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UXUA Casa Hotel, Brazil

August 27, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Who They Are

In the remote village of Tracosco on the lush southeastern coast of Bahia, you’ll find the unique UXUA Casa Hotel. Conceived by Dutch-born Wilbert Das (fashion designer and longtime creative director for Diesel, the hip clothing line), the gorgeously bright and airy hotel took over two years to build using recycled materials in this tribute to the area Das loves so much.

Casa Seu Pedrinho do Quadrado

Six of the nine 1- to 3-bedroom casas or cottages (three are restored fishermen homes) are scattered around beautiful gardens, while the remaining three face the town square. Some are equipped with plunge pools, some with a Jacuzzi, and others nestle in the gardens and on terraces. Each casa has an open living room and a full kitchen where local chefs will help the culinary-adventurous create local Bahian feasts in their own casa. Meals are also served in the restaurant, at the pool, are delivered to your casa or can be taken at the beach just five minutes away. On the sand there’s a scenic lounge whose bar and kitchen were created out of an abandoned fishing boat that washed up on shore.

The Aventurine Quartz Pool

The swimming pool was made by a local, self-taught “mosaicist,” who used over 40,000 unique green aventurine quartz pebbles, well known in this part of the world to be especially healing. There’s also a spa where, in addition to acupuncture, massages, yoga, and Pilates, you can take private classes in capoeira and forro dancing, which is extremely popular at most of the social activities in the village.

There’s plenty to do if lying on endless beaches is not your thing: trek, horseback ride, snorkel, dive, canoe, play tennis, visit the nearby Indian reserve Barra Velha, a national park that 500 Pataxo tribe families call home … or join a local soccer team in the square!

What They Are Doing

To build the lodge, Das recruited local craftsmen to construct eight individual, traditional casas and one treehouse using recycled and organic materials wherever possible, while applying the local building customs to create a lodge that fits into its surroundings. Almost everything was carved by hand, which includes some unique touches in the bathrooms that are made out of fallen trees. Hardwood roof tiles were restored from old farmhouses, local ceramics cover the floors, and recycled woods and irons make up the bathrooms to create the rustic ambiance.

Casa Quintal da Gloria

UXUA has also roped in an area containing native vegetation and mangroves. The lodge owners have partnered up with the local administration and have taken responsibility for keeping the mangroves and the beach clean.

The Spa

Bahia has high levels of illiteracy, and training for luxury hospitality services is uncommon.  Das wanted to employ locals so, two years before the hotel opened, he began a ‘hotel school’ on the property, where locals were given hospitality training by professionals from international hotel schools. In addition, all personnel who had not finished high school were put into classes to complete their diplomas, and those staff who lacked basic literacy skills were given one-on-one instruction.  Every one of the present staff of 45 has either finished high school or is in the hotel’s program to get a diploma. Three of those who got diplomas are now taking university courses in a neighboring town, with tuition and transportation provided by UXUA.

Medical benefits are provided to all staff, something extremely unusual for Bahia. They are also guaranteed employment year-round, also rare in this part of the world, where staff are hired seasonally. The hotel pays the salary of the local professor of capoeira, which guarantees that the town’s children and teenagers can practice this sport even if they can’t afford to pay for the classes.

Produce for the magnificent Brazilian fare served in the hotel is sourced locally.

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Filed Under: Brazil, Carbon Footprint, Community, Conservation, Education, Environment, Features, Health, Restoration & Repurposing, UXUA Casa Hotel Tagged With: bahia, capoeira, mangrove, pataxo, quartz, recycled

Clayoquot Wilderness Resort, Canada

August 20, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Safari, North American-Style

Who They Are

Inspired by late 19th century Great Camps, Clayoquot Wilderness Resort is located at the mouth of the Bedwell River, where it spills into a 9-mile-long fjord, an area teeming with birds and wildlife. Just a 45-minute boat ride from the town of Tofino on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, the area is reachable only by boat or seaplane.

Luxury Amidst the Canvas

The enclave, well concealed by the bush under the rainforest canopy, consists of 20 great white canvas safari-like guest tents – which are done, Great Camps-style, in Adirondack-type beds, down duvets, woodstoves, antique dressers, opulent rugs, and oil lamps – as well as massage and treatment tents, dining tents, lounge and library tents, and a massive timber cookhouse area. They are linked by cedar boardwalks. The Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Reserve contains a very rare temperate rainforest with towering cedars and Douglas fir trees, some over a thousand years old.

