We've done it, we've raped the mountain! (and it was so unnecessary...)
Following the wishes of the written word, we called the backhoe out again to make the alterations required by the people from the local office. Admitting to their "powerlessness," since we've already jumped over their heads by talking to the regional office, the only thing they could ask us was to respect the definitions of the property-lines, which the document clearly states is straight. So we had the big machine straighten out what nature never intended to be straight.
The story of this road, by the way, is the same as many roads in the area: It was placed in a river-wash, because those are considered federal land, which nobody can own, and nobody wants to allocate even an inch of their own land for such trivial things as roads. As a result, erosion is rampant, and sometimes the whole mountainside collapses in a landslide. This is what happened here as well, meaning that "constructing" the road consisted only of flattening the top of the eroded dirt. This is what the local office was defending so fiercely as their "main street" which we came to mess with. Sorry for trying to prevent a similar unplanned road construction. However, the locals are primarily concerned with selling their land to foreigners (which Zapata fought hard for, so their grandfathers could receive), so preserving the mountain is not a high priority. The new owners will surely do that (just make sure they do it the right way).
... Which we do. Being good foreigners, we do what's expected: Go to town-hall meetings to get to know the locals, let us get Shanghaied into a so called tequío (communal work share) of buying a concrete post for the cemetery and even setting it up in the ground (!) Similarly, we also removed the last edge of the hill, which according to the paperwork was not part of the property, but the road. As a result we're facing a much higher drop-off, and our idea of a retaining wall has moved much closer to a daunting challenge. At the same time, it has become much more urgent than ever...
Life on the Property
Getting over the "Oh Lord, what have we done!" shock, we went ahead as planned: I relocated my tent to the site, where I fill a number of tires every day. It is hard work, but not any worse than a good workout. Brings to mind the (maybe not so) famous Earthship saying: The tire-wall is my gym. Other than that, I've got the biggest pool in the world, called the Pacific Ocean, less than a two minute walk from the property. The air is clean, the trees full of birds, no ambulance or police sirens to interrupt my silence, and if neighbors put on music, it's so faint that it gets easily drowned in the ocean surf.
Of course there are challenges. Water and power being the most important ones. Ironically, Wifi is one thing I have in abundance. It's not very fast, but very constant. And most importantly, strong enough that I don't even have to go down to consume in the hotel. Power, however, is still not installed. The solar system requires a certain piece (or a pirate-electrician's tweak) to connect the battery to the adapter made for a car-lighter socket. The water situation is similar: drinking water is delivered to the hotel every day, and I can buy it fairly cheaply by the 20 liter garrafón. But non-drinking water, for washing, shower, etc. has to be brought in by Stephane, in another garrafón. He usually comes every day or so to bring me food and whatever else I may need.
Another interesting challenge of the site is the access: The original access walkway has been closed by a neighbor (this happens, not much you could do, especially since your property is right on the road), the quickest way to get on / off the property is also the straightest: a rope hanging down at the lowest point of the cut serves reasonably well to climb up and down on. Another rope, leading around a tree at a steep part, with a bucket hanging from it, is practical for hauling things up and down.
All in all, I'm enjoying myself here. The place is beautiful, work is enjoyable, and once I have power access I'll be able to blog straight from the site. Hopefully soon!