Ecotourism

Ela is a village in northern Guinea-Bissau, on the north bank of the River Cacheu, home to the Felupe people. The region’s flat, mangrove-rich landscape supports a subsistence economy based on rice cultivation and fishing. The climate is hot and humid, with seasonal water scarcity, and the area carries a deep history of resistance: first against Portuguese colonisation, and later through the ongoing Casamance conflict born from the 1886 Berlin Conference.

The native architecture is entirely self-built and shaped by this environment. Each dwelling follows a non-regular plan combining circular and square forms, and is organised around three key elements: a thatched roof with a ridge opening for ventilation; a first skin that is a thick earthen wall enclosing dark, cool sleeping and storage spaces; and a second skin that is an outer layer of dense mangrove wood that shields against sun, rain, wind, and intruders, while preserving the privacy of those within.

Together, these layers create a resilient, climate-responsive structure deeply tied to its landscape and materials. As noted by Landes et Simoes in 1935, the Felupe hut is unlike any other in Guinea: elliptical, trapezoidal, and organised around a central family farm. Three ecotourism facilities were created to be operated under self-management by the Elalab community.