Susan Kime - Luxury Travel Journalist - Blog - The Shangri-La of the Eastern Caribbean

Sunday

May202007

The Shangri-La of the Eastern Caribbean

Sunday, May 20, 2007 at 04:55PM

" East is east, and west is west..." the old Kipling line went; and in general, at least in the Western hemisphere, this may be true. San Diego is different from Boston, Seattle is different from Bangor, and certainly, in Mexico, Cabo San Lucas -- the western Mexico, well-developed, commercial area along the Gulf of Mexico, is very different from eastern Mexico and the Mexican Caribbean.

Before my sons were born -- now about 30 years ago, my first press trip was to Merida and the Yucatan Peninsula. Even then, I loved the area -- it had a kind of old Spanish Colonial sense of place, and the ruins at Chichen Itza, Uxmal and the walled city of Tulum were very intriguing.

So, now, many years later, I just completed another great trip, again back to the same area, where much has changed, but much remains the same.

It's called the Riviera Maya, and it starts when you drive south of Cancun.Much is still jungle here, except the highway. There are many all-inclusive hotels along the road, then comes the major town of Playa del Mar -- replete with all the trappings of our American culture: a Wal-Mart, a McDonald's, and there, out in the jungle, a Gentlemen's Club. Ah, civilization.

I was in this area to do a site visit for a new fractional that was being built in a place called Puerto Aventuras. I came to see that this fractional, within this small wonderful community, was everything baby-boomers were looking for but had yet to find: a guard gated community, with everything that an aspirational community would want: a boutique hotel, Dolphin pools where you could swim with them, and the Manatees and seals if you wanted, a small fleet of fishing boats where you can go out each day and catch your dinner, then take your catch back to Gringo Dave's ( a gentleman named Dave Grove, from Pittsburgh) a restaurant who services include the cooking or grilling of the fish you bring in. There are small boutique shops where you can buy flimsy cotton clothes, you can swim in the lagoons or in the peaceful ocean. I was told by a local that even though the Miami Herald is brought down here daily, very few people read the paper. I understand this!

The fractional being built here is called the Aventuras Club -- and when all three projects are built, they will have unimpeded beachfront, or lagoon or marina ( with those small fishing boats coming in and out) views. The fractional model I saw was well-appointed, with unusual artistic touches -- soft colors, granite countertops,arched doorways, mahogany cabinets and brick ceilings in the living and bedroom areas, which kept the residence well-insulated, as well as providing a touch of old Spanish Colonial architecture. The price range for this begins at $50,000 for 1/13, which is 4 weeks. A good deal for such community!

Well, yes I did swim with the Dolphins, and I did, also go to Coba, another great, mysterious ruin, still partially covered by jungle. I was reminded of the mysterious Mayan culture -- they were exceptionally mathematical, and exceptionally blood-letting, two things that usually don't go together. Their soccer game, as an example, defines a Pyrrhic victory: the captain of the winning time was beheaded and he blood was spilled to make the land more fertile, and the captain of the losing team was sold into slavery. Ah, civilization!

The Shangri-La of the Eastern Caribbean

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