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Another hot tub
Volunteers Berthold and Hen
Views from the cottages
New Hammocks and poolside pillows
Here are just some extra pictures to show how nice everything looks
Precipation 1997 - 2007
Our cleaning ladies
More Hot Tubs
New signs
Troy's half-brother Beau visits
Tom's vegetable garden
Two new volunteers Improved solar shower system
Land art
Dylan Renovation Cabins Welcome Dylan
Tristan Passes away
Tree Frog gets a facelift
Volunteers stay another half year.
Hummingbird Rescue!
News from the Garden.
Baby Pool
Man's Best Friend...
Natural swimming pool
Sweat
Lodge
Rijsttafel
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Another hot tub. May, 2008
As promised the hot tub for the Blue Tang is now available. Only the cover still needs to be decorated, but Tom and Mardji did a marvelous job building the stone wall and the deck. When the Heliconias and Ginger plants are fully grown it will be very private, and that won't take long.
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Volunteers Berthold and Hen. May, 2008
Berthold and Hen are back for annual maintenance and the greenery of the ecolodge gets a badly needed trim, resulting in more light and sun and less humidity in the cottages. Great job again Berthold and Hen!
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Views from the cottages. May, 2008
Our guests are often inquiring about the view from the cottages when they are making a reservation. Berthold and Hen created some extra views and here are the results:

View from the Blue Tang
 View from the Anolis
 View from Turtle
 View from Tropic Bird
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 View from the Tree Frog.
 View from the Mt. Scenery Cottage
 View from Tree Fern
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New Hammocks and poolside pillows. May, 2008
We bought some extra hammocks and new chaise cushions for the lounge chairs at the pool deck. Just to make our guests even happier.

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Here are just some extra pictures to show how nice everything looks. May, 2008

Sign Herb Garden
 Herb garden Entrance covered with Passion Fruit
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 Heliconia with Red Heliconias
 Hot tub at the Blue Tang cottage |
Precipation 1997 - 2007. May, 2008
Tom has been monitoring rainfall for the last 10 years and this will give our guests a better idea about the dry and wet season. Just bear in mind that these figures are averages and that there is a lot of variation from one year to the next.
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Our cleaning ladies. May, 2008
Doris and Lina are doing a great job and they look very good too.

Doris
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 Lina |
More Hot Tubs. February 10, 2008
Due to the great interest in the cottages with a hot tub, we decided to add a hot tub to the Hummingbird Cottage. Also the decorations of the cottage were refreshed. The cottage looks now even more lovely and the first guests sleeping there, Lawrence Roy and his wife, told us that they really enjoyed the hot tub at night while watching the stars.
At this moment Tom is working on a hot tub for the Blue Tang cottage. This hot tub will not be on the deck but just in front of the cottage in the middle of nature. We will let you know as soon as the project is accomplished.
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New signs. November 16, 2007
New signs were installed because some guests were still having trouble finding the Ecolodge. And with Heleen's artistic touch they look good too! They include signs along the main road, so that even dummies should be able to find the Ecolodge now.

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Troy's half-brother Beau visits. November 16, 2007
Troy's half-brother Beau visited the Ecolodge today for the first time. It was great fun, greeting the guests, running around the garden and, of course, swimming in the fish pond. Beau just needs a little help getting out of the pond again. Since Beau's fur looks a bit fuzzy, you don't really notice that he's wet and dirty while checking out the vegetable garden. We can always clean him up in Dylan's bath in the evening.

