Essays

Yucatan Holidays General Intern -
Moriba Nelson, Grenadian of True Blue Bay Resort
International tour to Mexico @ Hacienda Tres Rios.
I want to thank Yucatan Holidays and CHTA Education Foundation for this wonderful opportunity to see and experience another culture and way of Life. I had an amazing time.

My task at the resort was slightly different to rest of the interns. Our first week was spent in the activities department, participating and learning the various levels of sustainability of the hotel as well as the language; also the ecological diversified of the resort and by extension the cultural aspect of the country. Also included in our day to day adventure were trips to the Senote (pond), down to the rivers, over to nursery, and finally to the sea even at the pools sometimes. As a measure of our learning progress we expressed what we had learned to the guest and to our supervisors, although understanding Spanish was a bit difficult, I was able to get through with the little knowledge of the language as I progressed. (Muy Porqueto!).


Having been to the Mexican Rivera I was able to absorb a great extent of information, such as;
-The passage of hurricane Wilma in the year 2005, which destroyed 35% of the hotels mangrove.
-The construction of the massive hotel which is built on stilts up to date, so that the water from the ocean can get through to the mangrove on the landscape side of the hotel


Attached are the photos showing the process that took place at the Hacienda Tres Rios.
The pictures clearly depict the sustainability of eco-tourism and the diversification of what is biodegradable, and what we can do to protect our environment. For example we need to be very careful with some of the products that we use when we are washing, cooking, etc and even some of the products that we use outside our household.

Pictures of the Plant


Nursery & Compost


Before & after images of Hacienda Tres Rios & Hurricane Wilma.
Left: 30% of mangrove destroyed, in 2005. Right: After the Hurricane 2009


Activities program to retain the mangrove – I had a good time and really got to understand that the hard work is critical to restore the mangrove.


As we heard about Mexico previously is not one of the best places on the earth for great morals and norms but, who are we to judge the safeness of our future generation in terms of being clean and so forth. One very important aspect of the Mexican culture is the people there definitely know how to protect and preserve what belongs to them and there surroundings.

I adamantly believe that having gained such a wealth of knowledge with regards to how each of us can assist in saving and preserving what is left of the planet earth, would truly be an experience for me to share with my fellow hoteliers, friends, media and to rest of eastern Caribbean.

During this brief and informative exercise we will learn the simple things that can make us better citizen, in fact I think with this knowledge transmitted we will be more prepared and able to improve and protect the environment.
-Firstly we need to know what and how we dispose of things in our community, schools, and jobs, and even in our every day life
-Secondly selecting and making the right decisions with the type of materials we use and discard of; for example the plastic bags, the chemicals and the vehicle parts that are not properly discarded.

Finally most of the people who destroy, throw and bury, don’t have a clue of what is safe and what’s unsafe, and what should be a healthy practice for mother earth which we so care about!

In closing it is evident that this practice has already begun; take a trip down to True Blue Bay Resort and Mr. Russell Fielding, and his friendly staff can clearly testify to having the first approach in doing so. So let us mirror the actions of the Mexicans at Tres Trios.

I strongly encourage other hotel workers to apply for the internship program and experience life in a different part of the Caribbean – you’ll come home richer for it.


Written by
Moriba Nelson

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