We never cut a tree to build Lunita, because the trees were the reason to build here at all, so every cabana and every path was placed around what was already standing. When we built Lunita, we did not clear the jungle to make room for it. We built around the trees, and over the years we planted 5,000 more. Today the center is about 1.25 acres of built space, surrounded by more than 80,000 square meters of preserved jungle we steward. This is why we did it that way.
Building around, not over
It would have been faster to flatten a patch and start clean. Instead the paths bend around old trees, the buildings sit where the jungle allowed, and a few things took longer than they needed to. We think the trade was worth it every time you walk the grounds.
The 5,000 we planted
Over the years we put 5,000 more trees into the ground. The land gives it back in shade, in birdsong, in cooler air, in the feeling that you are inside something living rather than next to it. The jungle shapes the work that happens in it, as the Maya sweat lodge explained and the best months to visit both describe.
What does it mean for your stay?
Shade, sound, privacy, and air that feels different. The jungle is not the backdrop here. It is the reason to come. The choice to build around the trees is part of a longer story of how Lunita began, and the jungle is the reason for all of it.