La Virgen to San Juan Del Sur Nicaragua
Jan 15th, 2008 by Wes
Roads, We need roads! This is the mantra of all emerging third world countries. The cry comes from resort developers, tourists, politicians, truck drivers, and even the 16 year-old with a drivers license and two door sedan with a taxi sign on the door. Infrastructure, roads, we need roads. When describing Nicaragua to friends, family and investors I use this analogy. For those of you familiar with the Oregon Coast in the USA, the Pacific Coast of Nicaragua is like Highway 101 along the Pacific Coast of Oregon - in 1920. I recently saw an old black and white photograph of an old model T or A, I don’t know vintage cars very well, driving down a 1 1/2 lane dirt and gravel road winding its way up and over some cliffs along the Pacific Coast. I thought, that looks like Nicaragua. The picture was titled, “Depot Bay 1922″. Having just enjoyed the well paved, two to four lane highway from Florence to Depot Bay I pondered this for a moment. Guard rails, pavement, proper rain run off and drainage, culverts, bridges, scenic turn-outs, newly painted yellow and white lines, passing lanes, and signs, yea street signs, lots of them, directional, informational, warnings and educational signs. All of this so I can tour the Oregon Coast in luxury and spend my tourist dollars in this state. The greatest tour destination in the state, the Pacific Ocean and her beautiful beaches. Roads, we love good roads.
The Main Highway running from Managua South to Costa Rica has some new paved sections. Driving this part of the country is pleasant. The scenery is wonderful, the hum of the pavement is familiar, and there is a sense of safety because of the width of the road and the smoothness of the ride. Turning off the Main Highway onto the road from La Virgen to San Juan Del Sur. Guide books will tell you it is paved, but I entered a rib busting, shock destroying, road unfit for the devil. This section of road is 19 kilometers long and is the main access to the largest community in Southwestern Nicaragua. For 40 miles North and 40 miles South, San Juan Del Sur is the hub of activity for this part of the country. SJDS is vital the economic stability of this part of the country. New developments are popping up everywhere. Tourism is doubling annually. Building is quickly becoming the largest economy. This town of 8000 holds the key to the future of the area.
Driving North or South out of SJDS our only choice is to use the 1 1/2 lane dirt road aptly named “El Chocolate”. This road is bad, very bad, undrivable during the raining season. I do not mind this road. It provides the sense of adventure I enjoy about Nicaragua. It helps me feel like I am exploring the new world and my imagination runs wild thinking about the early settlers of the Oregon Coast and what that was like. I can see myself in that Model T, or A, off to the beach, venturing where most tourist won’t venture because it is not easy. Yet, the 19 kilometer road from La Virgen is different. It is awful. It does not lend itself to the same meandering, it does not provide the ‘I will get there when I get there’ feeling the the El Chocolate does. It is a road that is supposed to service a destination, to be used commercially and to get people to the city. (see pictures below)
As for La Virgen, some of the road is paved, with pot holes large and small dotting the terrain. The small ones are worse than the big ones because as you dodge the big ones you hit the small ones and they eat tires. A quarter mile later the pavement is gone and the road is dirt and gravel with pot holes and mud and water and you have to follow the two wheel tracks that tell you where it is safe to be because the locals drive over it. Sometimes the inbound traffic merges with the outbound traffic because it is the only place on the road you can drive, so watch for the taxi driver coming from the other direction who is all of a sudden coming into your lane as your lane moves into his lane.
Then the paved section is back for a quarter mile, instead of relief it is actually more difficult to drive because you don’t have the tire tracks to follow for the best route over or around the pot holes. Simply put, what could take 10 to 15 minutes takes nearly an hour, and lot of abuse. I have a friend who bought property in SJDS in 1999. He tells me that they have been talking about paving this road long before he even showed up. When I told him last fall the road was to be paved, he said he would believe it when he drove it. Well, the announcement has been made. The World Bank is funding the project and construction is due to start this quarter. The 19 kilometer section of road servicing SJDS could be a reality.
This road will have an unprecedented affect on SJDS. The cost to get into and out of SJDS will decrease, time will be manufactured, the abuse of equipment will decrease, and, tourists who drive into town will not ever know the abuse we early adventures had to go through to get to SJDS, they will think it has always been this easy. Roads, we need roads. This new highway stretch will allow the tourist to get to SJDS so they can spend their money in that town and then return the following year because they loved the friendly people and the greatest tour attraction in Central America, the unadulterated, quiet, pristine beaches, miles and miles of beaches. The developers and politicians, the truck drivers and tourists are already screaming for more roads. They want El Chocolate to be paved from Costa Rica to Brito or more. This may happen one day, until then, enjoy the new highway into SJDS and then enjoy the ambiance of adventure as you travel the El Chocolate to the beaches. SJDS is going to profit greatly from this new 19 kilometer road and for those who invest in this area.
