The only difference between a regular car and a four wheel drive is that in a four wheel drive you get further down the road before getting stuck.
-A Russian saying.
The drive was supposed to take an hour or two to reach the summit on a little used dirt road that wound its way to the top of a mountain that loomed over the Caribbean coastal town of Trujillo in Honduras. We made it less that 10 minutes before Azulita my Toyota Land Cruiser, the one I am supposed to drive to the bottom of the world in, was pitched perilously with the right rear wheel hanging over a storm washout that dropped 2.5 meters into a hole large enough to swallow the truck.
I stood with my travel friends the The Russians, Olga and Dmitriy and New Zealander Michaela staring at the predicament the truck was in. Normally a chatty group, our silence made the pulse quicken. The women looked at each other and their faces said it all. Dmitriy and I studied the scene looking for a way out.
This is bad, were my first words. I have gotten the truck stuck many times in recent past and the escape was always clear. Once Azulita was stuck in sand up to the axles on a beach, another time in the headwaters of a creek with water coming in through the doors. I remember the exhaust pipe burbling under water.
The red brown soil was softened from a full night of rain and gave way under the weight of the truck as I tried to pass a narrow land bridge leaving her resting on the rear axle. It was bad. To attempt to drive it out without help was not possible, any movement would send the truck into the hole backwards. The pull out was difficult, if not done right Azulita would get pitched into the hole with big rocks waiting at the bottom.
We buttressed the earth at the front wheels with a wall of soccer ball sized rocks and built a bridge out of an old solid wood door for the rear wheel to hop onto once the pull was under way. If the guy hesitated on the pull I was doomed. The truck popped out after sinking further into the hole when the hanging wheel found the bridge and came out. We all sighed in relief and began jumping up and down hugging each other.
Back in town we drank victory beers together and I quietly considered the Russian saying.
David
Esteli, Nicaragua
4 comments:
Good thing you brought that door all the way from the states.....how long of a fiasco was that experience to get her out?
Timmer,
Between the building of that bridge and rock collection, wall building and not to mention the time it took to get the guys with a truck I'd guess it toko over 3 hours.
I also had a preminition that there would be trouble if I pressed on after surveying that narrow strip of soft soil.
Nature conquers man this time, we turned around.
Wow! Sounds really scary! Glad your all safe! Big hugs from Tina and Angel :)
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