A Different Kind of Drilling

Back in June, I traveled up to Oruro department which is in the western part of Bolivia to help with the training of the newly arrived Basic Sanitation Volunteers. We have our crew of 3 well drillers down here in Santa Cruz, and there were four drillers being replaced up in the Altiplano. Since those guys were the guys leaving, they wanted to train the new group in the place where they would be going. But, in order for the new group to have a connection with us down in Santa Cruz, they let me come up and lend a hand with the drilling. The terrain up there is much different than down here. We usually drill anywhere to 30-60 meters into the ground (100-200ft), whereas up there they only drill wells between about 6-18 meters. But, they run into a lot more rocks and harder stuff to get through, while we usually just deal with clay and sand. To build our tower to hold our rig, we usually cut down a couple of trees, but up in Oruro, there is no vegetation, so they have to lug around a huge metal tripod to hold up their rig. I had never drilled up there before, so it was a cool experience to see how the other-half lives. Here’s a wide shot of the whole process, quite different from what it looks like down here in Santa Cruz:

Since it is so high up (and since we were in the middle of winter), it was really, really cold up there. The sun was strong though, so that helped to keep us warm during the day, but if you got wet or something, you were miserable. Down here in Santa Cruz, when you get wet while drilling it’s usually a welcome refresher. “Altiplano” means “high plain” and that’s literally what it is. There are peaks rising up in the distance, but for the most part there are just huge, vast flat plains that seem to go on forever without trees at all. If you’re into live things and lush vegetation, you might consider it an ugly place. But, in my opinion, the sunsets made up for it:


Due to having the nastiest cold of my life that week, I did not actually work much. Plus, all the new trainees were really motivated to work, so that helped. Not being one to often keep my mouth shut, I offered verbal assistance whenever I could as well as got some wicked rounds of the movie game going, which always helps to pass the time. We drilled to nine meters, installed the pump and got some clean water out of the well. It was really great for the trainees to see a well from start to finish and it was a cool experience to be up there helping out. Luckily that weekend I recuperated at my friend Anna’s house in Oruro city by sleeping a lot and eating some yummy food and taking hot showers. Oh man that was nice. Thanks Anna, you’re amazing.