I am very happy to announce that the trip from Monte Azul to Quepos, the gate way to Manuel Antonio, is now only 1:40. Last week Carlos and I took a trip to Manuel Antonio to look at a project and were quite shocked at the short time that it took to get there. The 42 kilometers from Dominical to Quepos has been a notorious stretch of road that could take 3 hours. It was slow-going on a dusty gravel road full of enormous holes and rickety 1 lane bridges. By the time you reached the end of this stretch your body felt tired, battered and dusty.
The Costa Rican government had been talking about improving this stretch of road for years. Everyone was skeptical. The hold up was the fact that so many bridges needed to built because of all the small rivers flowing to the ocean. Construction of these bridges began about 2 years ago. After the bridges were completed, the road would be raised, widened and paved, connecting all these bridges. The completion date was to be December 2009. Everyone laughed at this date, including me.
The Costa Rican government had been talking about improving this stretch of road for years. Everyone was skeptical. The hold up was the fact that so many bridges needed to built because of all the small rivers flowing to the ocean. Construction of these bridges began about 2 years ago. After the bridges were completed, the road would be raised, widened and paved, connecting all these bridges. The completion date was to be December 2009. Everyone laughed at this date, including me.
Then, we took this route to Manuel Antonio and were shocked. We left Monte Azul and arrived at Domiical in about 1 hour. This road was improved 2 years ago. We then turned north towards Quepos. The road is still gravel for the first 10 minutes then the new pavement started. Carlos and I looked at each other in disbelief. It is fantastic. The road is wide, smooth and marked with road lines and stripes. Less than 40 minutes later we were in Quepos feeling great. No more teeth-rattling potholes stretching for miles. No more dust clouds from the cars and trucks in front of and behind you. No more treacherous turns or sudden drops. No more ancient 1 lane bridges.
I am confident that the road will be completely finished by December 2009 as scheduled which will make the trip even shorter. It is an end of an era. An era that I am very glad to see go. We can now get to and from Manuel Antonio easily and quickly. And our hotel guests can come and go to the central coast easily and quickly as well.
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