As well as fertilizer Alflafa plants need a considerable amount of water to sustain it´s fast growth. When the plants are strong enough they can be cut every thirty five days. Our plan at Huacariz was to rely on the rains to provide the Alfalfa plants with water until the pump and watering system was installed in May. Alfalfa plants stop growing and then die during the dry season in the Cajamarca valley without a good source of water. The price of Alfalfa goes up considerably during this time. Our water system used a powerful industrial pump to pump water out of a well and through a system of rotating sprinkers to water an area of over five acres. The pump we planned on using was very powerful and capable of feeding up to six sprinklers at a time at a distance of 200 yards away. Although the price of Alfalfa per kilo is very low we planned to make our proft by producing it in bulk. Cattle rearing for milk production is a major industy in countries like Peru. Roger believed he could use his family´s contacts to find a regular buyer for our Alfalfa amongst the big commercial ranches that supplied milk for corporations such as Nestlé.

I was told by Roger quite clearly that we would register a company, in our names, in Cajamarca, but that this particular project would only last for four years. After which the Huacariz property would probably be sold by Roger´s family. The Diaz family far at Huacariz is apparently worth a lot of money, around $2 million by all accounts. It´s a big property and only about fifteen minutes out of the centre of town by truck. We would then move on to other projects and retain the pump and other equipment paid for by me. Roger will eventually make a lot of money when Huacariz is sold. He could happily live on his share of that money for the rest of his life if he wanted to. He wouldn´t have to work ever again if he stayed in Peru, married a beautiful girl and had a family etc. But at that time he was considerably more ambitious , he wanted to build a big company, and to gain wealth and power from it. Other people too have noticed his drive and ambition, but also his preoccupation not so say love of money. As I'll discuss later on, we had a number of other business ideas but they got shelved because of a lack of time and money which itself was due to the ever more protracted problems developing at Huacariz.

More problems.

When we realised that we had to replough the fields I was livid. Roger admitted his mistake and apologised to me but I didn´t feel any better. I had already begun to think tat there was some sort of celestial conspiracy, a force from above working against the project. I was feeling tired and very negative about the situation, and that perhaps I had taken on too much and the whole thing would be end up a disaster. We had to overcome obstacles to make even small pieces of progress. Things were certainly not going as I had hoped.

During this time the rainy season was still in full swing. The rain comes down very hard in that part of the world and the people of Cajamarca get wet ofen. Every year in late January or early February they hold a week long carnival with large scale water and paint fights on the city streets. People throw buckets of water and water balloons at their friends or at strangers and passers by. Water is thrown constantly and spontaneously and nobody is safe. Of course boys get the girls wet and all the girls target the boys. Tourists also get it and apparently some of them find it too much and leave town early. Tthere is also much drinking, dancing eating and dressing up in fancy costumes for a large and very colourful parade throught the historical centre and the old barrios of the city. It´s reputed to be the best carnival in Peru.

October roughly through until March is the rainy season with December until Match being the worst (or, depending on your perspective) the best time for rain. Strangely the rain always starts at about the same time of day. The morning is always sunny, at lunch time the dark clouds roll over into the valley and at about 1.30pm the rain starts and continues until early evening. The water comes down off the high surrounding mountains and quickly forms muddy rivers running down the sloping narrow streets of Cajamarca. In a spare afternoon it´s entertaining to watch people in the rain walking home from school or from work trying not to get too wet. The rushing water is often quite deep and people get wet shoes and socks and ankles crossing the road. The blocks in the town centre are small and you probably have to cross a street four or five times in a ten minute walk. Not only that but the roads are dotted with pot holes and cracks. You have to be very careful when walking on the pavement not to get splashed by a car running through a water filled pot hole. if a car goes to fast pedestrians on both sides get covered. It´s always very funny to see someone get splashed by a car.

Next we bought two hundred sacks of guano to spread on the fields. I imagine that the sacks came to about three or four tonnes in total. We picked up a couple of rough looking labourers from a group of them who hung around in the centre of town. Anybody who wanted some temporary labour knew where to find them. We also bought nitrate chemical fertilizer pellets and stupidly Roger and I spent an afternoon spreading fertilizer ourselves on the fields with no gloves, masks or any kind of protective clothing at all. Neither of us really knew what kind of chemicals we were exposing ourselves to. I think it was another example of me engaging in activities without really understanding what I was doing or knowing what I was letting myself in for and being unaware of the possible consequences. I think that at other times I was aware of the possible consequences but I just didn´t care and went right on ahead anyway.

Our work was constantly being delayed because of one problem or another. At one point Roger was ill for two weeks after eating seafood and all work had to be stopped while he got better. The sowing of the seed was delayed for almost three weeks. We agreed to start on a Saturday but Roger decided to stay in bed with Susanne instead. Then on Sunday it was the birthday party of Roger´s uncle which we both had to attend instead of going to work. Roger told me not to worry, we could start sowing the seed on Monday. But on Monday it started raining heavily when previously the weather had been dry. It rained for a whole week