7 days/6 nights with Jungle Bay Resort and Spa

About the Trip

Experience the off-the-beaten path jungle adventures on the unspoiled island of Dominica. Jungle Bay Resort and Spa is the Caribbean’s number one barefoot luxury spa and eco-resort and is surrounded by the World Heritage Site of Morne Trois Piton National Park.  Hike to the 2nd largest boiling lake in the world, trek through the rainforest, swim under breathtaking waterfalls, mountain bike through rural villages, sea kayak along the coast, snorkel, or relax in the hot springs. And enjoy organically grown produce, cooking classes, and live entertainment in the evenings!

Includes: lodging, meals, daily tours and  excursions, airport transfers, Along with a half hour spa treatment each day.

Awards:

• Conde Nast Traveler Magazine – “It List 2006” of Emerging Hot New Getaways.
• #1 Caribbean Getaway, Outside Magazine, 2006
• Top 3 Holiday Escapes, GQ Magazine, 2006
• “Dominica’s Ecotourism Showplace”, Wall Street Journal,  January 2006
• 10 Hot Winter Getaways in the World, Outside Traveler Magazine,2006

Starting bid $600

About the Organization

Owners Sam & Glenda Raphael helped to found an NGO - the South East Tourism Development Committee (SETDC) whose mission was to help develop local capacity to be able to take advantage of the economic opportunities that Jungle Bay brought to the area as well as to help ensure the environmental protection of the area. Some of the many community projects SETDC has spearheaded include development of sites and trails linked with heritage-based economic activities, entrepreneurship development programs, tour guide training and working with school in highlighting awareness among your people with respect to conservation issues. Jungle Bay and SETDC were integral partners in the development of the turtle conservation efforts in the southeast of the island which is providing economic benefit by developing turtle watching as a tourism attraction.

In January 2006 Jungle Bay Resort and Spa launched the Southeast Entrepreneur Loan Fund (SELF). This program allows 10-15 local entrepreneurs to borrow up to $12,000 EC for business activities that can contribute to the Jungle Bay services. Examples of proposals include organic produce, fish and seafood, local arts and crafts production, guiding of cultural tours and hikes.

Jungle Bay has established an on-site education program for staff to encourage a healthy growth academically in tourism

Starting August 2005, Jungle Bay has committed to financing high school tuition fees for all students in the Carib Territory, the Caribbean’s last remaining indigenous Carib Indians.

Guests of Jungle Bay are welcome to contribute to a community development fund which helps to support many of the above activities. An upcoming project includes a women’s shelter in Roseau, the capital.

Green Practices

How Jungle Bay Contribute to protecting the Environment:

The design and construction was creative with the materials used, making use of used wood and discarded stone from an old mining quarry to developed a local style resort.

The thirty-five tastefully furnished cottages are elevated on wooden posts beneath the canopy of Gomier and Cedar trees to reduce minimize disturbance on the soils.

The cottages are furnished with Pacific inspired platform beds, Morris chairs and other tasteful furnishings and fixtures all built by local work crew with local materials.

During planning and construction of the project, the landscape was carefully reviewed in order to take full advantage of ventilation flows and natural light in cottages, placing them to get airflow and reduce need for air conditioning,

The resort buys locally made goods and use locally provided services in order to keep money in the local economy. When possible, excess packaging is avoided to reduce the enormous amount of waste that occurs at many traditional tourism operations.

Our restaurant serves 95% locally grown organic food to reduce packaged and imported food from afar AND to provide healthy tasty meals that do not use pesticides and other chemical. By serving local cuisine travelers can try new meals and local people retain traditional recipes and are proud of their culture.

All food waste is given to a local farmer to be used as food to feed their pigs and for compost material.

Hot water heaters are on-demand gas heaters to significantly reduce energy consumption.

A comprehensive alternative energy project is presently in place. We are currently testing the wind activity in the area with plans to install modern windmills to supply all of our electricity needs. (Dominica’s public utility’s current supply of energy is 30-50% hydro electric.)

Our current electricity consumption is significantly lower than traditional tourism properties due to the following practices:

• natural air flow eliminating the need to use air conditioning
• energy efficient appliances
• natural lighting and the use of long-life florescent bulbs
• institutionalized energy saving practices
• staff are conscious to avoid energy wastage and energy efficient.

Our water comes from a spring fed stream that flows through the property. This water is stored in a catchments and distributed throughout the property by gravity.

The resort strives to manage waste, energy use, and other techniques ensuring limited disturbance of the ecosystem - reducing environmental and social impacts big and small in all areas of the operation through continuous monitoring and evaluation.

Local guides trained in responsible travel techniques for taking guests through fragile ecosystems interpretive guiding and safety to ensure guests receive and educational and safe experience during excursions.

Recent Awards

• Condé Nast Traveler Magazine - “It List 2006″ of Emerging Hot New Getaways
• Outside Magazine - #1 Caribbean Getaway - Winter 2006
• GQ Magazine - “Top 3 Holiday Escapes” Winter 2006
• Wall Street Journal - “Dominica’s Ecotourism Showplace” January 2006
• Outside Traveler Magazine - #6/10 Hot Winter Getaways in the World

For more information visit Jungle Bay Resort and Spa.