A Summer Night

Spa...aaahhh

The resort is open only from May through September, All activities and adventures are planned to make the most of the region’s history, people, natural environment, and wildlife. Upon arrival guests receive an orientation about the activities, which range from taking a spa to hiking (along trails such as the Wild Side First Nations Interpretive Trail, which include Flores Island), from horseback riding to whale and bear watching, from river and sea kayaking to numerous other sports. There is even yoga. Do as much or as little as you want – but always in the serene isolation.

A Black Bear and Cubs

What They Are Doing

When developing the resort the owners set out to be as mindful as possible of the surroundings. It built the resort with an emphasis on making a limited environmental impact while repairing past damage from logging and mining. It purchases and emphasizes local foods and wines, and it employs local First Nations people.

At a First Nations Ceremony

The Ahoushat First Nations Community, numbering about 1500, is based on Flores Island. Clayoquot has signed a tourism protocol agreement with them on matters regarding operating in their traditional territories, and is working with them to create a holistic healing center and on building a first-ever First Nations adventure park, which would include canopy walkways, zip-trekking, storytelling, dance, carvings, canoe building, and traditional cooking.

Your Playground

The resort donates its staff housing and some public spaces during the off season to the Ahoushat to use in drug- and alcohol-substance-abuse and family-issues programs. It also provides the participants with food.

The fish population in the Bedwell Watershed has declined significantly over the past 20 years and Chinook salmon are at critically low levels. In 2003, the resort began restoring more than six kilometers of crucial spawning habitats in the Bedwell River basin. This restoration work represents the only privately funded initiative of its kind in North America. To date, and with the assistance of corporate sponsors and resort guests, about 20,000 cubic meters of overburden  (gravel and debris jams) have been excavated to restore the pond channel, and additional excavation work is  being done upriver. Already, chum salmon have been seen digging egg nests in the new habitats, and this spring, young adults found their way back to the ocean.

Great Camps Style Bedroom

The resort has committed $3 million over five years to research, conservation, and rehabilitation. A 3-percent sustainability fee is included in every guest’s fees, one-third of which goes towards the nonprofit British Columbia Wilderness Tourism Association to assist in environmental stewardship activities. The remaining money goes to the Environmental Legacy Program that includes habitat restoration, First Nations programs, and wildlife studies. The resort is testing compostable plastics made from corn and potato to replace standard plastic items used in packed lunches. It is also its carbon footprint and intends to reduce the amount of carbon the resort expends by five percent a year. It is about to install hydropower by building a generator on the river.

Guests can be involved as much or as little as possible in Clayoquot’s raptor rehabilitation, salmon habitat restoration, black bear mapping, whale acoustics, and program working with the Roosevelt elk.

In Their Own Words

“We try to teach our guests as much as possible about sustainability and the environment to take a proactive step towards a better future for us all.”

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Filed Under: Canada, Carbon Footprint, Clayoquot Wilderness Resort, Community, Conservation, Environment, Features Tagged With: adventure, bear, chinook, elk, first nations, kayak, raptor, salmon, tofino

October in Saba

August 13, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Mt. Scenery, Saba

Once more this year on the Dutch Caribbean island of Saba, the non-profit foundation Sea & Learn will be putting on a fabulous learning program in the slower month of October. It will focus on environmental issues, particularly those important to the island.

The event brings to the island a variety of naturalists, scientists, and academics in fields ranging from sharks and dolphins to bats and orchids. Besides nightly presentations, participants can join field and research projects or assist in nature surveys. All events are free.

Not only are the events beneficial to the schools, locals, and after-school programs, but it brings business to the hotels, restaurants, and shops when traditionally there’s hardly anyone visiting this Caribbean island.  The restaurants get creative by putting together special menus at great prices. Good idea!

This year’s events include “The complex patterns of fish sex changes” by Graham Forrester, “What’s Rumbling with Caribbean Earthquakes” by Rod Stewart,  and “Where’s the Fish?” by Matt Potensky, a shark researcher who explains the dynamics of removing the top predator in our oceans.

