About us :

The property, previously known as Caribbean Nature & Naturissimo, was started by the French owners 25 years ago until it was finally time for them to retire.

The rebranded “KAZANU” residence is now owned by Tim and his sister Anke. Their parents moved to St. Maarten/St. Martin from Belgium more than 30 years ago and they grew up on the island’s beaches, spending any time off from school in or on the water.

Tim lives at KAZANU along with his life partner and manages the property. He is also the owner of the famous ice cream shop Gelateria Milano which is located at the beginning of the boardwalk in Philipsburg. He made a total career change due to Hurricane Irma destroying his boat rental company in 2017 ; and has been know as the “Gelato-man” island-wide ever since. Tim’s love for the ocean has not left him though and he spends his free time windsurfing at Orient Beach, which he learned as a teenager whilst working as a beach-boy in his spare time at the Brink family owned “Club Orient Water-Sports” together with Australian brothers Garry and Kerry Whitfield.

Tim also takes care of a vacation rental property right above the Gelato shop in Frontstreet. You can find some info about that and other locations on this link https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2...

Anke worked as a deckhand and then first mate on day sail charter catamarans “Eagle” “Falcon” and “Swaliga” during weekends and school vacations and naturally followed that by pursuing a career as a professional Captain. She captained the “Edge” passenger ferry running day trips to St. Barth's and Saba for over 8 years, whilst also taking on Relief-Captain jobs on several megayachts that use the Island as their hub. She sailed large yachts across the oceans to Europe, South America and the USA. In 2009 Anke opened her own company on the island: Life Rafts Etc, which is a marine Life Saving Appliance (LSA) service company that keeps her super busy 7 days a week; so you will not see her around very often ;)

Anke & Tim are both adventurers whom know St. Martin and the surrounding islands extremely well and can recommend a variety of activities on land and on water; or leave you in peace to enjoy the amazing ocean views and relaxing island atmosphere at the KAZANU residence.

Another thing to know about Anke & Tim is that their mother language is Dutch but they went to school on the Dutch side where everyone communicated in English and then swapped schools to the French side of the island. They are fluent in those 3 languages; they also speak Spanish and Local Creole and have some communication skills in German as well as Italian in the Family, making it super easy to communicate in no less than 7 languages!