'The Road' is the main road in the island of Saba
Located on the tiny Dutch Caribbean island of Saba, The Road is a marvel of engineering. It’s the main road of the island and runs from the airport to the harbor, passing all 4 villages of the island. Its construction was masterminded by Josephus Lambert Hassell who, despite the common opinion of Dutch and Swiss engineers, believed that a road could be built.
The road, which looks more like a giant’s sidewalk, is 10.6 km long. It’s made of concrete and goes from the airport, through Hell’s Gate, Windwardside, St. John and The Bottom (Saba’s 4 villages). People once believed The Road could not be built on Saba Island until civil engineer Josephus Lambert Hassell took a correspondence course in engineering and organized a crew of locals to start construction in 1938. Nine years later, the road was completed. The first car would arrive in another four years.
The road is narrow, with several sections impassable for 2 cars at the same time. Driving "The Road" is an experience in itself... It's normal for your palms to sweat looking at those photos, imagine what it must have been like before the barriers. The road includes very steep sections because the island is basically one big volcano with steep hills and slopes on all sides climbing over 1,200 feet in less than a mile. Driving The Road is considered to be a daunting task, and the curves in Windwardside are extremely difficult to negotiate.
Driving is on the right hand side. As you wind and twist the chiseled cliff sides you may struggle to focus on the amazing panoramas of the neighboring islands, old fashion villages and varied seascapes. A plethora of ecological zones await. Meandering from dry tundra up to dense tropical vegetation, winding past many steep drop offs as you go... The views are spectacular! Ascending the "Mountain Road", which ends at the Mt. Scenery trail, brings you to the highest point of the road which is over 1800ft above sea level! So don't be surprised whilst driving (or being driven) on Saba, to slip from bright warm sunshine into cool mystical cloud.
Road suggested by: sebas van hemert
Pic: Eveline de Vree http://www.sabatourism.com/sabasroad.html