Earthmoving stuff

At this point, virtually all of the focus has been on land prep for the gin.  The "gin" actually refers to a rather large complex with multiple buildings the foremost of which is the gin proper.

It rained the day we arrived and again yesterday.  This creates tremendous headaches for land prep.  Because we were further along in the process the most recent rain shouldn't be so troublesome.  Basically, the "pad" where the building will be was dug out until you got down to "good dirt" (a couple of meters down).  Other "good dirt" is scraped from elsewhere and "dumped" on the pad.  Then it is "compacted" by big rollers that are pulled behind tractors.  When it is well compacted a layer of lime is spread over it and then a layer of sand.  By the end the "pad" is above grade so when it rains the water runs off because of the hardness of the compacted dirt as well the slope.

All the heavy equipment is very impressive.  Stuff breaks regularly.  And as the pictures below show, stuff can get bogged if you get hung up in the muck.  Below is a picture of a "ripper" which had been bogged being pulled out by a dozer and a front end loader.