March 28, 2017

The first hurdle for establishing any infrastructure, was getting to my property. When I arrived to view it as the owner for the first time this year, I had to drive along a public road that comes to a halting stop because the ocean has eroded the rest of it away. I then had to divert the car through private property for about 100 meters, until it reached another public road. This public road is my access road, however cattle has destroyed it in rainy season with their hooves. Above, you can see me on the bumpy road. It looks like tractor marks, but in fact it is from cows stomping along it.

In a poor country with poor government, if you want something to get done, you need to do it yourself. Since I do not speak Spanish (this is on my bucket list), I was on the search for a contractor to help me. In the most serendipidous way, during my stay with my parents at a nearby airbnb, the owener happened to be a Nica couple who were born and raised in the area but moved to Florida for 30 years during the Nica war. They returned just over 7 years ago, investing in many types of businesses and properties.

I couldn’t have been more lucky. They were eager to help me contract any infrastructure work on my property and I would pay them a percentage. They were hired! When my parents left, I lived on their property for a month and together, we hauled ass!

They translated for me, helped me choose workers for each type of job I needed, and gave me ample sound advise. Their names are Jessica and Fernando.

Jessica and Fernando helped me hire a team of people to fix the road. They called the city to approve the work and tell us what we could cut. A group of 3 guys showed up in their flipflops with a machete and started cutting.

They had cut 400 meters of overgrown trees and weeds for the tractor to then push and clear away and level the dirt.

After the tractor was done leveling the road, 20 trucks of gravel came to fill the and level the road. I need many more truck loads but was on a budget so we used the gravel in the worst places.

Lets hope these cows tread lightly in the future. Apparently cows don’t like to walk on gravel so I am hoping they choose a new path!

Here is what the road looks like now! Yay! Trucks and cars can evenly drive through right up onto my property!