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Filed Under: Community, Conservation, Education, Environment, News, Saba, The Americas Tagged With: marine

Feynan Ecolodge, Jordan

August 10, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Desert Life

Who They Are

Powerless Chic

Deep in the heart of the mountainous Jordanian desert, in a place known as the Wadi Feynan, lies an idyllic lodge quite unlike any other. Set against this glorious landscape, Feynan Ecolodge has 26 gorgeously simple rooms that all face the wadi. Because there is no electricity, light comes from candles – and we mean lots of candles! – and the showers are solar-powered. Spacious terraces, one on the roof, give you a view of the startling terrain by day and stars by night.

Situated about 215 km. south of Amman, off the Dead Sea-Aqaba highway, Feynan is not far from the famous archeological site of Petra and is in one of the oldest continuously inhabited areas in the world. The archaeological ruins date back more than 12,000 years, and there are some 100 sites are in the area, many under excavation and others still unexplored. Bedouin live traditionally in their tents in the surrounding valleys.

The Ruins of a Byzantine Church

A short walk from the lodge are Neolithic ruins that illustrate the shift from nomadic to village lifestyles are some of the oldest copper mines in the world, where Christian slaves were later worked to death by the Romans, a Roman aqueduct and mill, and remnants of Byzantine churches.

Two Rare Sinai Agama

Feynan is also situated in the 300-sq.-km. Dana Biosphere Reserve, which encompasses the four different bio-geographical zones of the country: Mediterranean, Irano-Turanian, Saharo-Arabian and Sudanian. Owing to its diverse elevations and geographical formations, Dana hosts a wide array of flora and fauna – more than 800 plant species, three of which are unique to the area, and 449 different animals that include threatened species such as the sand cat, the Syrian wolf, the lesser kestrel, and the spiny-tailed lizard. Dana also falls within the Dana Important Bird Area.

Au Naturel

What They Are Doing

Feynan employs its staff from the local Bedouin community, whose only alternative is to herd goats, which seriously damage the fragile environment. Part of Feynan’s revenue is allocated to helping conserve Dana and protecting endangered species. Water is sourced from nearby springs and is used carefully and under strict controls. Food excess and waste are composted to reuse as fertilizer.

Preparing the Evening's Lights

The solar-powered lodge illuminates its rooms with candles, which are made on site by Bedouin women. Other women work at an annex creating leather goods that are sold at Feynan and other reserves in Jordan. All transportation to and from the lodge, Petra, Aqaba, and elsewhere is provided by Bedouin using their own pickups, providing income to some 40 families. Feynan is introducing extracurricular programs to teach English and other subjects in English to local children at the community school.

The lodge is operated by EcoHotels and owned by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, a nongovernmental organization established in 1966 under the patronage of the late King Hussein and devoted to the preservation of Jordan’s natural resources. The RSCN introduced its people-centered approach to the management of protected areas in Dana in 1994.

The Wadi by Night

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Filed Under: Asia & Middle East, Carbon Footprint, Community, Conservation, Education, Environment, Features, Feynan Ecolodge, Jordan, Women Tagged With: archeology, bedouin, byzantine, candles, dana biosphere, desert

Mayakoba – The New Wave Riviera

August 5, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

The Heart of Mayakoba

Mayakoba is an anomaly. An area smack in the middle of the Mayan Riviera, it is almost the antithesis of everything the resort-laden Mexican coast has become known (and is often criticized) for. Though three of the world’s best-name hotels are on the property – Banyan Tree, Fairmont, and Rosewood – they are, untypically, not skyscrapers, rarely have a view of the ocean, and have been created with the utmost care for the environment. “In nature but sophisticated,” one of the developers called it.

Canal Transport is an Electric Boat

When the Spanish company OHL began planning the 640-acre Mayakoba in the late ‘90s, it first spent a number of years studying the ecosystem of the region, halfway between Cancún and Tulúm, with a view to making as little impact as possible. Now Mayakoba is starting to become a beacon for sustainability in Latin America – it is the act to follow.

