March 2015
| Business World
225
young couple farming in the remote rainfor-
est, would come out to visit, sometimes even
staying to lend a hand.
As the influx of visitors grew, Lucy recalls,
she and Mick decided to build a simple
guest cottage, using materials sourced from
the jungle and built with the thatch and pole
construction local people had used for cen-
turies.
“And that was the birth of Chaa Creek Cot-
tages,” Lucy said.
That was in 1981, and two years later the
Flemings built another cottage, soon fol-
lowed by a dining room and a few simple
amenities. Soon the dirt track was expanded
into a dirt road to handle the steadily in-
creasing traffic. Indoor plumbing was intro-
duced along with six more cottage rooms, a
6,000 gallon water tower, staff quarters and a
gift shop displaying the work of local crafts-
people.
