Eco Tents - From practical to Luxurious!
Exclusive Eco-Lodge Tents offer a rare opportunity to island dwellers with a concern for the environment, but who want to live in spacious luxury surrounded by canvas. Tents are temporary in nature with a minimal impact on the environment, bringing one closer to nature and the elements.
This is the case in particular on smaller islands where the environment is that much more sensitive to the impact of human habitation. Exclusive Tents can be custom designed to meet the physical challenges of a small private island; most existing designs lend themselves to a private island environment and do not require brick and mortar construction.
The tents are usually set up on elevated wooden decks, making the impact on the ground negligible. These elevated designs can include split levels - many homes consist of multiple tent units with decks built to incorporate splash pools and Jacuzzis. The tents can withstand strong winds and even snow loads, depending on the design of the tent. It is also possible to incorporate fireplaces, wooden doors and wood frame windows into the canvas.
With their canvas construction and multiple roofs, the tents are normally cool in the summer and require only a 12 volt ceiling fan. Some tent dwellers use air conditioning ducted through the floor of the tents. Air conditioned tents are often constructed with double canvas walls and roof to hide and incorporate the thin reflective insulation used to help reduce power usage. All tents have storm flaps and PVC flies, making them impervious to any storm downpour and an 80% shade-cloth both cools the tents and protects it from UV rays.
Generators create noise and produce exhaust emissions, particularly on small islands. Exclusive Tents has a thin film fold-up and flexible array of solar panels that can be laid out along the apex of the shade fly to power a 12 volt power system, eliminating the need for standard ground mounted hard panels which take up valuable real estate on private islands.
Depending on the design, tents are made with either 304 or 316 stainless steel. Alternatively, wood-pole frames are used. Some of the steel frame tents (Indaba and Inhaca) have fitted bull-denim inner ceiling liners and fully draped walls, creating a very unique ambiance. All tents are manufactured with pride in South Africa, but can be found on every continent, including many small islands around the world as exclusive eco-lodges and luxury homes.
Many small islands have little fresh water and sanitation can be a problem. For water collection, Exclusive Tents offers a unique solution: a custom designed gutter system to collect rain water in above/under-ground water tanks combined with a 12 volt water purification system. For sanitation, Exclusive Tents offers an eco-friendly, fully enclosed, waterless, chemical free, odorless toilet. The system is attached under the tent decking; the commode portion goes up into the bathroom through the deck. This sanitation system requires no physical intervention other than replacing the odourless dry waste bag every 4-6 months. This toilet serves a group of up to 8 people.
