The land

Photo: Bodhi Mente *

The first thing you see from the Troncal del Caribe: a teak gateway wrapped in green.

Teak11 kinds of plants

1. 11 kinds of plants

   Count them on your way in: the entrance alone has 11 different types of plants.

2. A rare welcome

   The small bottle palm by the gate belongs to a species from tiny Round Island, off Mauritius, where it is critically endangered in the wild.

3. Built in teak

   The entrance is made of teak, the same wood as the villa decks. Its natural oils keep out water, rot and termites, so it weathers the coast without varnish.

Render: Bodhi Mente *

The first of our two villas, designed around one idea: nothing should stand between you and the view.

Floor-to-ceiling glassTeak deck

Render: Bodhi Mente *

Villa 1's twin, with the same glass front and floating deck, and a structure made to last by the sea.

Footings on rockThermo-acoustic roof

For now, Bodhi House is our reception: this is where you check in when you arrive.

Temporary reception

Headquarters for the four-legged part of the team.

Dogs

1. Meet the team

   Julieta is our avocado expert and Susi is our sapote alarm. Look for their work in Avocado Bay 1 and Susi's Corner.

Bodhi means awakening. Our mountain is waking up too: it's planted with more than 26 different kinds of plants.

26+ kinds of plants

1. 26 kinds and counting

   On this mountain alone grow more than 26 different types of plants.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Persea americana)

The first of our two avocado groves, and the favourite stop of our resident fruit inspector.

Avocados

1. Julieta's favourite

   Julieta, our black dog, is the resident avocado expert. She goes out, picks the best ones and eats them before we get the chance.

2. Flowers that switch

   Each avocado flower opens twice: first as a female, then it closes and reopens as a male. Different varieties keep different schedules, which helps them cross-pollinate.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Persea americana)

Our second avocado grove. Together the two bays hold 18 avocado trees.

Avocados

1. A living fridge

   Avocados grow on the branch but only soften after they fall or are picked, so they can be left hanging for weeks.

2. 18 and growing

   Between Avocado Bay 1 and 2 we have planted 18 avocado trees, more than any other fruit on the land.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Cooking banana)

Every Caribbean kitchen needs a platanal. This is ours.

Plantains

1. A giant herb

   A plantain isn't a tree. Its 'trunk' is made of tightly rolled leaf bases with no wood inside, and the plant can still grow 6 to 7 metres tall.

   Source: Encyclopedia.com (Gale)
2. Not in our tree count

   Because they're herbs, not trees, we leave plantains out of our trees-planted counter. We'd rather keep it honest.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Cooking banana)

Our second platanal, because one is never enough on the Caribbean coast.

Plantains

1. Cook first

   Plantains are a group of about 75 varieties of banana that are eaten cooked: patacones, tajadas, chips or flour.

   Source: Encyclopedia.com (Gale)
2. One harvest each

   Each plantain stem fruits once and then dies back to the ground. A new shoot from the same base takes its place.

   Source: Encyclopedia.com (Gale)

Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Cocos nucifera)

Ten coconut palms swaying in the sea breeze.

10 coconut palms

1. Bends, doesn't break

   Palms don't make wood or growth rings. The trunk is a bundle of fibres, which is why it bends in a storm instead of snapping.

2. A second life

   One of our palms died after a fire was lit too close and burned her roots. Her wood became the plant signs you see around the land.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Manilkara zapota)

Our níspero trees, the fruit that once gave the world chewing gum.

Níspero · sapodilla

1. The original chewing gum

   The bark gives a white latex called chicle. The Maya chewed it, and from the 1880s to the 1950s it was the base of commercial chewing gum.

2. Wood that sinks

   The wood is so dense it sinks in water. The ancient Maya used it for temple beams because termites can't get through it.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Pouteria sapota)

Our sapote trees, guarded by the smallest member of the team.

Mamey sapote

1. Susi's ripeness alarm

   Susi, our rat terrier, loves this fruit. She is the one who lets us know when the sapotes are ready to pick up.

2. The scratch test

   Growers scratch a tiny patch of skin. If it's red underneath, the fruit is ready to pick. Then it needs five to seven days to soften.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Tectona grandis)

A path lined with teak, the same wood you walk on in the villas.

Teak

1. You've stood on it

   Teak's natural oils keep out water, rot and termites, so it lasts outdoors without varnish. That's why our villa decks are built from it.

2. Mint family

   Teak belongs to the Lamiaceae, the same family as mint, basil and oregano.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Orange (fruit))

Ten oranges and ten mandarins, side by side.

10 oranges10 mandarins

1. Green and ripe

   In warm climates like this one, a fully ripe orange can stay completely green.

2. Mother and daughter

   The wild mandarin is one of the parents of the sweet orange, so Citrus Bay is a family reunion.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Guadua angustifolia)

Stand inside a guadua grove and look up: the tall canes close over you like the roof of a cathedral.

Guadua bamboo

1. A grass, 30 metres tall

   Guadua is a bamboo, which makes it a giant grass. Its canes can reach 20 to 30 metres.

   Source: ECHO Community
2. Colombia's building cane

   It's the most important bamboo in tropical America and the main building material for many homes in Colombia and Ecuador.

   Source: ECHO Community

Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Guadua angustifolia)

Our second guadua grove. Come when the wind picks up and listen to the canes whisper and knock.

Guadua bamboo

1. From right here

   Guadua is native from Venezuela to Peru, so this bamboo is at home on our coast.

   Source: ECHO Community
2. Cousin of the road grass

   Like the vetiver along our road, guadua is a grass: the same family, at a very different size.

All the water in the villas comes from our own well, 25 metres deep.

25 m deepAbout 1 km to your shower

1. 25 metres down

   The well goes 25 metres into the ground, about as deep as an eight-storey building is tall.

2. A 1 km journey

   The water that reaches each villa has travelled about 1 kilometre through our water system.

3. Warm on sunny days

   There's no water heater. On sunny days the water gets warm during the day; on cloudy days it stays cool.