Garza-tigre, Celestun Biosphere Reserve

Ever wonder about that point where the sun meets the sea on the horizon? Some people don’t have to wonder. They go there. It’s a place called The Celestun Biosphere Reserve in the Yucatan, Mexico. It’s a place where sun and sea fuse into a meld of rare and beautiful flora and fauna, mouth watering food and ultimate relaxation.

To take in the Celestun Biosphere Reserve, book a stay at the Hotel Eco Paraiso, a place that caters to eco-conscience living, rediscovering your inner self and a high quality and simplicity in its services.

Stay in and take a yoga class or experience what Hotel Eco Paraiso considers it’s avant-garde approach to personalized service, those simple touches like a heart made of shells in the inner garden of your bungalow or your name outlined in the sand on the beach outside your room.

Choose to explore and you’ll find some of the most spectacular wildlife. Celestun Biosphere Reserve is known for it’s flamingos but you’ll also find some of the rarest species of animals like the Bare-Throated Tiger Heron, with plumage which resembles the color and streaks of tigers. The pattern helps conceal the heron in the mangrove forests that are abundant in the Yucatan. But you’ll also see other rare birds like the Yucatan Wren, the Yucatan Bobwhite, the Black Catbird, and the Boat-billed Heron to name just a few.

You can also feel good about staying at The Hotel Eco Paraiso knowing it is considered a pioneer in the area of sustainable tourism because of it’s ecological methods of running its operation like solid and liquid separation, re-usage of water using biological filters and employing composting and organic gardening practices.

Find your inner self at Hotel Eco Paraiso on the Celestun Biosphere Reserve. Visit their website to get started.

Ecotourism is on the rise and while there is still room for improvement, it’s growing three times faster than the tourism industry as a whole, according to The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), ecotourism. That means that more and more travelers are putting their foot down about not leaving their footprint when they travel.

One of the areas at the forefront of the ecotourism movement is the Out Islands of The Bahamas.  A place where globally responsible eco tourism is encouraged and many eco friendly hotels and resorts have begun to spring up, offering a green vacation without sacrificing the luxury.

Whether it’s eco tours or eco accommodations the Out islands of The Bahamas has a myriad of choices to tour and be green. Small Hope Bay Lodge on Andros Island and Fernandez Bay Village on Cat Island offer eco tours. Other islands are replacing light bulbs with more energy efficient ones or installing solar power systems.

Powell Pointe Resort at Cape Eleuthera in South Eleuthera, Bahamas, has installed solar applications for laundry, guest showers and hot water tanks for restaurants. The hotel also uses solar power for fresh water pumps at all their 100 water wells and for their wash down and fish cleaning stations. Resorts like Cape Santa Maria Beach Resort has replaced boardwalk and tree lights with solar-powered lights and encourages boaters to use their holding tank and not discharge in their waters. The resort also offers free garbage pickup and recycling of all beer bottles.

Other resorts have started towel and linen reuse programs, recycling of paper products and even have eco training programs for employees. Some go so far as to ask their guests to buy carbon credits on their website to offset the carbon produced by traveling to the location.

In ways big and small hotels in the Out Islands of the Bahamas are promoting the true spirit of ecotourism. See what all the effort is about by visiting The Islands of the Bahamas website.