While other Mexican resort hotels in the Yucatan Peninsula often tear out the mangrove and destroy the coastal dunes in order to build right on the beach, Mayakoba did not. A network of canals were created using the underground water arteries, which gave access to the sea but also meant that many of the hotel buildings would have to be built virtually out of sight of the ocean. When the land was ready, the first (and what would become the largest)  hotel, the 401-room Fairmont, opened in 2006. The 132-villa Banyan Tree opened in 2009. Mayakoba has made provision for six hotels, although only five will be allowed.

El Camaleon Golf Course

Today a third of Mayakoba’s undeveloped land is mangrove, ten percent is coastal dune (much of which has had to be revived after the double whammy of the hurricanes of 2005 and 2007), and the remainder is jungle. When the resort’s PGA-ranked golf course was created, it was done in such a way that not a drop of irrigation water could reach the subterranean rivers below them, and a type of grass was used that needs little fertilizer or chemicals and can be irrigated with salt water.

Mangrove Wildlife

The thirty or so species of fish, birds, and vertebrates in the area before Mayakoba’s creation have since increased some tenfold. No fishing is allowed on the property. Five on-site biologists led by Luis Ortiz keep an eye on everything from the quality of the water in the canals and the importation of exotic plants species – Banyan Tree, the Asia-based hotel group whose first hotel this is in the Americas, was refused permission to bring in its typical foliage – to rescuing injured wild animals and abandoned dogs and cats (something the Yucatan Peninsula is infamous for). Each hotel also has environmental officers.

Suite Life at the Mayakoba Rosewood

Perhaps some of Mayakoba’s most significant contributions have been to the local communities. This being the area where chewing gum originally came from, locals are assisted in revitalizing the tree-gum industry, as well as that of the stingless Mayan honey bee. Both honey and chewing gum are sold at the Banyan Tree, and the profits go to the communities. The other two hotels have their own social programs. The 2010 PGA tournament at the Mayakoba golf course collected one million dollars for local charities, and one day a month the course is open to anyone to come in for a lesson and a free meal.

The Banyan Tree Mayakoba

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Filed Under: Community, Conservation, Environment, Features, Mayakoba, Mexico Tagged With: banyan tree, coastal dune, fairmount, golf, mangrove, ohl, rosewood

Le Quartier Francais, Franschhoek, South Africa

July 24, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Le Quartier Courtyard

Who They Are

Le Quartier Français is an exclusive boutique hotel situated in the stunning yet quaint town of Franschhoek, just 50 minutes from Cape Town, in a spectacular valley that is a must for any food or wine lover. Always on hand and keeping an eye on keeping the hotel’s sterling name is the larger-than-life owner, Susan Huxter.

A Feast of Colors

A Grande Room

Tucked away in secluded gardens, you wouldn’t think that LQF’s gorgeously decorated rooms and suites, with their mountain views, are still so central. It is so quiet that you could be in the countryside, yet you are close enough to stroll to the myriad shops and eateries springing up in this increasingly popular hideout. Huxter has also created a fantastic shop selling local things that will leave you with your arms loaded, as well as a private 30-seater moviehouse.

The Four Quarters by Night

Lesotho Highlands Trout, Squid Ink, and Avocado

Known for its gastronomic experience – at restaurants ICI and the Tasting Room – LQF starts your day with a breakfast that is incomparable … and from there on it only gets better. Whether it is bistro lunches or homemade truffles or sensational sold-out dinners, they all come from the kitchen of award-winning chef Margot Janse and her team. Make sure to ask LQF about their range of cooking and eating adventures.

What They Are Doing

Three years ago 68-year-old Mrs. Ndaba (LQF prefers to not give out her first name) began a nursery school in her little pink shack in the informal local settlement Langrug, and she soon had 67 toddlers – aged two to six – to support and teach, but with no funding. Hearing about this in 2009, LQF, with the aid of a dietitian, began a program to make muffins crammed full of all the daily nutritional requirements growing children need. These are delivered every Friday, and any interested guests and visitors can not only join in the delivery but help bake the muffins. (Watch a video of Mrs. Ndaba’s Fridays, below, with a funky soundtrack.)

But that’s only where the story starts. On the very first day of the Friday program, one guest was so inspired that he offered to fund meals at the school for every Monday for a year. He became known as Mister Monday. Before long, every day of the week had been sponsored, even by people who had not stayed at LQF.

