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The Jolinaiko Ecolodge

Building of the ecolodge in progress

At this moment, Jolinaiko is building its own lodge on the riverbank in Atsiekpoe. We want to create an extraordinary stay for our visitors, and at the same time create a lot of benefits for the local community.

The building of the lodge

At the time of writing, the building of the lodge is still in progress. It's not possible to stay in our lodge yet. At this moment, we let visitors stay in the Joy Beach Guesthouse in Bator.

The accomodation will at first consist of five basic huts, but in the future we might create some more luxury. This approach gives us the possibility to start out with relatively low building costs. Added benefit is that the atmosphere of the lodge matches that of the village itself.

Building of the ecolodge in progress

The mudbrick/termite clay walls and thatched roofs are now finished. But still a lot has to be done: the walls will have to be plastered, a simple latrine and basic washing facilities (bucket showers) will have to be built. Also a local style kitchen and a bar at the waterfront will be constructed by young men from the village.

In the beginning the lodge will be used mainly for travellers who come with Jolinaiko Eco Tours. In the future we are looking into possibilities to bringing in visitors travelling with other organisations.

Follow the build or contribute to the lodge

Follow the building of our lodge in the photo album of the Jolinaiko Eco Village (not available yet). If you are interested, you can contribute to the building of the lodge, financially, with your knowledge or by becoming a volunteer in Atsiekpoe-Vume.

We hope at the end of 2008, the building process has finished far enough to be able to welcome you as the first visitors!

“ We received a warm welcome. People carried our luggage on their head to our house, everybody greeted us with 'Woez' and people were smiling. Children were running after us screaming 'yevu, yevu!'.

It is a lovely place to live. Living with the sun. The villages are not really developed and isolated from the 'civilized world' (no electricity, mud houses, cooking on a fire etc.). Still the villages are rich in what they have. You don't need electricity, because there is a breeze from the river and water is close by. We thought it was wonderful to walk outside and see the goats and chickens walking freely. The people live from the natural resources like fish and cassava. They make baskets out of plants and eat mangoes when it is the mango season. On Sundays you see everybody in their beautiful traditional clothes going to church. Although the villages are little, they have five churches! God plays an important role in these communities.

We hope that you will enjoy the people and the nature as much as we did. Yevu, woez! ”

Annemarie van Alphen & Irene Poortinga ,
The Netherlands. sankofa
Annemarie and Irene lived in Atsiekpoe-Vume for 3 months and teached at the local primary school.

Teaching in Atsiekpoe-Vume is a unique experience. If you have a teaching background and are interested in spending some time doing voluntary work, please see our volunteering pages.