|
|
ECOCLUB® |
|
|||||||||||||||
|
ISSN 1108-8931 |
International Ecotourism Monthly |
Year 4, Issue 44, Jan. 2003 |
|||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
Bold
Point Centre, BC, Canada reports:Website / Contact Conversations have been very much centred around our very good fortune here at Bold Point and memories of 5 years of very special guests / friends and family. Life on the farm has been busy, but different from previous years in that it has been soooo warm! We are about 5C above normal. The snow is now on the slopes of Mount Washington, only for the 2 weeks. The rains have also been very scarce. The wonderful September weather continued well into November. VERY little rain This made it almost impossible for the salmon to successfully spawn. The dry weather from September into November made picking Chantrelle's impossible. The animals are happy, especially Ceildh, as he is back in with his ladies. Of the lambs, we have kept Agnes Deie (Betty's daughter). The others have filled the islanders freezers. The meat chickens are also well frozen. They have become my favourite meat this year. I was out fishing for salmon, with a Quadra friend. After being out for the day (10 hrs) we came back with 8 x 7 kg. (15 lbs average) of chum salmon. I took home 6: gave Robert 2, another neigbour 1 and we kept 3. 2 salmon were filleted and canned, the 3rd pair of fillets was turned into smoked salmon strips. We'll get oysters in March, when the tides are low, again during the daylight hours. Now, I would need to go out between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., which I prefer not to do! Our winter garden is doing very well: the kale, chard and beets are up about 50 cm. The brussel sprouts are also about 50 cm. tall and the little fruits are starting to swell in size and a sweet flavour. This Christmas, we were busy with wonderful guests. PEACE! with a Clean Environment HEALTH and LOVE!
Quite a few things happened since the Ecolodge opened its doors in
August 2002. The "Saba Special" which lasted until Thanksgiving
was a success and attracted quite a few people from neigh-boring
islands. The special has already resulted in return guests! Safe on Saba! Safety and security has become a major concern for international travelers. The Caribbean in general and Saba in particular continues to be a very safe destination. Saba is virtually crime free and our guests feel no need to lock their doors (well, we do have padlocks if it really makes you feel better). We guarantee that you will feel absolutely safe and can be completely relaxed. New faces: Since the Ecolodge opened some new faces have appeared. Marie Anne (Bernt's aunt) replaced Ange-lique Smeur, who has returned to the Netherlands, as General Manager. Mardjiman, who is originally from Surinam, replaced JJ as maintenance man. He also has green thumbs! Several volunteers and interns assist at the Ecolodge. Volunteer Hart from New Jersey quickly found his niche in the restaurant and kitchen, assisted Chef Bernt. Intern Rene from the Netherlands is upgrading the accounting system and implementing the marketing strategy. Volunteer Ylva from Sweden spent most of her days painting cottages and volunteer Marisol from the Netherlands is assisting Bernt in the kitchen and the restaurant. Art Workshops: Artist and Ecolodge co-owner Heleen Cornet conducted a first watercolour workshop at the Ecolodge in November. A jewelry making workshop, using local natural materials, took place in December, and more workshops will be announced next year. The Ecolodge supports artists in residence programs and any artists interested in conducting a workshop and bringing down a group are encouraged to contact us. Food facts "Theme" nights are about once-a-month events and have included "Surinamese night" (with Surinamese/ Indonesian specialties) and "Hawai-ian Pignight" (whole pig cooked in a traditional underground oven). The vegetable and herb garden are producing extremely well and some 80% of the vegetables served in the restaurant are from the gardens, grown without fertilizers or pesticides.
While we do have a phone link through cordless set, the old local exchange is inadequate to access the net. We are hoping that things will change in another month as the exchange is being upgraded. I had to stay for a long time to ensure that locals, who are 17 in no. out of our 20 employees, and who mostly belong to the poor fishermen community, pick up the hospitality management aspects and also become "no plastic" campaigners. I am proud to say these simple folk have become responsible members of the SAGA family, and even the Chilika Development Authority Chief was impressed by their newly developed consciousness about keeping this lake and it's environs' clean and free from waste. Our sewage and kitchen disposal system are turning out to be good bio fertilisers for the trees that we are planting; and our kitchen garden on this rocky, feeble top soil island is already supplementing the camp vegetable supply. In the meantime, bookings have been picking up. In December 02 we had 138 guests in our camp. Some just came for boating to the bird sanctuary, had lunch and left; others stayed and availed the entire staying-fooding-boating packages for 2days 1 night or 3 days 2 nights. In January '03, till date we have 102 bookings (some completed, some due). All our guests have been happy with the total services. |
|||||||||||||||||
|
Copyright ©
1999-2003 ECOCLUB S.A. All Rights
Reserved. |
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
