Touring Plastic Bottle Village

Somewhere at the end of a six pack of beer, Robert Bezeau, an expatriated Canadian, had a revelation. Why not take all those plastic bottles lying around Bocas and use them to build a castle? No, not the beer talking, this was Robert’s dream, to own a castle and to do something about the massive contamination man has done to the Earth.

Plastic from discarded bottles can literally be found everywhere on Earth. According to the internet, and we all know the internet can’t lie, it takes about 450 years for a plastic bottle to decompose.  But they don’t really decompose, they breakdown into “micro-plastic” particles and continue to contaminate soil, water and the air. Everywhere, there is plastic. Some plastics are recycled into clothing, but as those clothes are washed, tiny bits of recycled plastic (micro-plastic) are washed into the sewers and eventually into the rivers, streams and oceans of the world.

But don’t worry, the fish and wildlife creatures living in the rivers and oceans are doing their best to try and clean it. They eat the plastic, which either kills them or is passed along to humans that eat the sea life. The circle is complete! Sounds like a bit of payback.

So, back to Robert, a man with a real passion for trying to clean plastics out of our rivers and oceans, and an enjoyment of beer. One day, back in 2016, Robert and his friends decided to build Robert’s dream home, a castle, and they were going to do it using plastic bottles! By 2018, the castle was complete and opened to the public. Its use would now be for raising awareness to the pollution issue surrounding plastics by offering a chance for people to spend the night in a “bottle castle”.

Robert with his mantra

Pony up to the bar!

The spot in the seagulls stomach depicts micro-plastic that’s been eaten

But before you can enjoy the castle, you need to pay for your “pollution sins” by spending the night in the dungeon, another plastic bottle building built by Robert and crew. Not as bad as it sounds. The dungeon has several “bunk” style rooms offering two-four comfortable beds, a privacy door and access to rest rooms and showers just down the hall. During the day you can also enjoy the comfort of the massive pool with 50’ water slide, swim up bar and restaurant. Not too much of a dungeon, I would say.

Enjoying a little jail time

Once you have repented for you pollution sins, you’re welcome to enjoy a night in the castle. Of course, Robert said this isn’t a hard rule but it does add to the message that we as human guests of this Earth need to take better care of how we treat it.

40,000 bottles to make a castle

The pool grounds

50′ slide

The Message

View from the top

Plastic has been accepted as a marvel of modern times but there is a cost, and we should all recognize that. On average, a single human being will use 17,000 plastic bottles in their lifetime. Why not try to limit the number of single use plastics so as Robert says, “leave only footprints”.

A note about our visit: The castle and grounds were closed during Covid so many of the finishing were removed. During our visit the rooms had little furniture and were bare of any curtains or rugs. We did see photos of the completed castle from 2019 that showed very nicely decorated and comfortable rooms. Robert said he plans to be back in full operation by July, 2022.

If you’re in Bocas del Toro, visit Plastic Bottle Village, open everyday except Sunday, 10am-12pm, and 1pm-4pm. Robert operates his site on donations so be generous.