Yucatan Peninsula jungle eco cabin accommodation, Mexico
How this vacation makes a difference
Environment
The Chi’ík Jungle Suite house was built intending to have the least possible impact on its surrounding environment and ecological footprint. Some trees were moved to make space for the house on the terrain but they were planted again in a new area, some other were integrated to the building. There's one livetree growing right through the main living area!
We decided to make the main structure of the house from concrete because in the long run it has much less impact than a wood structure that has to be renewed constantly or protected with chemicals due to the deterioration and strain that the extreme weather conditions in the jungle generate.
All the wood details inside the house were made from trees in the area that were brought down by storms or fell by themselves. A very thorough search was made in the surroundings to find the ones that had usable wood and they were then adapted to the needs of the house.
The Chi'ík Jungle Suite is built on stilts to allow the natural filtration of water to a water-rich subsoil to continue. Although it is located in a water-rich area we ask from our guests a sensible and conscious use of this valuable resource.
All the electric power in the house comes from solar panels, so we also encourage a rational and conscious use of energy. Having solar energy in the jungle is not an easy task to achieve, the panels have to be located higher than the trees to make the most of the sunlight but have to be brought down when a storm hits the area which normally happens every second half of the year.
The Jungle Suite uses a septic tank to process organic waste.
Although we treat each petition on a per-case basis, we prefer not to have domestic animals stay in. This may not seem pet-friendly, but we have found that pets can harm small local species or be harmed by them if they happen to run into a bigger animal.
The area is filled with all kinds of beautiful and amazing insects and staying in the Junglesuite is a unique opportunity to take a close look at them. We encourage our guests to treat all life in the area with the respect it deserves
If sometime in the future we were to take the house away from this terrain, the jungle would not have suffered any damage or permanent mark, on the contrary, traces of its location or function would be hard to find in a half year’s time. This is the ideal behind the Jungle Suite.
Community
When in season we buy from local coffee growers the coffee we offer to our guests, and we also offer honey produced locally for use in the house. These are very high-quality since they are organically produced and fresh. If our guests like them, they are welcomed and invited to buy them. The Chi’ík Junglesuite doesn’t profit from these transactions acting only as a deliverer
We offer on display embroidered blouses from local craftswomen. Our guests are welcomed and invited to buy them. As in the previous case The Chi’ík Junglesuite doesn’t profit from these sales.
We offer an off-road visit to some of the communities in the area, this helps to raise awareness about the true living conditions of the native mayan communities as they are not usually visited by those who come to the Mayan Riviera. We also offer a visit to Cenotes that are not very easy to reach and a visit to a small museum that’s the pride of one of the poorest communities nearby.
The amenities we offer at the Jungle Suite (Shampoo, soaps, games, tradicional mexican sweets), are all from small producers and intend to give our guests a view, although small, of other aspects of regional and mexican culture.
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