I could buy a smaller transformer, and started the whole process afresh, having been told that a new quote and survey would have to be prepared. The price was a more reasonable $4,000 and, having agreed the quote and paid the price - a 'deposit' in Bolivia actually means the full amount - a surveyor came up to our land to mark the position of the posts.

Now the main reason for needing a transformer was to power the pump for our well which, unfortunately was on the opposite side of our 10.5 acre property to the road. Having been told the transformer could only be sited near the road, he then told us that if we bought extra poles and cable, we could move the transformer closer to the house and to the cistern into which the well water was pumped.

Having decided not to build the pillar housing the meter until we were absolutely certain of it's correct location we could, at last, proceed with confidence. We incorporated it into the boundary wall just above the house and the installation of the poles and cable were squeezed in just before Carnaval - probably due to the fact that I had insisted on a contract with a penalty clause if the work was not completed on time.

Of course, the actual meter was not installed, nor the power hooked in until about two weeks after Carnaval recovery time, but we had power! The seven month wait was finally over and we could put our noisy generator away for emergency use only.

BOLIVIA BLOCKADE

Ed had to leave early to drive out to the land this morning - 5 am to be exact. And he wouldn't be able to return to Sucre for a couple of days. Nor will I be able to visit our land. Bus drivers had decided on a 48 hour blockade of all roads leading in and out of all cities in Bolivia.

The drivers are opposing a highway safety decree that was recently approved by the government and orders the removal of the vehicle from service for a year and cancellation of the bus driver’s license for good when he has an accident while driving under the influence of alcohol.

The transport workers said they agreed with the sanctions against drivers who operate their vehicles while drunk, but not with the removal of the vehicles from service since they are the very source of their jobs at the transport firms.

According to government statistics, each year more than 1,000 people die on Bolivia’s roadways in traffic accidents. In January of this year there were more than 100 deaths related to bus crashes in the country.

Bolivia is one of the least regulated countries in terms of transport safety, with only Argentina and Chile operating bus transport in South America that adopt safety standards comparable with those in the Western world. The bus companies in Bolivia seem more interested in making money than ensuring the safety of their passengers. They sell more tickets than there are seats during busy times, resulting in people sitting on stools in the aisles. Many of the buses would not pass mechanical inspections in first world countries - only last year a bus Ed and I were travelling on had one of its tyres burst into flames (right underneath where I was sitting) because the brakes had heated up to a red hot level (probably no brake pads left, only metal).

Most long distance buses run at night time, there are no relief drivers so the solitary driver is on his own through the night on treacherous roads, keeping awake by chewing coca leaves. The breaks are short and at the end of a long journey mistakes are common, as experienced by us in Peru a couple of years ago, when the bus we were travelling narrowly missed falling down a ravine after colliding with a fruit truck. (see my blog of Jan 22nd 2008 - A Close Shave on the road to Cusco, Peru at http://junedonaldson.blogspot.com/2008/01/close-shave-on-road-to-cusco-peru.html).

Drivers working whilst under the influence of alcohol are not unusual in Bolivia. During Carnaval it is hard to find a long distance bus driver who hasn't be celebrating with copious amounts of alcohol. Their employers seem unconcerned and there are no checks to see if their drivers are fit for the road.

There is no doubt that the Bolivian government is right to bring in a law to remove the licence of a driver who causes an accident through being drunk at the wheel. But the government is also right to penalize the bus companies by confiscating their vehicles for allowing their drivers to take control of a bus full of passengers in an unfit state to drive. Only in this way can accidents be prevented. Whatever sympathy one has for the drivers, they must see that the safety of passengers who trust their lives to the bus companies and their drivers must take precedence over jobs.

WHAT DOES NOT DEFEAT US........

Two days after the devastation caused by heavy rain, Ed called me from the land to say he was going to pour the second part of the concrete roof that day. There were more thunderstorms and heavy rain predicted for mid-week onwards, and Ed decided enough was enough. We had to get a roof on the already fragile adobe walls.

The previous day had been spent shoring up the damaged sections using beams and wooden lintels.





We wheeled out our shiny new concrete mixer purchased after struggling during our last pour with a hired mixer that was only just short of useless.





On the right is a photo of Hipolito using a vibrator to ensure there are no bubbles or air spaces in the cement.




Nothing gets wasted on our building site, and the adobe bricks that had become waterlogged were broken up, ready to be made into new bricks!


Our workers did a great job, finishing the roof before dark, so we cooked up some hamburgers and celebrated with fizzy cola and orange drinks.

BAD WEATHER SLOWS OUR PROGRESS

We study the weather forecast daily on the internet, and it looked as though the rainy season was starting to peter out. That was until last Saturday night, when it started raining at nightfall and continued throughout the night and into the morning.

Of course we are living in Sucre, about 20 kilometres from our land, and it often rains in the city and doesn't out in the countryside. But this time it was not to be, and we knew we were in for a shock when we had trouble negotiating the normally dry river in our 4 x 4 on the way up to our land.

The living room resembled a swimming pool and our immediate concern was to remove any water that might have seeped into the foundations underneath the enormous 5 metre columns we were building at the front of this area.

We had been ready to pour the second part of the concrete roof early this week, and all the beams and insulation pads had been installed. We had put tarpaulins over all areas as best we could, but the sheer volume of water had proved too much for our efforts to waterproof the adobe walls underneath.

The wooden poles placed to support the roof beams had been carefully measured to ensure a gentle run off of rainwater from the finished roof. But the rain had saturated the dirt floor and the poles had sunk.

The adobe arch leading into one of the bathrooms had collapsed.






The same bathroom arched window had also collapsed.





Throughout the section prepared for covering with the roof this week there was further damage to be seen.


Even my bedroom, which had a roof on, didn't escape the rain, as the water from the living room area had run down the sloping corridor.....


and the electrical box installed ready for our power hookup this week suffered a drenching, too.








But we pumped out and bailed out the living room with buckets until the area was reasonably dry.

Today we explored many options with our maestros as to how to proceed with the roof. The common concensus was to place wooden lintels over damaged areas next to the roof beams, pour the concrete roof and then rebuild the archways from within.

This has been our first setback during our experimental build. Yesterday we felt rather knocked down, but we have already bounced back and are optimistic that our beautiful house WILL emerge from this and any further challenges from mother nature.

ADOBE WALLS GO UP TO SUPPORT THE SECOND PART OF THE ROOF

After completing the concrete roof on the first section, the adobe bricks were brought out to build up the external and internal walls on the middle section, the utility room, the second bathroom (photo below) and Ed's bedroom.


Of course, another lintel had to be constructed over the full length windows in Ed's room.





Here you can see Florensio and Mariano building the archway linking the living room to the corridor,

and filling in the gaps between the arched door leading into Ed's room.





A bigger picture of the internal walls showing the completed lintel in the background.

THE FIRST PART OF THE ROOF GOES UP

Hot off the press - new pix! - will fill in the details and the stories that came before as and when i can!