the nomad lab

Chole Mjini Treehouse Lodge.

I love this eco-lodge hideaway in Tanzania. 

Built on Chole Island, this lodge stays true to its environmental ideology while maintaining its own individual character and design.

Chole Mjini focuses on being green, and on contributing heavily to the local community.

The Chole Mjini Conservation & Development Company has actually built a primary school and an adult education center for the island, and they donate a portion of each night of your lodging costs to supporting the community. Definitely take the opportunity to tour the local village during your stay here.

While you shouldn’t expect certain modern conveniences here (like electricity and flushing toilets), the experience is well worth it.

You’ll stay in an open rustic treehouse, surrounded by wildlife and breathtaking scenery. I strongly recommend checking out the website and reading each treehouse description - they’re personally written by the man who built each of them!

There’s a wealth of water activities, which include snorkeling, swimming with whale sharks and jellyfish, watching turtles hatch, and sunset sailing. The food is, of course, freshly caught and locally grown. Meals are served in the dining room, an open-air room surrounded by fig tree roots and crumbling dirt walls, or with a candle-lit service right on the water.

This sounds like the perfect place to get away from it all. And you know, be one with nature, and all that. 

I probably don’t need to say it, but don’t expect internet or cellphone service here either. Take it as a blessing.

Visit the website here: Chole Mjini Lodge

(Photos from Afrika Afrika Safaris)

The House.

Casa do Dean is the perfect vacation home mix of contemporary meets comfortable. The high lofted ceilings, the funky colors of the textiles and art, and the white polished concrete floors all lend themselves to the vibrant home, located on a cliff top in Arraial d’Ajuda in northeast Brazil.  

This 2 bedroom house definitely takes advantage of the fantastic view with 12 meters of French doors and plenty of huge windows on top of that.

I’m a huge fan of all the colorful Brazilian (and other international) arts and crafts scattered purposefully around the house, and of course, the breezy white netting surrounding the Brazilian hardwood four poster beds. You can tell the furniture pieces have been carefully picked out, and I especially like those two woven white chairs in the living room. 

And.. hello hammocks. That settles it for me. Perfect vacation home.

It also has all the amenities you need like AC, high quality bedding, and in-room safes, plus a bunch of perks like breakfast, full maid service, and a local English/Portuguese liaison.

More info on Arraial d’Ajuda after these photos!

Find out more here: Casa do Dean

Facebook: Casa do Dean - Tropical Loft in Brazil

The Area.

The house is only a 5 minute walk away from the beaches, and a 5 minute walk in the other direction to the village of Arraial d’Ajuda. This town has quickly moved up the ranks of places I need to go just by a few photos. 

It was an old fishing village that still maintains a good deal of its rural history. However, tons of colorful restaurants, bars, and shopping plazas have definitely popped up everywhere, with a nightlife that is said to go on 24 hours a day. 

The beaches are absolutely flawless white sand beaches, and there are cliffs overlooking natural ponds created by the tides where lots of visitors go to relax. 

(All photos from Casa do Dean Gallery)

I’m back! Tan and happy… and ready for the next couple crazy weeks.

I had totally planned on sharing my trip along the way, but ended up deciding that 1 week away from the internet (mostly) would do me a lot of good. So as a quick overview, here’s a roundup of my favorite moments from Jamaica. 

1. All the food. But most notably, the homemade jerk sausage from the pool bar at the Rockhouse Hotel and the jerk chicken from 3 Dives, just down the street. 

2. Visiting the Little Bay All Age and Infant School that the Rockhouse Foundation renovated. More details on Rockhouse later, but this was one of the coolest experiences ever, getting to see all the concrete changes that the Rockhouse Foundation has been able to implement around the community.

Plus, watching my boyfriend get swarmed by a bunch of 6-year old boys begging him to pick them up was hilarious.

(Photo by Andy Fortson)

3. Negril’s Seven Mile Beach is a stretch of untainted clear turquoise water and soft sand (okay, there are various vendors trying to sell wares and weed wandering along the sand, but they’ll generally leave you alone once you’re knee-deep in water). 

Not sure how it looks during peak season, but it was unbelievably calm and relaxed while I was there during the low season.

Tip: check out Aqua, a little bar on the beach with a great bartender named Linton and over 60 different types of rum. Apparently this is also a fancy little boutique hotel with just 5 rooms. It looked quite pretty from the outside, but didn’t get the chance to go in and check it out.

4. Party boat to Margaritaville in Montego Bay. Rum punch, snorkeling, and water trampolines. Need I say more?

5. Sunsets from the infinity pool in Negril. I don’t think we missed one day. Totally perfect. 

I’m going to dedicate a more specific post to the Rockhouse Hotel in Negril, just because there’s so much I’d like to say about it. But for now, let’s just say I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a place to unwind. I was consistently impressed by their attention to detail, fantastic service, and dedication to the community.

Find them here:

Website: rockhousehotel.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rockhouse-Hotel/49637843957

Twitter: @rockhousehotel

PS. I succeeded at 8/10 of my Jamaica To-Do List! (Missed the Martha Brae rafting & YS Falls. Next time.)