On our arrival at the end of October 2001 at the site of the Lodge, there was no water, electricity or access road for vehicles… nothing in this bush which lay fallow. We transformed this handicap into an advantage by ensuring total autonomy and we discovered that here ecology was becoming as essential a criterion as water, energy or even money. Our installation and development were done not against but in harmony with the nature surrounding us. The result is that life at Niassam is a gift offered by the Tan plateau….

Space Firstly, the Lodge isn’t enclosed by walls and fences. It opens onto the lagoon and the bush which form an extension of private space naturally. This magnificent scenery is thus part of the hotel, the room space goes beyond the physical boundary. We’ve worked on a blurred separation between interior and exterior. The bed is truly in the bedroom, but on waking you are in the middle of the water and islands or among the birds. Or maybe facing wind and waves on your immobile boat, or cradled in your nest in the great baobab. The magic and diversity of the dynamics of life.

Water : finding water was our first job, digging a well where the water tower is now (Savane Rooms). Even if the bush appears burnt by the sun during the dry season, water is not far away, just a few metres from the ground surface, trapped in the sand. We’ve built four wells five metres deep and the water arrives from the bottom making its way along micro-channels through the sand. The wells supply us with good quality fresh water for nine to ten months a year. Otherwise the truck has to go and fetch four cubic metres from the main well daily.

Energy : in 2001 electricity hadn’t even arrived in Palmarin village. We installed 38 solar panels supplying the Lodge all day long: swimming pool motors, fridges, all kitchen and computer equipment and washing machines. There’s a top-up generator working mainly in the evening during meal time while we recharge the solar batteries for the night and when we pump water into the water tower. In April 2009 we added a wind turbine enabling night energy supply in windy periods which should give total autonomy. We estimate the generator consumption cost to be 300 euros per month, whereas the electricity bill for a hotel of the same size is more than 200 euros a month. We hope to halve the bill thanks to the wind turbine.

Waste is sorted. All kitchen waste feeds the pigs guaranteeing efficiency and organic meat into the bargain. The only problem is that the pigs grow quickly and we find it difficult to kill them for food. Their manure feeds our trees and fertilizes the garden. Plastic bottles are taken by the personnel to be used by the people in the villages as are the many glass bottles. The rest is burnt and buried.

Waste water: All waste water goes into sedimentation tanks where the matter degrades. Then it arrives in a shell sink to be finally filtered by the sand. We are going to work on replacing washing products and antiseptics by organic products as they stop the organic cycle being totally efficient (we regularly have to recuperate the fatty deposits from the tanks).

Negawatts : the negawatt is a unit of energy saved by suppressing superfluous and useless consumption. We have no freezers so necessitating a regular supply of fresh products, much better for cooking. We have no air-conditioning. Natural ventilation allows a pleasant temperature in the rooms nearly all year and in the hot season we provide fans. We also have no hot tap water in the rooms as this would represent excessive and unnecessary water and electricity needs. Buckets of hot water can be brought for showers. It’s pleasant and an opportunity to change your habits. Petrol lamps light the way in the evening. There’s no lighting at night, more for aesthetic reasons allowing you to take advantage of the real night without light pollution than for energy saving, although this is also a factor. The ecological approach encourages creativity providing advantageous solutions to the quality of our service and the running costs. Ecology produces a spirit and atmosphere that our guests are sensitive to. Ecology creates value.