December 2011. For more information check http://www.mahahualbeachhouse.com.
January 2012. Th vegetation around the house has fully recovered since it was devastated during hurricane Dean in 2007. For more information check http://www.mahahualbeachhouse.com.
January 2012. Morning view with guard dogs Timon and Scuby.
January 2012. We have about 30 mature nut-bearing coconut palms on the property. They provide year-round refreshing coconut milk.
January 2011. Morning view of house from beach.
January 2012. Morning view of house from beach.
January 2012. After the beach road was moved to behind our property a year earlier (Feb 2011) we have started to integrate the old road area into our garden by landscaping and planting palms and salt-tolerant beach plants.
January 2012. Side view of house with our fresh-water pond. The pond contains a good population of native fish. We made the pond to provide a breeding habitate for tree frogs and a drinking spot for birds. Populations of tree frogs have been nearly wiped out close to the coast during hurricane Dean in 2007.
January 2012. Side view of house. The ocean front ground-level terasse is our favored spot for outside eating.
June 2011
New katalox hardwood dining table (2010). Katalox is a local two-colored hardwood.
downstairs dining area (with new katalox hardwood table in summer 2010)
downstairs dining-living area
downstairs dining- living area
spiral stairs- build around tree trunk
smaller bedroom upstairs
kitchen area downstairs
downstairs bath w. shower
downstairs bath
upstairs bathroom
Newly tiled roof terrace (2009). Lots of privacy here for tanning.
view from balcony (5 months after Dean)
new katalox hardwood dining table. Katalox is a beautiful local two-colored wood.
Downstairs dining living area. Older picture. Table has been replaced in the meantime with massive katalox table.
January 2012. View of house frome the beach. Instead of converting our beach into a sand desert– unfortunately the common practice at most beach properties– we landscaped our beach by retaining and planting native salt-tolerant plants that interlace in large patches open sand areas. These patches are not only much more beautiful, but also prevent erosion and provide diverse habitats for beach-dwelling animals. Newly planted palms have been growing vigorously after we protected them by building wave barriers made from driftwood trunks.
January 2012. After many beach-front palms were destroyed during hurrican Dean we added two palapas (sun shelters) for shade to the beach area.
January 2012. Morning view.
January 2012. Our freshwater pond adds a nice accent to the garden-park that surrounds the house.
freshwater pond
Garden pond. Photo taken a month after it was built in March 2008. During Dean frog populations suffered. This pond hopefully will help with recovery.
January 2012. Morning view of beach and house.
January 2012.
January 2012. With a strong storm a unusual large amount of sargassum weed arrived.
Beach area. January 2012.
January 2012. Morning view of beach.
January 2012
September 2011. One of the gates at the new road (moved to behind the property in February 2011). We built a sturdy bamboo fence facing the road and laterally we enclosed the property with a meshwire fence. This certainly improves privacy and security, as access to our lot is now very restricted.
January 2012. Entrance gate with sign. The gate is close to the caretaker casita.
January 2012. Fence at the new road.
Decoration of fence on new road. Bamboo roots resemble heads of dinosaurs. Bamboo does not grow in our area, but we get a amply supply from drift goods.
This is the areal of the now closed "old" beach road (photographed from the north end of our property). The lateral meshwire fence across the road is visible in the far. We have begun integrating this areal into our garden by digging holes and planting palms and native plants.
December 2011. North end of the area of the now closed "old road". A lateral fence restricts access to our property.
December 2011. South end of the area of the now closed "old road". A lateral fence restricts access to our property. One of our guard dogs, Timon, enjoys the much safer conditions. His brother was killed in a car accident and we hope a similar accident can not happen again to our dogs.
Novemerb 2010. Morning view
December 2010. Morning view- note the Iowa licence plate on the car! First time in 18 years that we drove to Mahahual again by car.
Dec 2010. Sunrise.
Dec. 2010. Sunrise.
1.5 years after DEan. View of house from north.
Dec 2009. Morning view
Summer 2007. House before Dean
2007. Front porch (before Dean)
house with new balcony (before DEan)
view of house 5 months after Dean- much greener already
One year after Dean- vegeation is recovering nicely.
beach and house 5 months after Dean (some green again), re-errected palms unfortunatly did not survive
incredibly bright full moon
bright full moon night
About 30 mature coconut palms bear year-round nuts and are a great source for fresh coconut milk.