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Tom's vegetable garden
Tom's vegetable garden becomes more and more professional. The nursery includes several lettuce varieties and the cooperation with the Cuban expert who has set up an organic farming project is inspiring. Seeds and products are compared or exchanged.
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Two new volunteers
The two new volunteers get along well with each other and with the other staff. You can see them during their coffee break on the back porch of the restaurant. Alicia is volunteering for the second time. She is Tom's faithful help at breakfast. Michel has been on Saba for just two weeks and already feels completely at home. He just started his diving course and expects to remain on Saba for many years, just like some of the other Ecolodge volunteers.
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Improved solar shower system
Almost all cottages at the ecolodge now have a warm water system consisting of a series of PVC pipes attached to the roof. The pipes are painted black to absorb the solar heat. They replace the solar bags that were used up till now. Advantages are that the water has more pressure and there is more warm water available. And the fixed showerhead allows you to wash your hair without having to stoop down. The water has cooled down by morning but in the afternoon it can be pretty hot.
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Land art
Our friend and volunteer Berthold Raadsen has visited us again. He did a lot of maintenance and painted several cottages. It's getting better all the time at the Ecolodge! He also decorated the island with his land art. A nice piece of land art was left on the Ecolodge property. Thank you so much Berthold!
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Dylan
Our grandson and son of Bernt and Dana is already one year old. You will find him regularly at the ecolodge where he charms everyone with his good nature. He is of course very good friends with Troy.
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Renovation Cabins.
Want a little more luxury with your rainforest retreat? then try our new
cottages with private hot tubs.
Bird of Paradise- rates $75 low season &$89 high season- includes modern hot
shower with private hot tub on spacious balcony overlooking plunge pool.
Mt Scenery cottage-rates $85 low & $99 high, includes queen sized canopy
bed, modern hot shower, kitchenette with small refrigerator and hot tub on
secluded balcony hidden amongst the rainforests lush vegetation.
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Dylan
Reece Groenendijk. July 16, 2006.
Welcome
Dylan!
Daddy Bernt and Mum Dana, Opa Tom and Oma Heleen, Grandma Mary and Grandpa
Ron, Wim and Johanna, the staff of the ecolodge (Kathy, Doris, Elizabeth)
and many friends are all here to support you to get a fantastic life. |
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Tristan
Passes away June 7, 2006.
Sad news. Tristan the hummingbird died. We are so sorry,
as he did so well! Tree
Frog gets a facelift June
7, 2006.
At this moment we are busy renovating the Tree Frog Cottage. The cottage
got a new toilet as the waterless composting toilet has been replaced by
a flush water toilet with an outdoor composter. Also the colors have been
changed as the light colors seemed to attract a lot of mildew.
The neon lights are being replace with 12V 4 Watt lights that lasts longer
than the old ones and give more light. We are recycling juice bottles for
lampshades. The results will be stunning! |

