Off Road Adventure Romania
Through our time offroading in various places, it is still rather rare that we manage to reach places of real isolation – the kind that we read about in magazines or hear about over the radio or TV. But every once in a while, a chance arises to visit such a remote location and, more than that, to help the locals in time of need. For years now, Off Road Adventure Romania has organized humanitarian action for Easter, Christmas as well as in time of need such as floods or other natural disasters. For the 2011 Easter action, we chose a place of raw beauty and sheer isolation – the Danube delta.
Most major rivers in Europe that flow to the Ocean have estuaries, due to high tides. However, due to the Black Sea’s lack of tide, the Danube’s meeting with the large inside sea has created a delta – an ever expanding landmass that is constructed from all the debris that the river gathers along it’s path. Here, in this highly irrigated land, roads and general public access is made incredibly difficult due to the ever changing scenery.
It is here, at the tip of the delta that people live in secluded settlements, more than 100 kilometers from Tulcea, the main town in the area. A week before Easter, 24 off road trucks started out from Bucharest – set to reach the isolated villages of Periprava, Letea, Sfistofca and C.A. Rosetti. With them, 24 tons of aids, including clothes, oil, flower, baby food and diapers, fruits and cans were dispatched for this event.
After being loaded in Tulcea from the Fan Curier warehouse, the 24 cars were loaded on two barges, setting off for a 70 kilometer water voyage to the town of Sulina. From there on, the convoy had to cross 40 kilometers of rugged terrain in order to reach the village of C.A. Rosetti where we would set up base camp. There, working late into the night, the 60 volunteers managed to sort out 400 rations for the less fortunate people of the area, consisting of everything they’d need for a good Easter meal.
The next morning the caravans split, heading to the villages of Periprava and Letea. The main goal of this action was merely to help the children in the area who had to travel more than 14 kilometers each day to school and back. For them, 24 computers were donated to the main school, along with notebooks, fountain pens and drawing books. Food for infants, diapers and fruits were also directed mainly towards the children from all communities. The kids from the village of C.A. Rosetti gathered in front of the school to receive their gifts and, to our surprise and delight, brought written poems, flowers, drawings and paintings, which they presented to the volunteer off roaders.
Later on in the day, the convoy drove out to the isolated village of Sfistofca, where we found a community of Lipovans. They are the Old Believers, mostly of Russian ethnic origin, who settled in Moldavia, in the Danube Delta, in Tulcea county, in the Dobrogea region of eastern Romania, and in the southwestern part of Odessa Oblast. It is estimated that there are less than 35.000 left, most of which are embracing the modern lifestyle, leaving behind their heritage and traditions. However, this was not the case and, this expedition gave us the chance to meet one of the last bastions of their tradition, unaltered by today’s society – literally, a mirror into the past.
On the outskirts of the village, I also had the chance to see the other face of isolation. Achim and Maria, husband and wife, live in a shack a good long distance outside the main village nucleus. He is blind, while she is confined to bed and suffering from paralysis. We took two trips, giving them as many cans of food, bread, vegetables and basic necessities as we could spare. Although we aim at helping out all the community, it is clear that our help is perceived differently between groups of people. For some, it’s a welcomed Easter gift, making their holidays a little better. For others, such as this family, it means nothing less than mere survival.
Last, but not least, we helped the village of Cardon, which was on the way from Sulina to C.A. Rosetti. We have passed it many times while loading and unloading the barges, but it looked almost abandoned. When the convoy stopped, a handful of people appeared, receiving our ratios. Backpacks with school necessities were handed out even here, at the end of our route.
All in all, the 24 trucks and 60 people involved in this event managed to carry more than 72 thousand dollars worth of aids to the community. It wasn’t all work, though. Everyone had the rare chance to visit the Danube Delta by car, roaming freely where very few cars manage to get, due to water distance. We had the chance to see great wildlife in it’s natural habitat, roam the sandy roads and take in the distinct beauty of the local ecosystem.
Radu Tudoroiu
Radu Tudoroiu is a photographer and an editor for 4x4 Off Roads and other publications as well as an off-road enthusiast. Radu lives in Romania.
