Sunday, January 31, 2010

Land - Another Look

Okay, let's have another look at the land that we are interested in. This time we are a group because we want the opinions of others. The group consists of Fernando, the real estate agent and new friend, his 6 year old son, Sheila, the daughter of the woman who owns the house we are renting, Mo, Sheila's boyfriend from England, George, our Toronto friend and John, a new Oaxacan resident from Maine, U.S.A. and of course Tanya and I. So off we go in two cars.

We arrive at the dirt-road junction. From here it is a 10 minute drive around hills to the property or a 5 minute walk to the river bed that runs next to the property. We walk along the short road to the river bed where the property owner suggests that we build a bridge to the property.

The bridge
The river bed is dry even though it rained heavily the night before. I (Ralph) bound down the river bank while George slips and slides down the bank. The others, seeing George's mishap take the easy way down. We walk across the dry river bed and up onto the property. Tanya provides a tour of the land while I scurry about looking at the property edges and possible road ways to the property.

The propertyThe group gives us a positive response and agrees that the location is perfect. Yes, the property is perfect, it is just the access to the property that gives us concern.

From Google Earth you can see the property at N17 09.742 W096 45.725 which is at the centre of the property.

Anyway, back to the cars. We are now going to drive the long route around and with the shovel in the car we will take a soil sample. There are many turns off the dirt road so we immediately get lost. We back track to a road that I think is correct and I lead. Will, the road soon disappears into a farmer's field. The farmer gives us a curious look as we make a 5-point turn. CowsThe cows just stare at us. The farmer's dog runs away.

This time Fernando takes the lead and over we go through what looks like a front yard of a house. But it is actually the road so we eventually get to the property. I take the shovel and start digging. Well, not really. The ground is hard as rock. Fernando takes the shovel and quickly digs a hole. I scrape dirt from the side of the hole trying to get a good profile sample. We look around and see a herd of goats walking past us on their way to the grass on the oher side of the field.

Off we go again. This time we stop at the owner's house where he treats us to beers and Coca Cola. The bridge quickly becomes the top topic. He tells us and shows us a document from the County Office which says that we would be better off building a causeway that would allow any water to pass through. The high water mark is only 1 foot so we are not talking about a grand project. And, the County would probably contribute to the project.

We are much relieved as the thought of bridge building was very intimidating. We inform the property owner that it will probably take us 2 years to prepare financially to the project. We estimate that we will need 2-3 hundred thousand for property and another 2-3 hundred thousand for initial building. Yes, we need at least 2 years to get prepared.

our next step is to get the soil analyzed to determine the best wine grape for the area.

1 comment:

winniedozois said...

Two wonderful blog's once again. The property looks pretty good from the picture. Hope it all works out. Well the tempture in Tronto is not as cold as in Montreal. And we really did not have alot of snow, so their must not be alot there. Winter coat a must that's for sure. Hope your flight was a good one. Got your spoon and postcard Ralph thanks alot. Cool spoon. Lots of love Mom. xxxxxxxooooooooooo