I almost didn’t go. Even though the thought of spending Chocolate Week at Cotton Tree Lodge sounded like a home run as a vacation adventure it was a lot of money and I was having trouble finding someone to go with me. When I called to find out how much room was still available I was told there was only one cabana left: the Jungle House.
All of the other cabanas are nestled around the Cotton Tree Lodge with views of the Moho River. The Jungle House was a quarter of a mile away by itself. Um. By myself and deep in the jungle? I wasn’t sure about this. But after some prompting from friends and family that it would “be good for me” I took a deep breath and sent in my deposit.
And then I thought of my friend Carol. Carol bakes and blogs at The Pastry Chef’s Baking. A business manager at a media mogul in Silicon Valley (that shall remain nameless) Carol had once taken time off from work to get a culinary arts degree before deciding she’d rather keep her love of baking as a hobby. Nonetheless, Carol is a true chocolate geek. So I sent her an e-mail seeing if she’d be interested.
“How much time do I have to decide?” she wrote back. I explained that I had already reserved the cabana, she just had to figure out her flights, and could really have up to the last minute to decide. Within a half hour I got a response.
“I’m in.” Phew.
Getting to Cotton Tree Lodge from the airport included a ride on Moho River. The put-put of the engine brought a calm to the last stretch of the long journey.
In the distance, we could see the giant cotton tree that gave the ecolodge its name.
The lodge with its village of cabanas was immediately welcoming. Trees heavy with limes, lemons, and mangoes, were within reaching distance. Flowers bloomed everywhere.
The wildlife strolling around was remarkable, too. You can’t tell from the photo but this grasshopper was the size of my hand.
And then he showed his wings! The sudden display sounded just like a flamenco dancer snapping open her fan.
Lizards of all sizes were everywhere. The locals called the big ones “Jesus lizards” because they run so fast they appear to run right over the surface of the river. Here is one doing a yoga pose just off the path.
And there was no exaggeration about the hike to the Jungle House. Carol and I followed a narrow plank path beyond the vegetable garden, the goat pasture, and into the jungle.
At dinner that night, Chris Crowell, the lodge owner told us the real “treat” about staying in the Jungle House was the howler monkeys. What? He tried to explain what they sounded like but he said we’d know it when we heard it. And we definitely would hear them since they liked to eat their breakfast directly over our cabana.
We were both nervous on the hike to the Jungle House that night. It was completely dark and the overgrowth which had been silent in the heat of the day was now teeming with sound. It was as if thousands of creatures were having a cocktail party.
Hi! Hi! Hi! Where are you? Where are you? Over here! Over here!
Something like that, anyway. My conversation with Carol as we groped our way in the dark along the path, too nervous to look beyond the small ring of light from our lamps, went something like this:
Me: “What was THAT??”
Carol: “I don’t know. Just keep moving.”
For the record, Carol is an extremely fast walker and I certainly wasn’t going to be left behind to meet whatever it was that was generating the sound of a high-pitched drill.
And then: Home Sweet Home. The Jungle House reaches two levels, sits on stilts, and sways like a tree.
All of the cabanas are made from beautiful hardwoods of mahogany and rosewood. Chris explained to us that he had used hardwood that had been felled by hurricane Iris in 2001. The carpentry is really stunning. The Jungle House has a large platform bed that we immediately dubbed the Princess Bed. A second bunk that had been moved in was tucked under the thatched eaves. (Carol let me sleep in the Princess Bed the entire week, go to her blog and tell her how awesome she is!) We had a family of bats and one night a visit from a giant wolf spider. But it was the howler monkeys we were waiting to hear.
But first we had to get through the most violent thunderstorm I have ever experienced. About midnight, lightening, thunder, and torrents of rain drummed on the thatched roof and soon I had a steady drip, drip, drip plunking through the netting over my bed onto the sheets. “And this is only the first night,” I thought, staring into a darkness so black I couldn’t even see my fingers in front of my face. The chaos lasted about an hour. After we had finally drifted off into a fitful sleep that’s when we heard them.
