First day of construction or maybe thats getting ahead of ourselves! Well, let's call it day 1 of having the digger and its expert operator Hirardo up at the project. Work starts at the crack of dawn on the off chance that we still get caught by a stubborn afternoon rainshower (which would mean all digging would stop and shelter would have to be sought - I'm sure you've gathered by now that when it rains here it really does 'tirar boldazos'!
In the end what was previously estimated a costly 18-20 hours work was done on a very productive & speedy 7am-5pm 10 hour day. Let's hope this is a sign of whats to come and its not the only thing that comes in under budget!
The job in hand was essentially moving whats called a 'pedazo de tierra' or a large mound of hard clay earth and then depositing it on the corner of our existing plantel, layer by layer, compacting at each stage so that when the rains do eventually return (hopefully not until atleast May now) there is no danger of a landslide! By the end of the day I'd say iur existing plantel is a good 10 metres bigger which will be great for phase 2 of PuraVidaEcolodge.
Hirardo our 'operario' made it all look very easy but there really was an art to the 'digging and depositing' process, taking into account that the area he was cutting into had the be left flat and solid as it will be our plantel or 'building pad' for our first jungle villa.
By mid afternoon the intense sun was already effectively baking the fresh cut of earth now exposed to the elements, a couple of hours later thedigger had completed its last task of leveling out the 'servidumbre' and access road so that access to the project is that little bit easier and flatter, then it was time to shut down the digger and head for home. The 10 minute ride back down to the sea at sunset time is truly amazing. After the days digging, scraping, beeping and flattening it was so still and quiet, tucans and other colourful macaws flying round in pairs apparently looking for a nice tree in which to rest there wings for the night, meanwhile the air drew lighter and the sky filled with the magical colours of the pacific 'atardecer' or sunset. A perfect finish to a very productive day.
The next day we were all up early and waiting for Roberto, the engineer coming down from San Jose and the contractor to meet us up at the project. They eventually rocked up mid morning all very typical 'mas o menos' time keeping. I guess I should know by now that 'ahorita' (literally translating as 'right now') in context here in Costa Rica, can mean anything from now to the next hour and a half, likewise 8.30am doesnt really mean 8.30am, but rather anytine between 8am and maybe 10am!!!
Anyway, once on site all ran smootly, re-marking where the foundations will go now we had the details of the new ground floor plans. Essentially the size and orientation of the jungle villa won't really change but the ground floor has moved about 2.5metres to the right and the 1st floor between 1 & 1.5metres. All this in an effort to not have as much of the house hanging scarily over the steep jungle canopy. The engineers final verdict was that the quality of the earth where the cut has been made (where the retaining wall will go) and where the plantel begins are sufficiently hard enough, again confirming the 'estudio de suelos' (land study) that we got done a few months ago.
While disappointing that we won't actually be starting construction till January 2nd, it is comforting to hear from all involved that with the re-design and the 'first cut' complete, the construction phase should carry few surprises and complications and if all runs to plan could be complete by mid april.
The next few days will be taken up with chasing Raphael and Jorge, two local carpenters, for their quotes for all the teak and bambu sluding doors as well as a few visits to both Palmar & Cortes where we hope to get the insurance policy forbuilding and pick up the permits!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment