Roadtrip(s) to Charagua

Since we're still not living in Charagua, we've been making the trip there from Santa Cruz weekly. The 280km trip takes about 9 hours by bus or train, 5 hours in a snazzy vehicle, and about 6 hours in "our" Toyota--which we took for the first time this week. The ride is HOT and wind-blown, but this time not too dusty since it recently rained. Here are a few shots from the road:

Here the pavement ends, about 180 kms into the trip. The last 100 kms on bumpy or muddy and winding dirt road can be (or at least seem) a bit daunting...

...but also very beautiful. Cows, donkeys, and goats are the main road blockers, but we also see plenty of pigs, foxes, dragon lizards, and little kids.


Sometimes the road takes us through a river bed,

and sometimes we wish it would.Up close, this bridge looks a bit less than inspiring.


Here is the entrance to Durango Colony, about an hour east of Charagua. The bars across the entrance are to prevent cattle crossings.


Lunch time in Durango; for the Old Colony Mennonites, this means 10.30am. We went gourmet on this day: canned wieners, Menno nacho chips, granola bars, and terere.


A mid-day view of Campo 5, Durango Colony. Much of the colony was at a widow's estate auction. She had recently remarried and so, according to church rules, is required to distribute half of her net financial worth to her children (i.e. half their inheritance).


This is the view going west to Charagua pueblo from Charagua station, a distance of 5 kms. We'll be living in Charagua station, which is slightly smaller of the two.


Heading back to Santa Cruz through another river bed...


...and over another bridge, this time on the highway between Argentina and Santa Cruz.