The howler monkeys had arrived for breakfast at 6 a.m. Even though they aren’t that big, howler monkeys are considered to be the loudest land animal. That’s right. Elephants and lions have nothing on these guys. Howlers sound like a cross between a dinosaur and a dog, with lots of heavy breathing, barking, and of course, the roar.
We were serenaded by the furry creatures of the treetops every morning, once beginning as early as 3 a.m. and this is in chorus with the rest of the singing jungle beings. One night I had to resort to ear plugs the concert was so loud. Every morning as soon as the dim light grew stronger through the canopy, the jungle fell silent. Eerie. The first night back home from the trip I was amazed at how quiet – and lifeless – my city neighborhood streets seemed.
So that is the Jungle House. I wanted to tell you about it before we shift our attention to the reason for the trip: chocolate. A good scene setter, don’t you think? This is the active environs of the world’s favorite bean.
When we got home, I made this goofy video just so we wouldn’t forget that week in the Jungle House. Two-thirds of the way through, you’ll hear the howler monkeys. Sleep tight!
Next: A tour of Eladio Pop’s jungle cacao farm.
Kitchen Report 
Jungle House looks simultaneously wonderful and terrifying. I like to think I’m brave, but I’m pretty sure the bats would be too much for me.
What an amazing place. My life seems a bit dull now. Just one question – how big a wolf spiders? Great piece of writing, I am new to your blog but I will be coming back for sure.
Welcome, Natalie! This wolf spider had really, really long legs. *If* I had held him, his legs would have stretched out the length of my fingers.
Kendra, you get the Bravery Award for embracing the adventure, no matter what. And Bravo for Carol — the Spontaneity Award! I loved your descriptions, and seeing/hearing the amazing video proved you weren’t exaggerating — cross between a dinosaur and a dog — spot on!
Thanks for sharing the heart of nature with those of us happy just to read about it.
[…] Comments « The Jungle House at Cotton Tree Lodge […]
Wonderful blog! I look forward to reading more!
My granddaughter and I are going to the cotton tree lodge this summer and we can’t wait. Thanks for the info. We love your blog.
You will love it!! Quite the adventure.
I miss Punta Gorda and the lodge terribly!!! We went about a year ago and had the best vacation I have ever experienced! I own a soap company, so I was curious about their soap and farmers markets, agriculture since we also raise cattle …. I simply adore the people! My DH didn’t tell me about the spider in our cabana until we were on the plane ride home, probably wise! When we checked in they told us to let the brown spiders live, and kill the black ones. Luckily, I never saw one!
If anyone is looking for a discount on going to Cotton Tree Lodge please contact me. My name is Jay Hersh. I am one of the original investors in the lodge, I actually was the one who loaned them the $ that they used to cover the expenses associated with locating all the other initial investors. I have been a good friend of Jeff Pzena (the US based managing partner) for over 20 years and friends with Chris Crowell (the Belize based managing partner) since before the lodge opened.
As part of our investment my wife and I got 2 dozen vouchers for stays at Cottontree. We’ve been several times and while we love the place we have way more vouchers than we can ever use and presently have a need for cash since my wife got laid off recently.
The vouchers have a face value of $2765. They have no expiration date, are fully transferable and can be redeemed for varying durations of stays based on the rates for the cabana, package and dates you choose.
I don’t want to post my phone or email address here online but I live in Lincoln, MA and my number is listed. If you’re interested and can’t find my contact info then contact Cotton Tree Lodge and ask them to put you in touch with me. They will also verify the validity of my claims as to what the face value of the vouchers are, that they have no expiration date, are fully transferable, and how it is I have these and need to sell a few.
Hopefully I can help one or more of the readers of this Blog learn for themselves what a great place Cottontree is at a discounted rate that will benefit them and me.
Thanks for the offer, Jay! Hope you get some good responses.
