Island Changes

The Pan-American Highway (Portuguese: Rodovia / Auto-estrada Pan-americana, Spanish:Autopista / Carretera / Ruta Panamericana) is a network of roads measuring about 47,958 kilometres (29,800 mi) in total length.^{[citation needed]} Except for an 87 kilometres (54 mi) rainforest break, called the Darién Gap, the road links the mainland nations of the Americas in a connected highway system. According to Guinness World Records, the Pan-American Highway is the world's longest "motorable road". However, because of the Darién Gap, it is not possible to cross between South America and Central America by traditional motor vehicle.

The Pan-American Highway system is mostly complete and extends from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, in North America to the lower reaches of South America. Several highway termini are claimed to exist, including the cities of Puerto Montt and Quellón in Chile and Ushuaia in Argentina. No comprehensive route is officially defined in Canada and the United States, though several highways in the U.S. are called "Pan-American".

The Pan-American Highway passes through many diverse climates and ecological types, from dense jungles, to arid deserts, to cold mountain passes. Since the highway passes through many countries, it is far from uniform. Some stretches of the highway are passable only during the dry season, and in many regions driving is occasionally hazardous.

Famous sections of the Pan-American Highway include the Alaska Highway and the Inter-American Highway (the section between the United States and the Panama Canal). Both of these sections were built during World War II as a means of supply of remote areas without danger of atta ck by U-boats.^{[citation needed]}

Jake Silverstein, writing in 2006, described the Pan-American Highway as "a system so vast, so incomplete, and so incomprehensible it is not so much a road as it is the idea of Pan-Americanism itself…"^[1] 

 (Taken from Wikipedia)

I return to Chiloé, the island in southern Chile, to kilometer 1 of the Pan-American Highway after ten years.  I am amazed by the changes.  Ten years ago,  the salmon hatcheries were just beginning to produce  for the global market.  Chile is now the second producer of salmon worldwide, with hundreds of hatcheries around the island of Chiloe creating jobs as well as high levels of pollution in the water.  Ten years ago, the Pan-American highway dwindled town to a narrow road with no shoulders and winding through fishing villages, but now, while still being two lane, it has shoulders, new bridges and by-passes.  Some things are still the same, though.  We still had to load the car onto a narrow ferry for a 30 minute ride across the Chacao Channel.  The construction of a bridge across the channel has been bounced from one presidential term to the next,  project after project dying in a mess of political excuses and debates.  The ferry ride is a great tourist attraction, but a challenge for the Islanders who must cross the Channel for many needs and services, including the nearest hospital.

Other changes I witnessed:

Island Changes

Pave the highway

and the supermarket replaces

the open air space where potatoes

are sold in square wooden tubs.

The casino becomes a warm, dry

money losing game, no more 

cards or chess under the 

dripping trees of the plaza.

The mall shoots skyward

four full floors of high heeled shoes,

pantyhose, ties and lipstick

for fisher folk to purchase

and lug home

to nests perched on stilts,

anxious to place the first satellite

dish and decorate the

quaint rooftops with

modernity.

EH

July 2012