The Cottage Entrance

A significant portion of the produce used in the restaurants is sourced locally and come from very small producers who knock on the back door with their produce of the day, and LQF’s restaurants support Streetsmart, which adds money on to each diner’s bill to finance programs that help street children. The hotel also contributes to the Kusasa Project, which is aimed at improving the lives of underprivileged children. LQF also supplies food to the local soup kitchen, and it donates its old linens to the local hospice.

iCi, the Restaurant

LQF has a three-year in-house training program focused on local kids who have completed high school. Of the 15 who have completed the course, a number have worked at Wheatleigh and Blantyre, both luxury hotels in Lenox, Massachusetts, as well as at Singita.

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Filed Under: Community, Education, Features, Health, Le Quartier Francais, South Africa Tagged With: gastronomy, huxter, ndaba

Jicaro Island Ecolodge, Nicaragua

July 14, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Afloat at Jicaro

Who They Are

Started by London businesswoman Karen Emanuel after she saw a sign ‘Island for Sale’ when she was visiting Nicaragua in 2007 – and then she bought it! – Jicaro is barely a year old and is already attracting praise and awards. Located not far from the ocean on a private island in Lake Nicaragua, its 9 casitas that look across the water to Mombacho volcano are all extremely private but only a short walk from the pool, the wellness center, and the main facilities.

The Zen of a Casita

Each casita has two levels, with the large bedroom above, and both floors have spacious decks to take in the views. The restaurant’s menu has plenty of options and prides itself on the selection of fresh fish from the lake and the sea, local vegetables and fruit, and locally raised chicken and beef. Besides yoga sessions and a variety of massage and wellness treatments, Jicaro offers tours to the historic Zapatera island and the volcano, hikes, and boating.

A Casita Hidden in the Greenery

An interesting aside: Guests can learn about local foods’ history, uses, and the different ways it can be prepared. Papayas, for instance, can be turned into juice, jam, pickled sauce, or a salad with feta cheese. Eat up!

What They Are Doing

Jicaro couldn’t do better than to take its sustainability lead from Costa Rica, which is exactly what it did. The team in charge of managing Jicaro has a decade-long track record in the field.

Built entirely from timber reclaimed from trees blown down by 2007’s Hurricane Felix, the buildings and furniture are made of tropical hardwoods which have a controlled wood certification. This the lodge did in conjunction with Simplemente Madera, designers and builders of both furniture and buildings in Jicaro that were already supporting sustainable forestry with the indigenous communities in the hurricane-affected areas before the devastation.

The Pool

Though still in its early stages, Jicaro is developing a program to work with local schools, focusing on environmental education, providing supplies and materials, and building infrastructure. To start with, they will work with three schools and just over 200 children, all under the age of 12.

From August through December, the Learning is Change program will, for two hours a week, use art, music, drama, and multimedia in order to expand the children’s approach to learning. Subjects to be taught with a combination of textbooks, hands-on activities, games, and field trips will include conservation, climate change, flora and fauna of the Nicaragua Lake, and sustainability. In order to achieve this, Jicaro is working with, as well as training, one of the female community leaders and four young adults from the local islands.

Kayaking on Lake Nicaragua

Three times a year Jicaro will give financial aid, in the form of infrastructure, supplies, and materials, to where they are most needed in the three schools. It will work in coordination with World Vision.

Starting in July, all employees will be take 6-hour courses that cover biodiversity, water, climate change, and sustainability. Each month after that there will be a field trip, homework activity, and a relevant guest speaker.

Recycling in Nicaragua is not as widespread as in Costa Rica, but last month saw the introduction of the employee recycling program.  Though it is voluntary, each employee is strongly encouraged to separate their garbage at home and then bring it to the hotel, which will dispose of it with the hotel’s recyclables.

A Lake Resident

In Their Own Words

“It is part of our goal to have sustainability streamlined into the lives of the people that work for us. We feel that exposing them thoroughly to the issues, making it fun and creative, will awaken a passion of some sort in them and motivate them to start making changes in their lives.”

