Ladera Working Day Number Two

The Internet connection here is shaky so I feel like I am trying to write, think, post and select photo's as fast as I can, seems I just get going and oops I've lost it. Hitting the save key a lot. There is so much to tell and show. I started this blog because I was working here in 08 having such a blast that I needed to talk about it. Two years later about 3/4 of the work I did still looks pretty good the rest was either destroyed due to new construction, neglect or is already overgrown.



I am here because hurricane Tomas smacked Ladera and much of the southern part of the island, most of the damage was from Canneries to Vieux Fort, the north was pretty much unscathed. Vieux Fort is still without water nearly 30 days after the storm, I was there today getting supplies and you would not know they had no water except for the giant government water tankers on the street. The island received 26" of rain in 30 hours, the rain caused massive mud slides which resulted in structural damage, loss of lives and nearly an entire village being wiped out.

Repairs at Ladera are being grabbed by the horns with an aggressive plan to reopen 15 units by December 15th and an additional 7 units or more by Christmas. I am currently staying in a most deluxe accommodation, one of the original new Tace Hill units I was contracted to landscape in 2008, this place is still spectacular even storm ravaged.



Of course the main concern is to make sure nothing slides down the mountain. This is being accomplished through the installation of gabions, wire baskets filled with local river stone (which is now even easier to obtain, having washed down the mountains) that are terraced into retaining walls. The first layer of gabions is buried, acting as a footer, the next ones are set back for greater stability. All this work is done by hand since no equipment can reach the slide areas. For lack of a better explanation Ladera is cantilevered on top of the mountain ridge. Over 300 hundred ton of rock has been installed and there is still much to go.



I am hopeful that I will be able to load some video at some point but with this connection I will not hold my breath, today I got some good video of the work and some excellent photo's. One of our tasks was tool shopping in Vieux Fort, we needed to buy flour for the restaurant and after much searching found it in what was basically a hardware store, you got to love that. Additionally, I went in search of grass seed and my driver Trevor took me to a garden center I never knew existed. They had seeds; watermelon, cantaloupe, tomatoes, etc., in a glass case under lock and key. The price for a small package of most seeds was 35EC which is about two times US, so the Us price would be $ 17.00 per package, think I know what to smuggle.
It is strange, Ladera is jamming with activity from 7 am till 6 pm then it goes dead quiet. There are only three rooms occupied, me the owner and his daughter and son in law, tonight Mr. Hooper gave me a whistle in case I need assistance at night from the security guards, actually it is pretty far out. Peaceful and secure. Ladera's motto is a View with a Room and they aren't kidding. Each room has at one exterior wall facing the Caribbean, I fall asleep each night yearning for morning just to inhale the view.