6. Nov-Dec 2010
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Architecture<br />
Rooms are simple, clean and basic, and the entire power<br />
requirements for electricity and water heating runs on<br />
solar power.<br />
Befriending the Jungle<br />
Conservation and minimal impact have<br />
been important aspects for the company.<br />
Buildings, including the stone walled Gol<br />
Ghar that predate the establishment of the<br />
park in 1973, are all non-permanent and can<br />
be dismantled. The Tiger Tops organization<br />
started with a mission to utilise tourism as a<br />
means of funding conservation research and<br />
community development and continues to be<br />
an important part of the community in terms<br />
of wildlife preservation and social projects.<br />
Environmentally speaking, Tiger Tops has always<br />
been ahead of the crowd. The entire lodge runs<br />
on solar power, for both electricity as well as hot<br />
water. The hot water supply runs on solar energy<br />
for most of the year, but in extreme winters, a<br />
combination of firewood and rice husk briquettes<br />
are used as an alternative. The food served at the<br />
lodge also comes from their organic farm located<br />
outside the national park.<br />
Many of these initiatives started as a necessity.<br />
Due to the very fact that the lodge was located<br />
in the middle of the jungle, it was important<br />
to be self sufficient in many ways. With time,<br />
these necessities became policies and Tiger<br />
Tops evolved as the country's first conservation<br />
tourism organization.<br />
<strong>Nov</strong>ember-<strong>Dec</strong>ember <strong>2010</strong><br />
59<br />
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