Upstairs at a Casita

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Filed Under: Carbon Footprint, Community, Conservation, Education, Environment, Features, Jicaro Island Ecolodge, Nicaragua, Restoration & Repurposing, Women Tagged With: cayuga, Costa Rica, forest, yoga

Guludo Beach Lodge, Mozambique

July 12, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

A Dhow on Rolas Island

Who They Are

Far in the northern extremes of Mozambique, beyond Pemba in the Querimbas Archipelago, lies the beach oasis of Guludo Beach Lodge. Set up by Amy and Neal Carter-James, a young English couple who passionately believed that quality tourism could benefit poor, rural communities, Guludo goes much further in achieving sustainable tourism than countless resorts around the world that are many times bigger.

A Tented Banda by Night

Designed to blend in with the landscape without impacting it, the four types of accommodations all open up right onto the beach. The Adobe Bandas have king-size beds under a high thatched roof, and in the Tented Bandas your lodgings are beautifully furnished bespoke tents under thatch that let you feel a part of nature without losing the comfort. Also, there is the two-bedroom Family Banda and the more private Zala Suite.

The Simplicity of an Adobe Banda

If lazing on the white-sand beach gets boring, or you need a break from scuba-diving the coral reefs,  there are tours to the fascinating and historic Ibo Island and Rolas Island, as well as whale watching and, with the Querimbas National Park right behind you, a hideout to look for elephants.

Under their company Bespoke Experience the Carter-James plan to open other similar properties.

What They Are Doing

The Carter-James’s plans began to take root in 2002, when, at a meeting in Guludo village, community members said they would like to help them realize their dream of creating a lodge that helped the locals uplift themselves. Guludo was built following guidelines on how to make as little impact and be as unobtrusive as possible, and to respect local customs and culture. The lodge keeps in mind the principles of fair trade (such as employing 50 people from Guludo village and acquiring all its produce from within a five kilometer radius).

An Adobe Banda on the Beach

All furniture and furnishings were produced by local artisans on site, and even uniforms were made by a local tailor with locally bought fabric. Guests are encouraged to buy locally. Several groups have been set up in the area to provide products and crafts, including two weaving palm, one weaving bamboo, and one doing ceramics. These groups sell directly to guests and to the lodge, and a craft store is being created. It is hoped this will create work. The lodge also encourages local services, such as taking guests to a lookout to see elephants and promoting local dance groups.

Better Eating, Thanks to Nema

Five percent of Guludo’s income goes to a specially created foundation, Nema, which carries out an array of community and conservation projects. Numerous local issues were identified before Guludo opened – high infant mortality, lack of education, and lack of jobs.

Prior to Nema, less than one percent of children went on to study at secondary school and less than 20 percent completed all 7 years at primary school because of the costs and the need for children to help gather food. Nema is building two new primary schools and hopes to build a secondary school next year. A feeding scheme now provides a total of one nutritious meal to 550 children every school day. This year Nema has given out 79 scholarships, although funds are sorely needed to keep this number up (see how you can help). School attendance, as a result of these efforts, has increased by 350 percent.

The Fascinating Ibo Island

In the Guludo area the average life expectancy is 38, and 30 percent of children do not reach the age of five, many dying as a result of  malaria. In 2007 and 2008 over 4,400 insecticide-treated nets were distributed to each woman in six villages who were either pregnant or had children under five, resulting in over 10,000 people sleeping under nets. In 2010, Nema hopes to reach every woman with a child under five in all 12 neighboring villages.

Women Especially are Targeted for Help in Guludo Village

Every day 102 children in Mozambique are infected with HIV and less than three percent will receive treatment. The majority of new infections are in young people, with girls between 15 to 19 three times more at risk than boys the same age. A new local drama group has been trained to perform sketches illustrating the dangers of HIV, and its reception has been incredible, with whole villages turning out to watch the performances. Nema will also start to run HIV workshops, distribute condoms, and will show HIV awareness films. In 2010 it also plans to start a school soccer project to raise awareness among the youth.

Right Behind the Beach ... the Bush

In 2007, around Guludo, less than 50 percent of the population had access to safe water and the majority of pumps were in disrepair. In 2007/2008 Nema completed 28 new or rehabilitated water points and pumps in 12 villages, resulting in the provision of clean water to over 12,000 people.

A Humpback off Guludo

Guludo has also developed a seafood buyers guide to help people decide what non-endangered fish to buy. Guests have helped sponsor humpback whale research, and the lodge helps locals develop kitchen gardens and plans to start working with farmers to be more conscientious of protecting the forest and bush around them.

