On Thursday March 12, 2015 we went to the area of Santa Cruz. We had permission from the family that lives in the plantation house to park our cars next to the house. From there we first went searching for a well that is marked on the Werbata map. Apparently the map is not very accurate in this area because at the marked spot there was no well. We found a large round well about 30 meters from the marked spot. On top of this well there had been placed a very large windmill. The tower was still there but the mill is fallen down. There was a bit of water in the well.
On the other side of the marked spot on the map we found an even larger well, partly collapsed. This well seems to be from a more recent date than the other one and is for that reason not the one that is marked on the Werbata map. This well also had water in it and by throwing stones in it it seems to be deeper than in the other well.
Via a dirt road we walked in the direction of Rooi Domi. There we left the dirt road and went into the rooi. The vegetation was reasonably open although we encountered a lot of Palu di lechi in this area, but not so dense that we couldn't find a path through it.
Surrounding the rooi is a large Manzaliña forest with sometimes very large trees. A pleasure to walk through. We found two of the three dams that are visible on the Werbata map. The first one where we left the dirt road, the other one a bit farther in the road. The third one apparently disappeared, because there was not even an elevation in the underground where the dam should have been.
We crossed another dirt road and continued in the direction of the large dam, that we visited in 2011. At that time the reservoir behind (actually in front) of the dam was filled with water. At this moment the reservoir is completely dry. We took a break on top of the dam and then went to the well inside the reservoir. From there we went uphill in the direction of the ruin of an apartment building and from there to the dirt road. We followed the dirt road till we crossed the rooi again and followed the rooi from there back to the plantation house. A nice hike with in total three wells, two dams and a very nice Manzaliña forest.
Our track from plantation house Santa Cruz through the rooi and back
The same track on the Werbata map (1909)
The skull of a goat
A large round well
Inside of the well
The windmill that provided the power to pump up the water from the well
An impressive Manzaliña tree
A strange object in the area of Santa Cruz, a tanker trailer
An even larger well, partly collapsed
Look into the very large well, more modern than the other one
Suicide tree?
Manzaliña forest
Nice green tree
Head of a stone dam
The stone dam with Karel on top
The same stone dam
This tree made a detour while growing up
A large brasilwood tree
Rooi Domi
Nice Manzaliña trees on the side of the rooi
The large dam
A very large reservoir but now completely dry
Taking a break on top of the large dam
Karel and his sis sit a bit to the side of the others
A well
Deep and with water
This is how the Palu di Lechi strangles a tree
Prickly pear with a lot of flowers
A twin flower
Close-up of a Prickly pear flower
Back at the plantation house