Bump. Bump. Whew . . . lean to the side, then the other. Up, down, sideways. If you have ever been to La Casa, you’ve experienced the kilometer bumpy ride along the dirt road to our property.
What most do not know, the “road” is actually a river stream bed. It has an official name, Cuenca Del Río Jutiapa (a tributary of the Jutiapa River). Whenever a heavy tropical downpour occurs, you are pretty much stuck on the farm until it subsides and the runoff has dissipated enough so that you are not trying to maneuver your car through a fast moving stream, unable to see what is underneath. The fast moving water has created channels and ditches that make up the bumpy ride.
We have traveled this road for sixteen years. When we moved onto the property in 2015, it became more REAL to us as to how difficult it could be to get in and out.
BUT, this past year, significant changes have occurred. A little over a year ago, in January, work began to pave the road with asphalt and place gutters along the side to direct drainage and rain water. They had almost reached our property, just 200 meters away for our entrance when lockdowns began. So close! Then, in February of this year, work began to extend the paving beyond our property. Just last week, they finished preparing the road and paved it. We, and you, can now travel in to La Casa in much smoother fashion.
We are very excited about this road. During the construction process, we either had to go out the back way of the farm, which was rougher than the original dirt road, or be dropped off and walk in. It was inconvenient, but we now can finally drive a paved road all the way to the farm.
All of this may seem like no real big deal, unless you saw people from the community working to get the road smooth and ready to be paved, along with digging deep ditches on each side and mixing concrete with dirt to create a solid layer for the asphalt to be poured. Yes, all by hand! Equipment used: shovels and wheelbarrows. Everyday, people from the local municipality and people from the community put in long days of hard labor . . . for months. Pouring all of that muscle and sweat into a project has made the community quite proud of the road. They have “cleaning” days regularly scheduled to clean up any mini landslides that may have slidden on to the road, pick up trash, etc.
We can’t wait for those of you have visited us before to boast again and experience our new smooth ride to the farm.
P.S. Just be prepared for the many speed bumps!