Hi Jay. Do you still have anymore vouchers? I’m going to the cotton tree lodge in the beginning of July? My email is rice.cassie (at) gmail.com
Thank you for all the nice things you said about the lodge. It always makes myself and the other investors feel good to hear that so many people really enjoy going there!
I would consider the deal, call me Merle 267.205.1493
For those that might be interested in the discount vouchers please go to http://www.cottontreelodge.com/rates/rates-overview.htm where you can see the room rates. We usually recommend people go with the all inclusive package it’s the most fun and best value. So for example if you went down during “winter” season with double occupancy you’d divide the $2765 value of the voucher by the $409 per night double occupancy rate for winter and come up with 6.75 days. That means if you stayed 7 days you’d owe $100. My asking price for the vouchers is $1250. The voucher used to get a full 7 days but they raised the room rates a little. So when you add in the $100 you get a total of $1350 for 7 nights of all inclusive stay there which is a 50% discount. If you want to look into this please call the lodge toll free at 866.480.4534 and tell them you’re thinking of buying a voucher from Jay Hersh. They’ll assist you with figuring out the room rate and place a courtesy hold on your room until you and I complete our transaction at which point I notify them and cc you and they confirm the voucher is transferred into your name. And if you don’t use the full value of the voucher it’s fully transferable so you can give it to family or friends. And you also get a free signed copy of my novel Revenge of the Jaguar King, an action adventure set in Belize :-). Thanks again to Kendra.
i would like to go thia august, do you still have any vouchers left? email me at “turolu (at) a-znet.com”
Dear Mr. Hersh,
I tried to get you Phone # but could not find you in Lincoln Ma. I had open heart surgery a year and a half ago and after my surgery I made my self a promised that I would not put off thing that I wanted to do with my family . I have always let my job caring for the handicap and elderly come before myself. I have a 16 year old son who has waited to go to Belize for a few years . I have been on line for months checking it out. I found the Cotton Tree and really feel it is the place for us. My son hopes to go into a Eco Freindly career. I was able to send him to Australia with his school 2 years ago and he love how Eco friendly it was there. He is also very much into photography. My husband and I would very much love to do this trip. Can you please help?
Thank you for your time, Carlotta
Carlotta,
Use this link to get my phone #
http://www.whitepages.com/name/Jay-S-Hersh/Lincoln-MA/7xxah5a
Thank you Mr. Hersh,
I will be calling you soon. Do you still have vouchers? I will be calling the Cotton Tree also. Thank you so much for the link.
Carlotta
Yes I still have several.
I Love this blog post! I just found out that I will be traveling here in August as my Graduation gift. Do you have any tips for what to pack? Like things you wish you had packed? Anything that is a must see/do on this trip? Im just so nervous, with it being my first trip anywhere 🙂 Any insight would be awesome.
Hi Monica,
I was there in early spring and it was really, really hot. So definitely pack loose fitting and linen clothing. If you are going to Cotton Tree Lodge they offer a great variety of day trips. I went cave swimming (very cool!) and also took a river trip out to a bay were we went snorkeling. You’ll see a so many different kinds of wildlife from birds to fish. Be sure to pack your binoculars!
Kendra
Hi Monica,
check out the FAQ at the Cottontree Lodge website http://www.cottontreelodge.com/contact-us/faqs.htm
It has more info about what to bring and other common questions.
Have a great time,
Jay Hersh (non-managing partner in CTL)
Are there still vouchers available???
I do have some left but I’ve been so busy I didn’t get around to renewing my ability to sell these through ebay. I can sell them to you direct though and will take payment via paypal. email me at cottontree@doctorbeer.com with your contact info and I’ll get back to you.
FYI I set up that alias just for this so I will shut it down after I hear from you and can give you my regular contact info. I just don’t want to leave it up and get spammed.
Also, if you haven’t done so already you can confirm through Cotton Tree Lodge’s managing partners Jeff Pzena or Chris Crowell that I am a partner in the lodge and that this is a legitimate offer.
thanks for your interest.
Jay Hersh