Hands-on Mexico Adventures

No clubhouses. No kiddie pools. No counselors. Nothing stimulates the imagination of a child more than free interaction with the unknown; vacations offer the perfect chance for inspiring the next Picasso, Jane Goodall or Robert Frost.  This summer expose children—from toddlers to teenagers—to a new side of Mexico through a family expedition in the country’s virgin coast and rustic highlands with sister properties Cuixmala and Hacienda de San Antonio as base camps.

Immersing guests in the locale through distinct, intimate experiences, staff at both former private residences can arrange itineraries filled with stimulating and educational choices: 

• Out of Africa – No need to hop continents for a safari, Cuixmala is located within the Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Preserve*, offering up-close encounters with coati mundis, wild boars, zebra and white tail deer among others. Families can wander the more than 25,000 acres uninhibited by fences barriers, or tour with a local biologist who will not only provide the back story on each of the endemic, and often endangered, animals but also share details on their latest conservation projects, including the tracking of jaguars and pumas.

• Playing Parent – Play ‘Mama’ to hundreds of newly hatched sea turtles on the beaches of Cuixmala while learning about these long-time residents. Following the lead of on-property rangers, families become part of team and spend the evening combing the beaches for new nests, relocating eggs to safe havens, and then releasing hatchlings into the waves.

• Ranch Hand for a Day – Work becomes play as families take on the role of gauchos for a day at the organic ranch at Hacienda de San Antonio. Experience the coffee making process from start to finish by touring groves, viewing bean harvesting, drying and roasting facilities. Then ultimately taste the fruits of the labor: the Ranch’s signature, low-in-caffeine brew.  Next take a savory stop and head to the cheese factory where little ones can watch as the expert cheese-marker craft dessert for the evening.  Taste each step of the process, including the final products. (And as a treat for the adults in tow: wine is paired with each sample.)

• Local Heritage – Watch master Mexican mask makers, carvers, and more in the surrounding villages of both Hacienda de San Antonio and Cuixmala for a true taste of local life. The village of Comala, known as the “Pueblo Magico” is a mere 20-minutes from the Hacienda and the perfect place to observe traditional art techniques that have been handed down through generations. 

*For more than a decade, the Cuixmala Ecological Foundation has dedicated its efforts to preserving nature in one of Mexico's richest biodiversity regions known as “Chamela-Cuixmala.” The Cuixmala Ecological Foundation has promoted, together with the National University of Mexico (UNAM), the creation of the Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve, which protects a complex mosaic of finely related habitats of 80 square miles with more than 1200 species of plant, 270 of birds, 72 of mammals, 68 of reptiles, 19 of amphibians and many other species of invertebrates.