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A centuries old tradition, palm-leaf thatching creates a roof that sheds water, provides a cool interior, and is relatively inexpensive to construct and maintain. In Western Belize the roof typically consists of a pole structure, the poles cut from trees known locally as My Lady or malerio (Aspidosperma megalocarpon), thatched with bay leaf palm (Sabal mauritiiformis/morrisana). Both are harvested from the local jungle bush. Traditionally the poles are cut during specific days of the lunar cycle when it is believed that the sap rises, saturating the trunks, and providing added resistance to insects and decay.
To find the poles, collecting areas are searched on foot and individual trees are selected on the basis of length, diameter and straightness. The poles are hand cut, stripped of bark, and stood upright in clusters to promote drying during construction of the building. The palm leaves, however, are cut, bundled and delivered to the construction site soon after the completion of the pole roofing structure so as to avoid drying and a loss of flexibility.
When the hipped-roof frame consisting of the caballete (ridgepole) and rafters, known locally as the calsontes, is complete the varilla or horizontal ribs are attached. The varilla hold the individual layers of palm leaves in place and produce the characteristic appearance of this style of thatching. When the frame is thatched, each individual palm leafs are identically cut, gathered into bundles and hoisted to the roof. Thatched progresses in rows, each leaf is individually selected, the leaflets are divided into thirds and the center third is drawn beneath the varilla leaving the two side portion on the top.
The benefits of palm leaf thatching are its relatively long life; they may last from 20 to 30 years, their ability to cool the interior of a structure in the hottest summer months, and their effectiveness in providing a rainproof roofing material. The thickness of the thatch, the number (spacing) of the individual leaf fronds, and the steepness of the roof pitch all combine to resist even the most intense downpours. However, of these factors the pitch or steepness of the roof is perhaps the most important, as the more quickly water is shed from the roof the less likely that it will penetrate, leak, and cause deterioration of the palm.
The roofs of each cabana, the kitchen/dining room and bird rehabilitation building were designed and constructed by the Tut family of Cristo Rey, Cayo. Victor Tut, patriarch of the family, has built palm thatched roofs for decades and is notable for his work throughout Belize.
The photographs on the right depict the frame, the caballete, calsontes, and the varilla or ribs, and the eventual thatching.
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