Articles Tagged with: Mexico

A Mexican resort is leading the way when it comes to green travel in Central America.

The Hacienda Tres Rios resort in Riviera Maya has just been awarded a Green Globe award for the second year running. The Green Globe certification scheme recognises tourism businesses which adhere to strict environmental and sustainable tourism practices.

The luxury resort was also crowned “Mexico & Central America’s Leading Green Hotel” at the 2009 World Travel Awards and has been nominated in no less than four categories this year including “Mexico & Central America’s Leading All-inclusive Hotel”.

“Luxury All Inclusive” and “Green Travel” are not words often heard together in the same sentence, so just what is Hacienda Tres Rios doing to win such high acclaim?

Opened in 2008, the resort was built with the principles of environmental responsibility in mind from day one. Situated on 326 acres of jungle, mangrove forest and coastal dunes, the resort stands on stilts which allow natural springs to circulate.

All systems have been designed to reduce energy consumption and to respect the natural environment. All products used are biodegradable to minimise impact on the aquatic environment and all solid waste is recycled.

Guests have exclusive access to the Hacienda Tres Rios Nature Park which encompasses rainforests, jungles, mangroves, coastal dunes, freshwater rivers that flow to the Caribbean Sea and a white sandy beach. The park itself is home to over 90 species of indigenous plants and animals and the park undertakes conservation activities including re-forestation schemes.

Speaking about the resort’s second Green Globe award, Hacienda Tres Rios president Romárico Arroyo said: “Tres Rios started out as an ecological park and we have been consistent in following our set guidelines and standards to protect the extraordinary beauty and diversity of the region. Our guests are able to reconnect with nature while they enjoy the Mexican hospitality and all the luxury we offer”.

Green Globe Certification CEO Guido Bauer added: “It is reassuring to see how a luxury beach resort can operate at such high standards of sustainable management. The Tres Rios sustainability team are experts in managing natural resources, including the care of 120 species of plants and 90 species of animals. This conservation management is further enhanced by their training programs for staff and the local community.”

And if you have any doubts as to the ability of an eco-resort to deliver true luxury, think again. Each of the 273 suites is furnished to the highest standard, most having a two-person jacuzzi and views of the Caribbean sea.

Volunteers can help save Mexico's sea turtle population. Credit: Grupo Tortuguero

Mexico is one of few places in the world where travelers can watch endangered sea turtles nesting and laying their eggs and then see newborns taking their first steps, making their way to the ocean.  And now, Sea Kayak Adventures, is packaging the opportunity to volunteer with naturalists and local fishermen in Baja California who are trying to save the local sea turtle population and, during the trip, explore the natural landscape of the Sea of Cortez by kayak.

“We’re trying this for the first time after talking with our Mexican guides who are involved in the sea turtle project,” said Nancy Mertz, co-owner. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for people who want to make a difference on their vacation and also want to combine volunteering with three days of kayaking.”

The Oct. 24 to 31 program can be shortened to only the three-day sea turtle volunteering part for those not interested in the sea kayaking portion, which is designed for novice as well as experienced kayakers.

The company is working with RED Sustainable Tourism and Grupo Tortuguero’s Eastern Pacific Green Sea Turtle Monitoring Program, both of which specialize in sea turtle conservation.

The itinerary starts in the Baja town of Loreto, where you’ll spend the first night in a local hotel. After that, there’s  three days of sea kayaking and two nights’ camping in Loreto Bay National Park, followed by another night at a Loreto hotel before traveling across to the Pacific side of the peninsula to Magdalena Bay to the turtle research base camp for two nights.

Magdalena Bay is a protected area, known primarily as the place where gray whales give birth each February. In October, it is a prime sea turtle hatching grounds. You’ll be outfitted with waders and ride in skiffs to help monitor green turtles, collect data and release turtles with local fishermen and naturalists.

The price,  for the entire program is $1,650 per adult and $1,485 for participants ages 12 to 17, and includes hotel accommodations, all meals at camp, sleeping and kayaking equipment, airport transfers, instruction, guides and taxes.

Forty percent of the price is donated to the local sea turtle conservation organization. For more information visit Sea Kayak Adventures.

Book your romantic eco-friendly wedding at the Banyan Tree Mayakoba resort on the Riviera Maya, Mexico. Credit: Courtesy Banyan Tree

Exchange your wedding vows on the glorious Riviera Maya in Mexico, and you can make a commitment to your future together as a couple, and to the future of the earth.

Staff at the Banyan Tree Mayakoba have organizers who will put together your entire wedding package at their carefully preserved ecological site. The Banyan Tree Mayakoba is the first resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico to offer event and wedding planners the option to hold their events in a carbon responsible manner.

By choosing Banyan Tree Mayakoba as the venue for their events, the companies that will help you plan your wedding will also be playing their part to support the reforestation of areas of Mexico and provide employment to the local indigenous population, even as the resort absorbs the cost of carbon offset.

The Banyan Tree Mayakoba r resort is 40 minutes’ drive from Cancun International Airport and 10 minutes from the cosmopolitan town of Playa del Carmen. A total of 107 pool villas are discreetly built into the carefully conserved landscape, which preserves four ecosystems in balance – the mangroves, dunes, low forests, and coral reefs, making it a perfect wedding destination. The resort offers a range of unique wedding packages including the Just for Two package, which includes an in-villa Mayan ceremony presided by a local Shaman, surrounded by ceremonial decorations and Mayan musicians for the occasion.

Carbon responsible wedding and customized event packages have been available since April 2010. The organizers will receive an event verification certificate provided by Reforestamos Mexico. Each guest receives a wooden artifact crafted by a local workshop based in the Buenavista community, which salvages wood from trees felled by natural causes and crafts them into forms that represent the beauty of Mexico’s Riviera Maya.

Banyan Tree Mayakoba uses the internationally accredited EarthCheck Program to carefully manage and measure the amount of energy and water consumed as a result of the individual guest’s stay. A symbolic carbon measure is then offset locally through Reforestamos Mexico, a certified organization, which in turn links to the Scolel Te project. This forestry carbon sequestration initiative involves the indigenous communities of Tzeltales, Tzotziles, Choles and Lacandones in Chiapas, and the Chinanteca communities in Oaxaca. The project is based on the Plan Vivo System, using a guiding methodology for land-use based carbon project development that permits participation from cooperative farms and communities in carbon capture, biodiversity preservation, endangered species protection and the environmental services market.