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The Flight of
the hummingbird May
7, 2006
Hummingbird Tristan did make his first flight. He is still drinking sugar-water
and saves what he can’t use right away in pockets in his throat. We
really have to be careful not to feed him too much because his little necks
really swells and gets transparent. he's a brave little guy and is so tame
that he regularly keeps our guests company in the restaurant. |
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Volunteers
stay another half year. May
7, 2006
Huib, Sanna and Tijl decided to stay another half year as volunteers at
the ecolodge. You will notice that they are as happy as we are about this
extension when you have a look at their website http://huibsannatijl.blogspot.com/.
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Hummingbird
Rescue! May
3rd 2006
Saint Eustatius archeologist Tristan Abbott found a deserted hummingbird-
baby on the Mountainroad. He took the bird to his cottage at the ecolodge
and started to feed the little critter sugar-water every half hour. As Tristan
had to head back to Statia he left his baby to the care of the staff of
the ecolodge.
We can inform you that little "Tristan" is very much alive. On
the picture you can see Tom feeding him some sugar-water from a teaspoon.
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News
from the Garden.
Finally Tom and Mardji, in cooperation with Kathy have been successful
in growing a lot of tomatoes. They taste lovely and they look very pretty.
Yellow and red cherry tomatoes and yellow pear tomatoes are producing
at the moment.
Kathy and Heleen decided that it would be a pity to throw all the tomatoes
that couldn’t be used in the restaurant away. They prepared a pasta
sauce and a Tomato marmelade. The Tomato Marmalade is so delicious that
we can’t resist to give you the recipe.
TOMATO MARMALADE.
12 cups tomatoes, cut in pieces.
2 oranges
2 limes
10 cups sugar.
2 tablespoons whole cloves.
6 tablespoons broken cinnamon sticks.
Cut the tomatoes in little pieces. Slice oranges and lemons very thin
and quarter the slices. Pour off juice from the tomatoes. Add sugar. Stir
until the sugar is dissolved. Add oranges, lemons, and spices which have
been tied loosely in cheesecloth bag. Place mixture over high heat and
boil rapidly, stirring often. Cook until clear and thick (about 50 minutes).
Pour into sterilized jars. Keep after cooling in refrigerator. |
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The lettuce is also doing well
as well as the cucumbers and the sweet peppers. That promises us fresh
garden salads for the restaurant.
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The garden is getting more colorful with
all kinds of flowers. The Red Heliconia is blooming in front of the Heliconia
Cottage and also the Passion Fruit vine is in full bloom. We are looking
forward to the juice and ice-cream that we are planning to make from the
fruits.
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Our gardener in the herb garden
with red and green basil.
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For the Indonesian Rice Table we have a lot
of Madam Jeannette peppers. These are the hottest peppers that we know.
We put them in the blender with vinegar to prepare the spicy sambal.
Kathy took care of the Nasturtiuns for the salads. Below is a picture
of the flowers in front of her Saban Cottage. We hope that she will be
as successful at growing Stevia.
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This plant contains a natural
sweetener and is delicious in the morning tea. Luckily enough there
is enough mint, lemon basil and lemon balm (and shortly also Chamomile)
for the fresh morning tea |
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Madam Jeannette Peppers. |
Just some more pictures of the beautiful
garden: Dill, Glory Bush, and Hanging Heliconia.
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Baby
Pool.
The swimming pool is very popular. As we often get families with small
children we decided to buy a baby pool and some toys. Especially Tijl,
the son of our volunteers Huib and Sanna, is playing in the pool almost
every day.
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Man's Best Friend...
We also get guests with dogs regularly. They always behave very well
and we have very good memories of Max and Jack from Sint Maarten,
the faithful dogs that did hike all the trails with there bosses.
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The new addition at the house
of Tom and Heleen is Troy, a Labrador Retriever who is growing even
faster than the cabbage in our garden. One thing is for sure, he loves
our guests, just as we do. |
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Natural
swimming pool at Ecolodge Saba
Ecolodge Rendez-Vous, Saba now also features a swimming pool. The
pool is located in the center of the property and has a wooden deck
with a sea view. The bottom of the tiled pool is decorated by Heleen
Cornet with a wonderful glass tile mosaic depicting turtles, starfish
and waves. Heleen told us that she has been working for more than
two months on the mosaic. "It was the first time I made a mosaic
and I tried to read as much as possible about how to do it. A lot
of trial-and-error was involved, but with the help of Kathy Freeland,
Marylene van Dam, Mardjiman Moehammed and Cedric Hassell it was
finally managed. And I am really happy about the result".
To keep the pool clean Nature 2 Express is used. A new approach
in sanitizing pools that comes from Australia. The Nature 2 uses
minerals to destroy bacteria and algae. Only a small amount of chlorine
has to be used to keep the pool clean.
A solar pump connected to a solar panel takes care of the water
flow from the pool through filters to the hot tub and back. This
also makes it possible to warm the pool water after the hot tub
has been heated.
Ecolodge guests enjoy the new addition and are raving about the
water quality.
For more information contact: info@ecolodge-saba.com
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Ecolodge
Adds Sweat Lodge and Hot Tub
In April we completed a hot tub and sweat lodge on the premises.
The sweat lodge is based on a traditional American Indian ritual.
Volcanic rocks are heated in a wood fire and transferred to the
lodge. Water is poured over the glowing hot rocks to create steam
and herbs are sprinkled over the stones. After 20-30 minutes of
profusely perspiring, guests can take a dip in a cold tub and then
transfer to the hot tub. The hot and cold tubs are stock feed tanks
that accommodate two persons. The hot tub is heated by a Chofu,
a Japanese wood stove. An outdoor shower completes the complex.
After a day of hiking or other physical activity, can you imagine
anything more revitalizing? In May, Sally of the Saba Day Spa will
also offer massages at the Ecolodge. The use of the hot tub and
sweat lodge is included in the price of the massage. |
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Rainforest
Restaurant Features
Indonesian Night on Tuesdays
Since early April we serve an authentic Indonesian “Rijsttafel”
at the Rainforest Restaurant every Tuesday night. Rijsttafel, which
literally translates to “rice table”, is a combination
of about a dozen different dishes served with white rice. The dishes
include such delicious Indonesian specialties as curried beef, pork
in soy sauce, chicken sate with peanut sauce, shrimps or fish with
lemongrass and coconut milk, omelet with sweet and sour sauce, christophenes
in coconut cream, pickled cucumbers, carrots and onions, beans in
a spicy coconut milk sauce, peanuts with grated coconut, plus a
variety of other condiments prepared with spices from the Far East.
The Rijsttafel is prepared weekly by Marie Anne and Heleen. Marie
Anne was born and raised in Indonesia and Heleen lived for several
months in the country.
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