In Their Own Words

“Inspired by the people living in the Guludo area, Guludo Beach Lodge is just the beginning. Like many entrepreneurs, ideas are always abound and you never quite know what’s just around the corner in their quest of using business to relieve poverty.”

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Filed Under: Carbon Footprint, Community, Conservation, Education, Environment, Features, Guludo Beach Lodge, Health, Mozambique, Women Tagged With: carter-james, crafts, nema, water, whale

Good Food with Heart

July 6, 2010 By admin 1 Comment

ICI at Le Quartier Francais

Across the globe, eating a fabulous meal can make a difference. From the Bonham in Edinburgh to Le Quartier Francais in the South African winelands, from The Drake in Brighton and One Aldwych in London to the Steenberg and the Table Bay Hotel in Cape Town. Hundreds of restaurants, some linked to hotels but most of them not, are supporting organizations that contribute a small portion of the revenue from every meal to a charity.

In all the countries except South Africa, where Streetsmart runs throughout the year, the program is limited to the season before Christmas and is aimed at gathering funds for charities in the cities where the money has been collected or specifically earmarked charities. In the UK’s  Streetsmart program, diners have a note on their menus saying that a pound is being added to their bill, although it can be removed upon request. In South Africa,  the money is spent specifically on street children. In America, Streetsmart exists in San Francisco, where, at restaurants like Medjool and Slanted Door, diners are asked to donate $3 in an envelope provided with their check. There is also a Streetsmart in Australia, where 250 restaurants are now members of the program.

Says Gordon Ramsay, whose Maze restaurants are members in the UK , “Streetsmart has become part of Christmas for us. It’s everyone’s chance to do the right thing at the right time with only the slightest nudge.”

Since 1998 Britons have given 4.2 million pounds which has been sent to ‘reputable charities’ in the respective cities where Streetsmart restaurants are found. In Australia, $1.18 million has been made and distributed to dozens of projects since 2003.

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Filed Under: Africa, Australia, Community, Europe, News, Oceania, South Africa, United Kingdom Tagged With: food, le quartier francais, maze, one aldwych, steenberg, streetsmart, table bay hotel

A Man, a Villa, and a Camera

July 1, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

The Pool on High

Karl Ammann, a Swiss-born former hotelier who now lives in Nanyuki, Kenya, has built a splendid villa for rent high above the turquoise seas of the Seychelles. Few people who stay in it probably know that Ammann is also a photographer and filmmaker, an avid conservationist who has helped uncover the terrible truth about the bushmeat trade – which got him named as one of Time magazine’s Heroes of the Environment – and  has made several devastating documentaries about animal smuggling and poaching, among other things. (Watch here.) Ammann uses the money he earns from Residence on the Rocks to finance his film projects.

A Villa as Haveli as Hotel

Situated on Intendance Bay, Mahé, a full 100 meters higher than the last hillside villas  of the Banyan Tree resort, which also manages Ammann’s property, the Residence was built in the tradition of the Indian mansions called havelis. The villa has a gargantuan 450 square meters of living space, with incomparable views – a wonderful hideaway, as Prince William recently found out when he stayed here. The main house, built around a courtyard, has two huge bedroom suites, and there is a third bedroom in the guest cottage. Both buildings, in Creole style, have flat-roofed porches surrounding them.

Much of the materials, décor, and furnishings were – in an attempt to re-create the splendor of the 1920s – collected by Ammann and his wife across Africa and Asia over three decades and include valuable tribal and ethnic art.

One of the Bedroom Suites

“I wanted the place to have a colonial style that would combine decor and furniture from Asia and Africa,” Ammann says. “This led me to India and Burma and northern Thailand. In the Jodhpur area of northern India there were still a lot of reasonably priced items. The region also has a tradition of carpentry – although no trees – and as such a lot of furniture-trading businesses set up shop and repairing old furniture was one of the mainstays of their business.”

When havelis are torn down traders go in and salvage what they can, sometimes collecting enough bits and pieces to spread across yards the size of several football fields. It is from one of these traders that Ammann bought 16 haveli doors, all of slightly different sizes, which meant the villa walls had to be built around them. The floors are of recycled Burma teak. Also from old buildings he got carved beams, a metal staircase, wood- and stonework, pillars, and a gazebo. All the carpets were woven in traditional tribal village cooperatives in northern India.

