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My Other House is a Jungle Hut or Maya Palapa Basics 101

In Quintana Roo and the Yucatan peninsula inmade of caoba wood; a precious wood like teak
Mexico huts are commonly known as palapas andor mahogany. It may be a hut but it's got
there are even hotels that advertise beachsome very upscale walls. Many of the
palapas to Gringos and Germans. Go figure.poorest Maya simply put up stick walls with
Some turistas prefer going native. So dogaps in between meaning that one can actually
many  of  the  natives.see inside the hut. Great for letting
breeze in during the steamy summers as well
The whole concept of the palapa developedas allowing hurricane winds to pass through.
because the Maya of old would farm one areaNot  so  great  for  nosey  neighbors.
of the jungle for several years and then move
to another area. Everything was renewable.Snakes like palapas too. Our lot in the Maya
The trees they cut for palapas would over avillage has a large venomous four- nosed
20-30 year period grow back and the Mayasnake and hopefully one day he doesn't get
would not go back into an area for thattired of his limestone hole in our back yard
period of time so the jungle could actuallyand decide to join us in our palapa.
rejuvenate.Sometimes snakes do that when rain floods
them out. Such are the risks of palapa life.
It all worked well since a palapa could be
built in a week or two. And jungle men likeThe roof and frame sit on top of posts dug in
my friend Poot could build one using just onethe ground. But these aren't ordinary posts.
tool; his machete. But things changed. WithWe use zapote tree hearts for this. A
population increases land was privatized orzapote tree can fall down in the jungle and
more commonly turned into 'ejidos' orthe heart of the tree not rot for 10 years.
communal farms. We live on one and so doSturdy and durable is an understatement;
many  Maya.just don't figure you can easily put a nail
in it because it simply is too hard. Palapa
In one of our huts there is no roof.doors and windows can be made of an
Hurricane Dean took care of that. It wasn'tassortment of wooden planks; some more modern
thatched but we are converting. We'll haveMaya  put  screens  up  to keep out the bugs.
to go out to the ranch and cut some guano or
palm fronds for the thatches; fortunately theToday's modern palapas have simple cement
wooden frame is intact so we don't have tofloors. In the old days the Maya would
replace that. On the ranch we have an olderbuild a floor out of limestone rock and then
palapa and amazingly nothing happened to it;crush more limestone and put it on top to
one hundred mile per hour winds could notform a smooth surface. After several months
knock  it  down.of walking on it the floor would become
smooth  and  as  hard  as  rock.
A hurricane will blow the roof off a well
constructed house since the hurricane windsIn our Maya village almost everyone has a
form a vacuum inside the house and the roofpalapa although the more successful farmers
is literally lifted off. Not so withare now building their cinderblock and cement
palapas. In a bad hurricane the roof willhouses. Not me. Those cinderblock houses
lift up until the outside and insideget too hot. How hot is hot? How about a
pressures equalize, something more modernhundred degrees Fahrenheit with one hundred
style constructions cannot do. Because ofper cent humidity. A veritable rainforest
its natural construction the palapa will bendsauna; sweating like a pig in the pouring
but  not  break.rain. Unrelenting.
The palapa roof is also cooler thanThe brutal sun, wind and pounding rain cause
conventional roofs. What is strange is tocement and plaster walls to crack even with
see a modern hotel with a thatched roof; it'ssteel rebar reinforcement. I prefer a
not just the 'look and feel' for tourists.genuine real palapa. True, when we build
It's cooler and air conditioning costs inour new ranch palapa in the jungle we will
Mexico can be very expensive. Obviously ause nails and wire and bolts to hold the roof
palapa cannot be air conditioned because itdown. During a hurricane nails and wire
has  no  insulation.hold  the  palapa  together  better.
The downside to the thatched roof is crittersBut for all the modern day improvements such
like rats and scorpions love to make theiras wire and nails the palapa design remains
nests in the thatches. Last night we heardthe same has it has for centuries. My
a rat and sure enough in the morning it hadneighbors wonder why we don't build a
raided  our  food.cinderblock house and I can't really
explain it other than to say I feel more at
Another downside to a thatched roof is thathome  in  my  jungle  palapa. Crazy Gringo.
it burns easily so smart palapa builders put
their kitchen outside and away from the hut.When in Rome do as the Romans and when in the
Since most rural Maya still burn wood, theZona Maya do as the Maya. Good advice that
sparks can easily ignite a dry, thatchedmakes sense. Besides, no one can every
roof.accuse us of being arrogant or presumptuous
as long as we live in a Maya palapa, even if
The palapa walls can be made of sticks orthe walls are made of some very chic caoba
planks of wood. Our main palapa has wallswood.



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