Nature

Bamboo Cottages sits inside nature rather than beside it. The garden is a tamed edge of the jungle, the beach is patrolled by herons, and the reef offshore sends nightly reports in the form of glowing plankton. We have arranged very little and protected a great deal.

Walk the path behind the cottages and the island shows its layers: papaya and banana, ferns crowding an old trail, a hilltop with the whole coastline in one glance. Low tide exposes a world of crabs and starfish. High tide brings the fish close enough to see from the shore. In season, turtles nest on the darker end of the beach, and we ask guests to give them the darkness they need.

We keep a small nature shelf in the dining room, books on the island's birds and reefs, a spotted-scopes for the evening, and a logbook where guests record sightings. This year's entries include flying fish at dusk, an eagle owl at breakfast and a sea snake that politely declined company.

Children take to this immediately, adults take longer and then take to it harder. Nature here is not an excursion. It is the house you are staying in, and it is immaculate.