2009. Our guard dogs Timon and Chintarra
January 2, 2008. Very strong storm - lots of sponges, shells, black corals washed to shore
One of the most demanding activities at Casa del Cielo de las Estrellas.
balcony, view from roof
morning view from balcony (5 months after Dean)
Jan 2008. 5 months after Dean. Sunrise.
view of beach 5 months after DEan
One year after Dean- view from balcony.
sunrise
morning view from bedroom
morning view
morning sun from bedroom
new stairs from new balcony to roof (2007)
balcony (before Dean)
view from balcony (before Dean)
grill on the beach
coco fresco
coco fresco- we always have a very good supply of coconuts from our palms
Darvey and Magdalena repairing kayak
Ceiba Tree - now 1.5 years old- has grown to almost 10 feet in hight (June 2011)
June 2011. Protected side of our "sea wall". We hope with this measure we can again establish Chi'it palms close to the water line.
panoramic view of our beach after a storm in the end of June 2011.
June 2011. Our wave barriers passed a first test during a very strong storm.
A storm in the end of June 2011 brought an incredibe amount of sargasso and sea grass. Our new "sea wall" made of drift wood logs passed this first test very well.
A storm in the end of June 2011 washed onto the beach a huge amount of sargasso and sea grass. We mad 5 feet deep holes in the sand to bury the grass there instead of piling it up as huge mounts. We used the sand to fill up some areas washed out by the storm.
Garden behind house June 2011- view from caretaker casita toward main house. Almost entirely recovered since Dean.
Birdhouses made from driftwood bamboo pieces: This is one of our latest projects. We hope that some of our houses will attract Toucans and Parrots that depend for nisting on large tree cavities. For these birds the availability of nisting holes is a major limit of population sizes.
January 2011; Our newest project: we build a protective wall from drift wood logs to protect palms and higher-ground sand. The material for this poject was collected all along the coast up to and beyound Punta Herradura (km 25). Logs were cut to a lenght of 4 feet and buried 3 feet into the ground.
January 2011; Our newest project: we build a protective wall from drift wood logs to protect palms and higher-ground sand
January 2011, Caribbean beach on an unusually foggy morning
January 2011, Caribbean beachon an unusually foggy morning
January 2011, sunrise over the Caribbean Sea on an unusually foggy morning
Dec 2010, morning view from our beach palapa
Dec 2010, morning view; drinking tea in our seaside palapa
Dec 2010, sunrise
Dec 2010, morning view; locals build a small fishing platform about 50 feet from the beach- many sea birds are attracted to it using it as a resting place
Dec 2010, morning view
2010. Beach after a storm. Brown pelicans- here a flock of 12- belong to the most common sea birds at the Costa Maya.
Dec 2010, Blue Heron passing on beach
Dec 2010, stormy day (Norte), view of beach from roof
morning view of beach (March 2011)
view of beach from terrace (summer 2010)-
"Bugainvilla de India" tree planted in Dec 2009- grows nicely (picture summer 2010)
Negra tree planted in Dec 2009- grows nicely (picture summer 2010)
Ceiba tree planted in Dec 2009- grows nicely (picture summer 2010)
garden behind house (vew from caretaker casita)
Kaoba tree planted in Dec 2009- grows nicely (picture summer 2010)
garden behind house (summer 2010); nicely recovered in the 3 years after Dean
full moon
view of beach from balcony (summer 2010)
March 2010. One of our guard dogs.
freshwater garden pond (summer 2010)- the surrounding of our house is teaming with frogs and toads again which use the pond for laying eggs
beach summer 2010
Fresh, locally grown fruits from Limones
our guard dogs on beach
evening view of beach after storm (Norte)
January 2010. Timon caught a cold during a cold spell ( a "Norte"). Larissa made him this poncho, which he happily wore.
Our new garden pond in 2009. Tree frog populations have suffered during Dean. Our old pond was always teaming with tadpoles. We hope the new pond will help with population recovery.
Chit Palm island directly at water line at Travel in' Restaurant. This group survived Dean very well. We are now planting all our palms in groups, because this seems to be the best strategy of making them hurricane resistant. The combined and intertwined rootsystems are a very effective barrier against grinding wave action.
Christmas 2009
bright full moon
Our backyard 2.5 years after Dean.