The Residence

“I presented the architect with the challenge to build these items into the design. I believe it worked and gives the place a pretty authentic and lived-in look.”

Bits of a Haveli Being Reworked in India

In the Seychelles, where minimal impact on the environment is encouraged, large rocks were incorporated into the building’s design and no large trees were cut, and were in fact often assimilated in the design.

The Residence is very high-end, with prices ranging up to 3800 Euros a night for the villa and guesthouse, with all the services (butler service, room service, laundry, housekeeping, wi-fi, turndown) that you would get at a hotel like Banyan Tree, whose facilities are also open for guests’ use. Any income that is generated from the Residence Ammann invests in his film-making ventures.

“With the present lull in the market, this is affecting (the documentary) investigations like the one in Egypt and Tanzania,” he says. (See below for link.)

Ammann, as anyone who has watched his searing 60-Minutes-like documentaries knows, does not shy away from controversy and showing what many people don’t like to see. After viewing The Cairo Connection, which won the SAB Environmental Journalist of the Year in 2008, you will never look at Egypt – or a small zoo – the same way again. (Beware: This film is graphic and disturbing.) His ongoing investigations include ape smuggling, the China wildlife trade, Sudanese chimp orphans, and Egyptian cheetahs.

Karl Ammann, a former hotelier who now lives in Nairobi, has built a splendid villa for rent to holidaymakers high above the turquoise seas of the Seychelles. Few people who stay in it probably know that Ammann is also a photographer and filmmaker, an avid conservationist who has helped uncover the terrible truth about the bushmeat trade, and has made several devastating documentaries about animal smuggling and poaching, among other things. (Watch here.) Ammann uses the money he earns from Residence on the Rocks to finance his film projects.

Situated a full 100 meters above the last villa on Intenance Bay, Residece was built in the tradition of the Indian mansions called havelis. The villa, which is managed by the exclusive Banyan Tree resort, has a gargantuan 450 square meters of living space, with fantastic views. The main house, built around a courtyard, has two huge bedroom suites, and there is a third bedroom in the guest cottage. Both buildings, in Creole style, have flat-roofed porches surrounding them.

Most of the materials, décor, and furnishings were – in an attempt to re-create the splendor of the 1920s – collected by Ammann and his wife across Africa and Asia over three decades and include valuable tribal and ethnic art.

“I wanted the place to have a colonial style that would combine decor and furniture from Asia and Africa,” Ammann says. “This led me to India and Burma and northern Thailand. In the Jodhpur area of northern India there were still a lot of reasonably priced items. The region also has a tradition of carpentry – although no trees – and as such a lot of furniture-trading businesses set up shop and repairing old furniture was one of the mainstays of their business.”

When havelis are torn down traders go in and salvage what they can, sometimes collecting enough bits and pieces to spread across a football field. It is from one of these traders that Ammann bought 16 haveli doors, all of slightly different sizes, so the walls had to be built around them. The floors are of recycled Burma teak. Also from old buildings he got carved beams, a metal staircase, wood- and stonework, pillars, a gazebo. All the carpets were woven in traditional tribal village cooperatives in northern India.

“I presented the architect with the challenge to build these items into the design. I believe it worked and gives the place a pretty authentic look.”

In the Seychelles, where minimal impact on the environment is encouraged, large rocks were incorporated into the building’s design and no large trees were cut, but were in fact often assimilated in the structure.

The Residence is very high-end, with prices ranging up to 3800 Euros a night for the villa ad guesthouse, with all the services (butler service, wi-fi, turndown) that you would get at a hotel like the nearby Banyan Tree, whose facilities are open for use. Any income that is generated from the Residence supports Ammann’s filming.

“With the present lull in the market, this is affecting investigations like the one in Egypt and Tanzania.”

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Filed Under: Africa, Anti-Poaching, Carbon Footprint, Community, Conservation, Education, Environment, Features, Residence on the Rocks, Restoration & Repurposing, Seychelles Tagged With: ammann, banyan tree, bushmeat, cairo connection, chimpanzees, documentary, gorillas, mahé, prince william
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