Co-owner of the property, Regina Sanchez, is a Rural Development Specialist who has worked in the field, particularly in the Caribbean for well over 20 years. On a 1994 visit to Belize, Central America, Regina had the opportunity to spend a weekend with a Maya family in the Toledo district and was struck by the sheer beauty and simplicity of their lives. To her, it embodied all that characterized rural life and living and she vowed that this was how she would direct her own life from then onwards. Although she was born and bred in Trinidad, Regina's parents were actually from Tobago where her father, up to his death in 1945 when Regina was a tiny baby, owned and operated a cocoa estate in the small, rural village of Runnemede. Following her father's death, Regina's mother, Adeline, leased the land for a number of years to cocoa farmers until the sixties when interest in the crop seemed to wane in Tobago. From then, until Regina's interest in the mid-nineties, the land remained idle, gradually returning to the rainforest as more and more secondary forest took over what was once a thriving cocoa plantation. Up to that time, Regina had not yet met Anthony who was to become her husband and who, with his superb architectural and building skills, fashioned a beautiful lodge in the midst of a wild valley surrounded by mountains, streams and bamboo groves. Regina knew that she wanted to create a haven for those whose love of nature, to synchronize her activities with the beautiful and free offerings of Nature, to demonstrate self-sufficiency by growing her own food. The presence of myriad numbers of termites in the area militated against the construction of a timber building (her first choice) and dictated instead the use of clay (blocks) - itself a natural product and produced locally. In construction, the clay was however complemented by much use of (treated) lumber. The result? A beautiful lodge with streams flowing on either side, and little of the natural setting disturbed. The gardens which provide food extend down to the watercourse thus making watering of crops easy. There were many challenges along the way, however. The local road which led to the property, obviously designed more for animal than for vehicular traffic, was not merely narrow and winding but became completely unnavigable in parts - even with a four-wheel drive vehicle - whenever it rained. Truck drivers refused to come in to drop materials - all except one who on one occasion became so deeply mired in mud that we had to hire a backhoe to pull him out! Thus most of the materials were dropped along the road to be picked up later by ourselves and loaded onto a smaller truck which made several trips until everything was on site. Another materials-related problem was the fact that we were building in Tobago where much of what is required is often not readily available and has to be ordered from Trinidad - a procedure which can sometimes take several weeks, depending on requirement for manufacture or transport by ferry… Further, there was no access to electricity which meant that in the construction of the property mainly hand tools were used and a small generator rented when the use of electricity was absolutely required. As a result of all this, the project took three and a half years to complete instead of the one and a half originally projected. Out of the challenges came many bright spots, however. We were able to offer sustained employment to many formerly unemployed persons in the immediate villages of Runnemede and Moriah. Indeed, more than employment, they received training in masonry, plumbing and carpentry which continues to serve them in good stead today. Another positive result was the development of a sensitivity towards the environment including issues of wildlife. Catching birds, putting them in cages and selling them - formerly a common practice - is now a rare pastime, practiced only by only very few. Today, our only problem is our telecommunications which tends to be unstable at times. Electricity has been brought to the site; springs in the area and a rain-fed system provide us with water which guests say has a "golden" taste; the government has given us a completely motorable road which leads right up to the property. In an effort to protect the integrity of the site as a nature reserve, we have asked that the road not be asphalted since we believe that such a move will encourage an undesirable level and type of traffic which would, at the very best, scare away the birds. The pristine nature of the environment has been preserved and as guests often remark, we enjoy "a little bit of paradise". Regina & Anthony conduct EarthFoot's "6-Day Bird-Focused Ecotour of Tobago, Based at an Eco-Lodge" experience.