Feeling disoriented and breathless after a long travel day and wheeling our suitcases up the steep stone Callejón (pedestrian street), we knocked on the rustic wood door of the rental house and hoped that the housekeeper would be there to greet us as planned.
I was jet-lagged from the trip but, even more, I was emotionally exhausted. My husband, Hank, and I had returned to the States, after more than three years of living abroad, to attend a family wedding and ended up postponing our travels for the next five months due to a series of events that had left us reeling. This was our first foray abroad since then and I hadn't realized how tense I was until a woman with a kindhearted smile and a cheerful yellow apron opened the door and I felt a wave of relief flood through me. The intensity of the emotion startled me.
Snorkeling with sea lions, beach bonfires, cocktails to celebrate the full moon, stand up paddle boarding on glassy blue water, desert mule rides and not a port of call in sight. This is not a cruise. It’s an Un-Cruise. Unhurried. Unconventional. Unbelievable.
Discover ten trip highlights and the essence of Baja’s magic and the Un-Cruise experience in the following photos and videos.
“Don’t worry, Elena,” said our host, Juan Rabasa, co-owner of Enduro Ecuestre, an equestrian outfitter based in San Cristobal de las Casas in the highlands of southwestern Mexico. “Palomo is the perfect horse for you. You can trust him.”
But could Palomo trust me? Everyone knows you can’t fool a horse. But fooling yourself? That’s easy.
How easy it was to forget that the ‘me’ that is seduced by exotic adventures, is only a distant cousin to the ‘me’ reflected in the morning mirror, and - here’s the rub - a complete stranger to the nervous ‘me’ perched atop an Arabian horse in the wilds of Chiapas, Mexico.
If you picture a Cabo vacation as a tequila infused episode of Girls Gone Wild, think again. Sure, you can find that scene if Animal House revelry is what you’re looking for. But, what Cabo does best these days is high-end hospitality – the whole enchilada from innovative cuisine to body, mind and soul pampering. Add in Windex-blue seas, a stunning desert landscape, lavish resorts and spas, golf courses, marinas and some of the most amazing marine life this side of the Galapagos and it’s no mystery why Cabo is Celebrity Central. And a Baja vacation need not be limited to Los Cabos – San José del Cabo + Cabo San Lucas. Be sure to check out Todos Santos and La Paz while you’re in the hood