The trip to Casa Cubuy is mostly by expressway. The last 15 minutes is by a paved country road that goes from sea level to 1500 feet in a series of elongated curves. People live along most of the way until the last half mile or so when houses thin out and the forest leans over the road in uninterrupted stretches . Most of the houses are modest concrete structures. Some few are large, well maintained homes with sloping green lawns. Some few are humble but neat and some others are poor and abandoned looking. If one house is close to another it is proabably a member of the same family. Back in the 1940's Puerto Rico was lucky enough to have an enlightened governor who decreed that the people in the country who previously were landless were given title to the land that they had lived on and farmed. When that generation died out the younger one did not farm any more but they kept the land to live on. It usually passes to the next generation and very few for sale signs go up. It is often hard to sell a property when title is held by so many heirs.
The part of State Road 191 that I am talking about is a distance of 5 miles. At the very bottom an earthen dam is under construction. It is a project that has been under way for two years and has another four to go. Then up at the very top of this stretch of road the U.S. forestry Service has built a passive recreation area. About a mile before the top a safe drinking water project has been under way for almost two years. This entailed burying very large pipes throughout the length of the road as well as building the supporting structures. All of the heavy machinery and trucks that have constantly transversed this road have caused heavy duty wear and tear. The 23 inches of rainfall in a two day period in October brought landslides here and there. Hopefully, by March, according to some authorities, the road will be repaired.

Why we are an ecolodge continued. Previously I listed strategies for conserving energy, a location of interest to ecotourists and an archetectural style to foster a sense of immersion in the rain forest as some of our features.
In the Forward by David Western of a publication by the Ecotourism Society, he defines ecotourism as "responsible travel to natural areas which conserve the environment and improve the welfare of local people." We are providing employment to friends and neighbors in the community We are a ten room bed & breakfast and occupy a small footprint. Our relatively small number of guests at any one time have a small impact on the forest. Our trails are not wide and erosion preventive techniques are used in creating and maintining them. More on this next time.

We call ourselves an Ecolodge, mainly because of our location within the proclomation boundary of the El Yunque Rainforest which is an attraction for ecotourists. Even though the popular image of an ecolodge may be of a wooden structure Casa Cubuy is reinforced concrete. This kind of construction is necessary because Puerto Rico is located in an earthquake zone and experiences hundreds of low grade tremors annually.

Openness is the main archetectural feature of the lodge which takes advantage of the views and the balmy, bug free climate. The wide double doors on the lower level are hinged back every morning and left open all day to allow for free air flow and traffic between the dining room, book room, honor bar, deck, and open terraces. This design facilitates another feature of an ecolodge: to provide the ecostourist with a sense of immersion in the rainforest environment
All rooms face the mountains and the forest. The five upper level rooms open onto a private balcony with sliding glass doors that run the width and heigth of the room.

We are at an altitude of about 1500 feet which means we have a cool year round temperature with no need of air conditioning. We heat water with solar panels, cook with gas and , all light bulbs are the eco-smart compact bulb type. This effort to conserve energy is another feature of an ecolodge. There are several more items which I will continue tomorrow

Since we opened Casa CubuyEcolodge in 2000, dinners have been served family style at 6: 30 p. m. The menu was put out in the a. m. and guests signed up. The price was $18.50 for aduts and $12 for children. All that is about to change and for the better we hope. Matthew is working hard to get Villa Flores ready by December 15, 2008. Villa Flores is a 10 minute walk downhill from Casa Cubuy and a hundred yards up from Sierra Palms. Under its previous owners it was open only intermittently with only mofongo and chicken on the menu. It will be much changed from its former state. The entire rear wall that faces the rainforest and waterfalls has been removed. The view for diners will be completely unobstructed. The menu will offer the traditional Puerto Rican dishes as before with vegetarian and other favorites that were enjoyed at Casa Cubuy. Guests will have more options and will not be required to eat at a fixed time or for a fixed price.

The edge of the spacee which is not yet defined or enclosedf with railings makes me think it would be an ideal spot from which to launch oneself into the forest on a zip line. We will have to look into this possibility for our more adventurous guests.

For more information about Casa Cubuy Ecolodge click http://www.casacubuy.com