Following the last storm with winds up to 100/km/hr the town of Quepos is cleaning up to get back to business as usual.
The first step was for everyone to clean their own homes and backyards, and now Quepeños are gathering all together to clean up the commerical areas and the Manuel Antonio National Park, with the help of the local guides led by Karen Castillo.
On Sunday 75% of the major trails were were ready and waiting for the tourists to come back. ICE is now working on the electric line for the park changing 4 posts and rehabilitating 2km of electric lines, which should be finished by the end of the day. With a 25 person crew and 5 trucks, the work is going full speed. ICE is doing a great job.
Of course many professionals from around the country are here to help. ICE is leading the way with over 200 special emergency personnel including over 30 trucks. The emergency teams are working around the clock to reinstall over 30 electric posts which service over 7000 local residenst and 50 hotels.
Incredible work has been done so far and we hope in the next couple of days things should be close to being back to normal.
But the most important economic motor of the area has also suffered great damage. The Manuel Antoniuo National Park lost a great numbers of trees,
and many of the trails have been damaged by the wind and storm. The Quepeños have also been there during this time of emergency and are now working hard to re-establish the situation.
Over 25 park guides have been working with MINAET for the last 5 days in order to reopen the park where over 275,000 tourists come visit every year.
The zone of Quepos is a small fishing town where tourism started arriving over 37 years ago with the creation of the National Park. The National Park changed the local economy and led the way as one of the best beach destinations in Costa Rica. The Manuel Antonio National Park now generates the greatest revenue of all parks but still needs major infrastructure work.
On Monday MINAET will evaluate the damage and the progress made in order to open the park on Tuesday. As most hotels are empty as this time due to the storm, every local resident is looking forward to hosting tourists from around the world and showing the beautiful nature that Quepos & Manuel Antonio have to offer.
Mopt is also contributing with a small crew of 10 guys but are expecting an additional 20 guys on Monday to clean up after ICE finishes the major work on the electricity lines.
By: Richard Lemire
