Viaje a Moro Moro

Our family had the opportunity to travel this past week up, up, up to Moro Moro which is south west of Santa Cruz. It takes about 7 hours to travel by car and the roads are quite the challenge. First it's two lane pavement, then sort of pavement with tons of speed bumps, then gravel, then bumpy gravel, then switchback gravel path up into the mountains, and then finally a rocky path into the town of Moro Moro. Moro Moro is a small town, of about 500 people. Some surveys say that 100% of the people are agriculturalists and the main crop is potatoes. Many of the people that live in Moro Moro have other homes farther out in the country. And home, I mean a small two room hut, made of mud and straw. It's a lot different than the city.

We drove up with Patro, who is the rural coordinator, and stayed with Brian and Krista, whose main work is with water in the community. The weather was cooler and rainy and it was nice to actually feel chilly. The weather reminded me of Fresno in the winter and I got a bit homesick.

We arrived mid afternoon, and Brian and Krista took us to see around town. We didn't get very far as it started to rain, and so we headed back. Already our shoes were full of mud and it wasn't even the end of the first day. We ate a hearty supper, visited into the evening, but around 9:30 we all were tired and went to bed. In the campo when there's not much to do, people go to bed early and rise early too....

The kids were up before 7 and we weren't quite prepared for that. Sigh, well we got up and had a hearty breakfast with Brian, Krista, Patro and Remy (a SALTer). After breakfast, we drove 8 km to a smaller community where another MCCer, Natan, lives and works. We got to visit a water project where a spring was tapped off and pipes put in that led to a holding tank. That holding tank made it possible for 8 families living close by to have access to clean spring water. It really made me thankful for the tap that I have in my house. For so many people, it requires all their day, just to survive by walking and collecting water, which may or may not even be safe.

We made it back to Natan's house for lunch and just before the rain hit. It's the rainy season....and we were in a room with a tin roof.....we had to SHOUT just to hear the person next to us. It was pretty crazy.

After the rain subsided, we made our way back to Moro Moro. The road, where we had driven across a small puddle, was now completely covered in a river from the rain. We all got out of the vehicle (for weight and safety) and crossed on the footbridge as Patro drove through the torrent. Check out the video below. Yikes!

That evening we had fava bean chili, put the kids to bed early, and then played a hearty game of Bohnanza with Brian and Krista. It has been ages since we've played games.

The next morning, the rural team had to meet to do some yearly planning, so Carl and I and the kids hiked up to the Cruz de Moro Moro. The road was very muddy and we just resigned ourselves to caked mud all over our shoes and pants. I was very proud of the kids that nobody had a wipe out despite the climbing and manuevering we had to do. Asha's shoes wouldn't stay on, so we had to tape them to her socks! About half way up our trek, it started to rain and we didn't have rain jackets. We attempted to sit under a tree, but that was a joke. I was thinking we were in trouble if the rain was anything like the day before, but thankfully, it quit after only the threat of a downpour. It was nice to spend the morning together, with no timeline or agenda, just enjoying the view and pausing to catch our breath in the thin air.

We arrived back for lunch and then enjoyed some napping in the afternoon. Later on, we all helped Krista prepare pizza and cake for Brian's birthday. I made the crust, Remy made the cake, Carl made the icing, Natan chopped all the toppings and Joel and Kezia grated the cheese. It was a great group effort and I think Brian felt pretty special.

That next morning, we had breakfast, the kids helped Brian put up the rain water bottles on the roof to purify while we packed up. It was going to be a long day of driving back to the city. Thankfully the roads weren't closed due to the rain, although we saw evidence of quite a few landslides.

I was glad for our time in Moro Moro. It gave us the chance to see other MCCers at work, to meet the people in their community and to experience a different flavour of Bolivia. Although I did miss my bed and the warmer temperatures of the lowland.