Land

Last week we went back to Veraguas, the province to look for some land on which to start our tourism business. When we were there in January/February last year, our interest went out to the area around Morillo. The beach there is quite good for surfing and swimming. But land there is expensive and due to a change in the law, many landowners are still acquiring title deeds over the 200m closest to the beach. Until last year, you could only lease the land from the high water mark to 200m inland. Many farmers only go through the process once they know they want to sell, or have already found a buyer.

The plot that had our interest, was about 3.5 hectare in two pieces divided by a small tidal creek river and some mangrove forest. The owner wants about 240,000 U$ for that plot. Another plot of 47 hectares with 200 m beach front was for sale for 750,000U$. Neither of the plots has direct road access, nor water, electricity or phone connections. There are also no villages nearby and no shops or bars. So apart from a hefty sum of money for the actual land, we would also need a lot to build our little resort.

Therefore we decided to have a look around for plots that are close to, but not actually bordering on, the beach. Those plots tend to be a lot cheaper, but still have a lot of potential. While looking around, we were approached by a young guy who had 180 hectares for sale at 500 U$ per hectare, with see view and not too far away. But to get there you had to go by foot, or use a roundabout road only accessible with 4 wheel drive. We decided to check it out. Kees went ahead with the guy and Loes went to get some water because we brought none and she would follow later together with Rodrigo, our friend.

After about a one hour strenuous hike, crossing a fair-sized river at a shallow point and walking mostly uphill, Kees and the guy were still not at the plot. Loes and Rodrigo got lost, but could see Kees somewhere ahead climbing towards the hilltop where the plot was supposed to start. At the one hour point, Kees could see where it was, but that was at least another half hour by foot and still uphill. Yes, the view was marvelous, but you almost needed binoculars to see the sea. So we decided to give it a miss and return to the car. On the way back we got a good drenching by the first rain shower of that day (it is the rainy season).

We looked at two other plots, significantly closer to the sea and the road etc. than the other one. And twice we got rained upon. Oh well, since we were not made of sugar, we didn’t melt as the Dutch saying goes and it helps to keep your head cool. But it was rather nice to be able to wash and dry off and dump our clothes in a dryer at the house of the friend of the owner (are you still with us?) after the visit.

The two latter plots look quite promising and the little village nearby also appears to be nice. There are about 135 people living there (30 households) and the village has a primary school with 25 pupils, two shops, and buses stop four times a day. If you want to have something to eat in the one shop that doubles as restaurant, you have to give advance warning. All inhabitants belong to some Christian sect that forbids alcohol consumption, so you can’t buy alcohol in the village and people lead a sober life (sorry, couldn’t resist that one). However, rumour has it that they don’t take that rule too seriously and occasionally slip away to the next village for a drink or two.

Another interesting point is that the villagers have started a small association to protect the turtles nesting on their beach. During the egg laying season they patrol the beach and after the turtles have laid their eggs, the patrol digs the eggs up. The eggs are buried again on the beach in a special enclosure that keeps out the dogs. Dogs apparently are the main threat to turtles here. The villagers have been doing this for a couple of years and have had assistance from Peace Corps. In the last year they claim to have seen an increase in the number of turtles that come to nest on the beach.

The association is now going to apply for a concession to manage the beach, so they can continue with this work. Beaches are in principle public and anyone can do whatever (s)he wants to as long as it is not illegal, even if that endangers the turtles. The association obviously wants to prevent that. And since they cannot prevent developers buying surrounding land, they can ensure that they have the right to manage the beach as they see fit. To do this, they have asked support from a local NGO called Mar Viva.

There is also a local boat builder in the village, and we are thinking of letting him build us a boat so we can take people for a tour to the nearby Cebaco Island or to Coiba island, which is a World heritage Site. So, there are exiting developments and we will keep you informed.