Clearing the land for $10 a day

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From the last blog you found out that I did not get to see the cleared land of my friend Dave.  That was on Wednesday but on Thursday it was clear and sunny and once I again I donned by rubber boots and off we went.  The road to Caldera STILL was filled with rocks to protect the filled in pot holes and Dave seemed to really enjoy my complaints.  We crossed the river again which was much lower and up the road that is just the width of his truck and parked.
Once again  Dave pulls a machete out of the truck and off we went.  This time it was much different- the land had been cleared for a long ways and what was left was only trees that their base was 3" in diameter.  We easily walked to the river with only stones and boulders blocking our way.  Once we got to the river I could see why Hillbilly was so excited - the land is flat perfect for building- it drops off about 10" to the river which is rushing over the stones and rocks curving along.  I can see steps down there from the house with a sitting area right on the river.  Dave says he is going to damn an area of and have his own "natural pool".  We kept walking and found the 4 Panamanian men whose saddles we had seen sitting on the ground by the gate and their horses tied up farther in.  Their dogs were also running loose chasing anything that moved.  I thought this was good- what they were chasing I did not have to worry about!!!
Clearing land back in Iowa means tractors, bulldozers etc.  In Panama it means men with machetes and their pay???? $10 a day.  From nearly sun up to sun down.  Yes it is hard work and yes they are happy to have the job.  Hillbilly did not tell them what they were being paid he asked and that is what they requested. In a country where $300 is an average monthly pay this is right in line.  But Dave also went and bought them pop. beers and snacks.  He is appreciative of their hard work and plans on keeping them busy for a year in assisting him in his house construction. 
We walked until it once again became jungle then back to the path.  We came to another fence of sticks and barbed wire - Dave raises his machete and chops easily through the wire, and entered land I did now know he was buying.  He called it his field and you can see the outstanding crop of corn that was grown there.  This is their "crop" the corn is planted in flat areas around stones and probably hand planted as no machinery could get there.  No fertilizer, no weed control but from the looks of it no crop either.
In cleaning off the land they are finding rock walls that have withstood the time - dry stacked and now covered with moss and vines. A paradise in the making like Dave calls it "Hillbilly Acres" and I hope to watch it develop and one day to see his dream a reality.