Attempt #1 to Villa Alba

As I mentioned last week, I went to Santa Cruz to help give a presentation and bring back food and clothing for people of the nearby village of Villa Alba.

Saturday, we made an attempt to go out to the village to deliver all of the donations. We were planning to go in the morning, but torrential downpours prevented us from leaving. After letting the roads dry a bit and having some lunch, we headed out at around 3pm.

Villa Alba is located not far from where the La Palmera Chaco is. We took the road towards the Chaco and then just before arriving at Miraflores, turned onto a dirt road and followed it for probably about 10 km. After this time, we encountered some serious mud, probably around 3" (8cm) deep. We tried to blaze through this, but after about 300 ft, the truck started sliding around and eventually we got stuck.

I climbed down in my sandals with one of the Bolivians and we tried to push the truck, but after pushing it about 10 ft, and seeing the long road ahead, it was obvious we would have to turn back. My feet/sandals were covered in mud and a nice chunk of mud was attached to my sandals, it felt like I had bricks attached.