The big clock on the wall was showing 9 am, but for us it was more like 2 am.
We were waiting for our luggages. In the small but busy airport the air was cold and dry. Exactly the opposite of what was waiting for us outside.
Cancun, Yucatan! The day was just starting for Mexicans but for us it felt like the end of it. We had just enough energy to look for the rental car company we had a reservation with, collect our car and drive to the hotel.
But things turned out to be more complicated. The car rental office was 20 minutes away from the airport, 20 minutes walking, or 5 minutes driving, but we couldn’t find any car. So we wandered around asking everyone for help.Then, magically, a shuttle car with a big sign on the side of our car rental’s brand appeared and we ran towards it. After throwing our luggages in the back, the driver started the engine and we were off to the office. After signing many papers, paying for fuel, checking the condition of the car, we were finally ready to go. We reached the city, found our hotel, parked the car and crashed in our beds.
I’m driving this Nissan with automatic gear, that’s not a problem, my Land Rover at home is also an automatic, but driving here is a little problematic. The roads are mostly straight but confusing, with not many signs painted on the ground. I almost hit a speed bump at full speed. These things here are everywhere, in different forms, color and materials. So we had to be really careful to spot them.
Traffic lights confuse me too. Apparently when flashing red is on it means they are not active, so I can go, I guess. Sometimes it’s difficult to see them as they are often far away from where I’m supposed to stop the car, making it difficult to understand when the green light is for me or for others.
Outside cities roads go straight for kilometres. Straight lines drawn into the jungle. I drive for one hour without turning the steering wheel.
The landscape changes only a few times on our route, when a village suddenly appears animating the side of the road with children playing, small shops and food stands selling bananas, avocados and onions, a large amount of all these. But most of all you see people doing BBQ on the side of the road. Which are difficult to spot as they seem just normal people hanging out in their homes. Just like what I’ve experienced in South East Asia, the difference between a shop and a house is close to none. But because of the size of the grill and the people gathering around we can say they are selling something. This is usually just fresh corn or chicken, they seem crazy about the latter. You can spot a sign with a chicken photo, or with a chicken drawn on a board, at every corner in these villages.
The last (of many) artificial speed bumps signify the end of the village, and we are again in the middle of nowhere, with trees just slightly higher than bushes, on both sides.
We then come to a bigger road, it’s two lanes in each direction, so four in total. Now we can finally see a bit more of the sky.
We reach the last village before our destination: the Republic of Corn, which is not a real republic but just the name of Victor’s land. From here we go 15 kilometres into the jungle following a still paved road but even smaller than the previous ones.
On our arrival the sun is already set but there’s still some light to have a look around. As we are entering the property three dogs lead the way. We meet Victor just a few meters away. He is a young man, almost my age, with curly hair and dark eyes. He’s not that tall but strong and healthy.
He greets us with a friendly smile. “Hi guys, welcome! Let me show you the tree house where you will be staying tonight.”
It’s not something you hear often: a tree house in the middle of the Mexican jungle! How cool is that?
We follow Victor on a path that ends on a big tree. That’s where the tree house has been built. He made wooden stairs to reach on the first level, every step is big enough to go up easily carrying our heavy luggages.
The view from up there is stunning. It’s not that high from the ground but what makes the space magical is the elegance of the place that creates such an atmosphere. Lights hanging from tree branches, a hammock and a bathtub at the very edge of the room to enjoy the view make you feel you are suspended in the forest.
“I’m going to jump into that thing!” I say while pointing at the bathtub. “It’s the first thing I’m going to do.” Victor laughs and continues showing the room: “Here you have a compost toilet. Please throw toilet paper into this basket. I will burn everything when full. If you have any doubts I’ve painted some instructions on this board”. It’s not the first compost toilet I come across but for sure one of the few I’ve encountered that doesn’t smell.
More stairs take us to the upper floor where’s the bedroom area. A big bed protected by a large mosquito tent makes it really magical, but I can spot some big holes and now I’m worried I might have some company during the night.
The roof, built in a V shape, is entirely made of palm leaves, stuck together in a very traditional way.
Victor says: “Ok, I leave it to you. I’m going to cook dinner, I’ll see you in 45 minutes then.” Great! I don’t want to waste one minute of light so I quickly take off my shoes, trousers and t-shirt and jump into the bathtub in my underwear. The water is chill but not cold, considering the 30 degrees we had to deal with during the day, this is nicely refreshing.
Ten minutes into the cold bathtub and I’m already dreaming about the possibilities gained by living in a place like that. I look at the sky, the stars are just revealing himself in a dark blue sky turning more black every minute. I wish I had a beer now. But that’s ok. This is already pretty enough like this.
Elena is chilling in the hammock, also looking out at the stars or reading a magazine.
At 8pm we leave the tree house and follow the path towards the main barn, which is actually just a roof supported by long poles that once were tree trunks. The lights make the whole place warm and cozy, even though we are in an open barn in the middle of the jungle.
It’s not just the lighting that creates this homely feeling though. It’s also the handmade bookshelf filled with books on plants, eco-building and food, the dream catchers and the pumpkin lamps coming down from the ceiling.
Before seeing Victor, we hear his voice. He is laughing with someone, a French guy who is staying here to help working on the property in exchange for food and shelter. Online platforms such as WorkAway.info became popular among those kinds of projects. It’s pretty straightforward: they gain experience, food and shelter for a few hours a day of work, while still having enough time to explore the surroundings. The thing is, I don’t know where he could have gone in his free time since we are in the middle of nowhere and even the closest village (that one 15km away) will not offer much distractions. I guess he’s pretty much stuck in this place, but it’s fair to say that this is a nice place to be stuck. If you want to disconnect from everything, find peace and not worry about what society is doing out there, then staying here is probably a good idea, at least for some time.
“There you go guys.” Victor brings two steaming dishes from the kitchen. Chicken curry with white rice, presented on a star shape, and mandarin juice to drink. Everything it’s delicious, so fresh and tasty. Fruits come straight from the trees around us, and chicken meat is from his neighbour. We have a second round while chatting with Victor.
We ask him about this place. When did you move in? What was it like back then? And most important, why did you move in the middle of nowhere?
His answers are interesting enough for me to finally ask him what was in my head since our arrival: “Would you be up for an interview?” He looks around, like thinking about it, I can see in his eyes he is flattered about the request but also caught off guard. Then he replies: “Sure, why not.”
We set the interview for tomorrow morning, because in the jungle (as in any rural area far from towns) the dark of the night dictates the end of the day.
The day after starts with an amazing breakfast. Elena has one of the best omelet she ever tried and I enjoy with great surprise a very tasty jam with habanero, the very spicy Mexican pepper.
It would be a pity to report here in written words our interview, it’s much better to watch our interview. But that’s not here yet because we are still editing it. Please come back here in a week.