Our backyard 2.5 years after Dean. Note the 10 feet high fig tree which sprouted up from nowhere after the hurricane.
Morning view. 2.5 years after DEan. Our beach is recovering nicely.
2.5 years after Dean. Good recovery of beach vegetation.
Chintarra- one of our guard dogs. As you might note- ferociously guarding our entrance door...
Timon- he is a very gently guard dog! Here he is just bored to death and yawns.
Larissa's rock garden
Christmas 2009- our inside Christmas tree with Caribbean blue ornaments.
view of beach 2.5 years after DEan
Christmas 2009- our outside Christmas tree
backyard March 2009
sunset from roof.
sunset
1.5 years after DEan- first coconut harvest
beach from porch
1.5 years after DEan. Slow recovery of our backyard jungle- now more a garden (December 2008). Note the fig tree (?), which grew out of nowhere into a large tree by 2010.
1.5 years after DEan. Slow recovery of our backyard jungle- now more a garden (December 2008)
Larissa's rock garden, which survided Dean virtually unscated
Timon- one of our guard dogs
beach December 2008
morning view- here palms have recovered nicely
morning view- our new palapa - build after DEan
December 2008. New beach palapa.
One year after Dean- view from balcony. View of re-errected grill and new palapa sun shade.
5 months after Dean- beach restauration in progress- most replanted palms did not survive unfortunatly
5 monts after Dean- vegetation is coming back
beach table from Uva de Mar root- 5 months after Dean
our beach with evening sun
kayaking
evening shot of our beach
January 2 2008- Aftermath of very strong storm that washed out and damaged newly replanted palms. Only palms planted from nuts did eventually recover.
January 2008- view from balcony
view of casita from roof- lack of plants in our "back yard- jungle" still very evident
view from roof 6 months after Dean- green vegetation coming back, but damage to mangrove area still very evident
incredibly bright full moon- 5 months after Dean- beach restauration in progress
incredibly bright full moon (beach 5 months after Dean)
Behind the house, 5 months after Dean. Our jungle is mostly gone. Some plants show green again.
beach restauration after DEan
guard dog (Chintarra)
house before Dean
old palapa on beach (view from front porch)
garden- jungle behind house
front porch
our beach from front porch (before Dean)
Darvey and Magdalena (our caretakers)
emptying septic tank
Panoramic view of Casa del Cielo de las Estrellas beach. We landscaped our beach with native plants and palms and did not create the sand desert that is unfortunatly prevalent at most beach lots.
panoramic view- Casa del Cielo de las Estrellas beach- (before Dean)
beach after Wilma- covered palm roots with sand and rocks - did not help much during Dean two years later, which uprooted all palms close to the waterline
heron
beach before DEan
beach sculpture (bamboo roots)
rain coming
beach after Wilma
guard dogs
beach before Den
our old balcony (replaced 2006)
view of caretaker casita from house (before Dean)
lush jungle behind house
beach before Dean
self- made table on beach (before Dean)
grill on the beach, Uva de Mar provides excellent shading (before Dean)
beach in the morning (after Wilma, before DEan)
breakfast
morning view (after storm)
morning view from roof (before Dean)
Christmas 2004- very bright full moon
breakfast on the beach- before Dean
view from roof- before Dean
transporting rocks to build artificial reef
Beach befored hurricane Dean, but ravaged by high waves from hurricane Wilma in 2005 which exposed roots of palms closer to water line
beach after Wilma- palm roots exposed
breakfast on the beach (before Dean)
old stairs to roof from old wooden balcony (2004)
slow recovery of our jungle backyard a year after Dean (July 2008)- many wild papayas appeared as succession plants
One year after Dean- vegeation is recovering nicely. However, reerrecting effort of washed out palms failed with few exceptions. We planted almost 30 palms from nuts, but it will take several years before these will grow to any significant size.
One year after Dean- vegeation is recovering nicely. In background mangrove area.
One year after Dean- vegeation is recovering nicely. Note wild papayas, which appeared as succession plants everywhere.
Slow recovery of our jungle backyard a year after Dean (July 2008)- interesting fig (?) sprouting up with vigor. This fig grew to 10 foot tree a year later.
Puerto Angel beach (before Dean)
Most beach properties at the coast have been unfortunatly converted into a sand desert (here shown a lot in just 70m from Casa del Cielo de las Estrellas).
