Las Cascadas – A Priceless Amenity

Recently I had the opportunity to take a couple of real estate professionals to view Cascadas del Tue. The visit had been planned a month or so in advance, which gave me an opportunity to correct the small amount of erosion damage done by the record amount of rain which had fallen since May.

Last year, (2010) we cut a rough road in to make it simpler to show off the property to potential investors. Whilst broadly following the construction plans, we omitted two of the illustrated drainage areas, in order to see what the effects the winter rains would have in practice, before committing additional finance to the project, which may or may not have proved necessary.

To my delight, when I made my assessment earlier this year, following a particularly wet and prolonged rainy season, I found that the damage from erosion had been slight. This was because I had made sure that sufficient sideways slope had been worked into the longer and steeper slopes of the road in order to drain the water directly sideways into the jungle. The first cut and the first rain last year had produced devastating effect, as the local foreman had insisted on following what he assured me was normal practice, which seems to be to encourage the rain to follow the length of the road downhill. This ensures an accumulation of gallonage the further the water runs, and the maximum resultant erosion as rainfall turns into a veritable river, scouring the soft spots as it goes and cutting impassable trenches into the road surface.

I might be making cynical assumptions here, but perhaps the access road to the Millennium Bridge has suffered the accumulative effects of similar tons of advancing water.

Along the public but unmaintained track, leading to my private concealed entrance, a tree had fallen. The offending lateral branches had already been removed so that any car or SUV could drive beneath the fallen trunk which spanned both banks of the track; but in order to gain access with a bulldozer the tree would need to be removed. 

So, just in time for my visiting delegation, at the inevitably gringo inflated cost, the tree was removed and the essential road repairs put in place.

All was worthwhile. My visitors were thrilled with what they saw; describing the “Cascadas” as a priceless amenity with additional fascination for geologists in the shape of the unique rock formations which surround it. I have always thought the same, but it is reassuring when a potential buyer is so awestruck as to undermine his own bargaining position with such unbridled enthusiasm.

Excellent suggestions were put forward as to development possibilities, which had not previously dawned on me; not only for capital appreciation and alternative exit strategies, but also for methods to secure a long term income stream.

I have now put in plan a revision of the second stage application in order to incorporate these suggested conceptual improvements.