The scandalous state of the coastal roads of the Pacific Coast is holding back tourism and is isolating some of the most gorgeous beaches of the country. Fewer tourists are able to reach these precious areas because they can only be accessed through roads that are either unpaved full of pot holes and usually flooded. A simple journey between two beaches becomes an endurance trip lasting the entire day, if you are lucky enough to travel in a 4X4. If you are travelling from Flamingo to Playas del Coco means you will need to go to Sardinal first, a small town totally out of the way, and from there head off to El Coco. Should you be undertaking a trip from Tamarindo to Avellanas, you’d be taking one of the most scenic roads of the country; however you might never get there! At the risk of stalling while trying to cross a river, or getting flat tires in the middle of the jungle, the trip is as hazardous as if you were trying to cross the Amazon! The pace is more stagnant than if you had decided to do it by foot!

The Samara-Nosara-Ostional stretch is no better, if not worse! This beautiful road is often closed during the rainy season, with rivers breaking out of their beds and bridges collapsing. Goods supplies are on hold for weeks, including basic food. The bridge near Ostional has become so rusty that it is now down right dangerous to use it; the Montana river is known to flood the entire area every year to the extent that it becomes impossible to even get anywhere by foot, car, or truck!

Puntarenas also has its jewels: Routes between Montezuma, Malpais, Sta Teresa and El Carmen are a disgrace; the buses can barely make it through the sinuous slippery path and it takes ten times longer to get there than it should.

There seem to be a repetitive pattern; the roads are paved up to a certain point, and all of the sudden it just stops, without any apparent reason, and the rest of it is left to the hands of Mother Nature.

The MOPT, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, has announced publicly that this sad state of affairs is about to change with five separate plans, including 27 new bridges. We will soon see if this time, there will be less words and more action coming from the government.

Twenty seven houses were lost, and five bridges had to be indefinitely closed down following last Tuesday’s heavy rain fall. More than 150 people have found themselves homeless, many of these with nowhere to go! The Province of Heredia seems to have gotten the worst of it; seven houses were literally dragged down by the flow of water as the rain kept pouring down. Fallen trees, flooded roads and impassable bridges has put Sto Domingo de Heredia to a stand still, San Pablo has also reported some twenty homes badly damaged.

The provinces of Puntarenas and Guanacaste have suffered losses too, of which the town of Tilaran, near the Arenal Volcano.

Heredia did however get hit harder.   Over 100 people found themselves homeless overnight and had to be evacuated. The rivers grew so large that the bridges became unsafe, as the level of the water reached 12 meters. This meant that many towns found themselves totally isolated. Students were unable to go to school and essential goods like milk and basic food supplies could not make it through and reach the affected areas.

In San Carlos, the main water supply got contaminated when some pipes burst and what came out of the taps was mud, not water…

According to the National Meteorological Institute, the amount of water that came pouring down on Tuesday was the equivalent of the expected monthly rainfall. The figures, however, make you think: Liberia, in Guanacaste, received 68 liters per square meter that day; in July it got 117 for the whole month! The central valley received an average of 210 square meters. The institute however reminds us that this is just normal rainy season behavior! Landslides are expected around the country and some areas have been put under alert, notably the Central and South Pacific. Who says there is not enough water!