No cellphones please, we're in paradise Peace and wellness, south of the border at North America's original destination spa
From The Calgary Herald
By Lisa Monforton
TECATE, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO -"I scan the finely typed brochure with little checkboxes before me and review my activity choices: mountain hike,
organic breakfast, Pilates, deep water training, boot camp, tennis clinic, yoga, sand volleyball. And that's just what's happening before lunch. The
afternoon choices are just as diverse: sacred sound practice chanting, circuit training, cardio drum dance, fasting and inner cleansing, design your
own jewelry. The list goes on. And this is only the Day 1 choices for the 140 guests staying for seven days at Rancho La Puerta. This is different
from any destination spa I'd ever been to.
As I tick off my list of activities, I pass a sign that reads: "No cellphones in public spaces. Let peace reign as we all retreat from the babbling
world."
Amen.
I tuck my cellphone away and don't look at it again as I take in this peaceful spot beneath sacred Mount Kuchumaa.
Around me is an Eden of wellness: pools, tennis courts, Pilates and yoga studios, gyms, a running and walking track, an art studio, a reflexology
path, a meditation loft, benches hidden amid old oak trees and a flowery meadow where you could get some alone time.
A second brochure reveals even more activities: art, dancing and cooking lessons and seminars with titles like Sustainable Happiness Through
Chocolate. Sign me up. Flower Essences and Discovering the Fountain of Youth. Maybe next time.
All told, there are 70 indoor and outdoor fitness-related classes and activities and more than 300 instructor-led classes over seven days. That didn't
include evening entertainment, which could range from an educational lecture or a performance by an award-winning musician.
The experience is like landing in a luxurious all-inclusive adult summer camp and institution of higher learning for the body, mind and spirit, all
rolled into one package. But there's nothing institutional about this tree- and garden-filled, 1,200-hectare paradise known as "The Ranch." It's a
35-kilometre drive south of the border from San Diego, in the unassuming town of Tecate, Mexico, where most of the employees of the resort live.
Rancho La Puerta's claim to longtime loyalty and fame is as the world's first modern-day "fitness resort" - something that in the past might have been
called a "fat farm."
The guest-to-employee ratio is 1:8 to 1, and some of the employees have been there for their entire adult lives. We guests arrive to become healthier
and happier versions of ourselves through new experiences. After all, the founding philosophy of "The Ranch" is Siempre Mejor - Spanish for "Always
Better."
The Ranch has attracted mostly Californians for decades since it was established as a health and fitness camp in 1940, by Deborah and Edmond Szekely
(pronounced Say-Kay).
Back then, there were no charming brick casitas cheerfully decorated with colourful Mexican linens, pillows and art, wood-burning fireplaces and
private sunny patios. Nor was there a spa, the cooking school, community dining hall or the winding paths landscaped with flowers, lavender, cactus
and sculptures.
That would come much later, as Deborah and Edmond began to spread the word of their forward-thinking philosophy: healthy living through organic food,
daily exercise and the goal of learning something new every day. This struck many people as radical; others embraced the idea.
Friends and family of the couple came to The Ranch, brought their own tents to pitch under the trees and paid $17.50 a week to eat well, exercise
under the sun and listen to seminars by Edmond. Word spread and The Ranch expanded from accommodations made of rustic container bins to casitas.
Eventually, Deborah - now 90 and not looking a day over 60 - would go on to found the Golden Door Spa, become a tireless environmental advocate for
clean water, a U.S. congresswoman, a philanthropist and public servant. Since 2011, Deborah's daughter Sarah Livia Brightwood has been at the helm of
The Ranch. But Deborah makes regular appearances at The Ranch.
The Golden Door began attracting the rich and famous: Burt Lancaster, Zsa Zsa Gabor, William Holden, Johnny Weissmuller, of Tarzan fame, and author
Aldous Huxley. In those days, the media treated Edmond as something of a cult figure. In a series of stories on "Strange Sects," a San Diego Union
reporter investigated the philosophy of The Ranch and Edmond and published a story with a headline, "Romanian Professor Founds Cult Across Border at
Tecate."
Although Edmond died in 1979, the "cult" has steadily grown into an award-winning destination. In 2010 and 2011, it was named World's Best Destination
Spa by readers of Travel & Leisure magazine. This year, it topped the Conde Nast Traveler Magazine Gold List of resorts in Mexico.
Like readers of travel magazines, Evelyn Rady, of San Diego, is a longtime enthusiast of Rancho La Puerta. Rady, 71, first came to The Ranch for a day
visit from San Diego in since 1968.
"It was very rustic. It looked like nothing," she says, as we sit in the dining hall after another delicious lunch. But it was during her second visit
in the 1990s, when visiting with a friend who wanted to lose weight, that she came to fully appreciate The Ranch.
She's been coming back ever since, this time with her daughter Margot Alon, 42. She parks at the U.S./Mexico border and catches the shuttle to The
Ranch. (For people flying into San Diego, like I did, there's also a shuttle to the border and then a bus to the resort.)
Over the years, Rady says, she's met many people at the Ranch - mainly women - of all backgrounds and with unique stories. They come here to heal,
perhaps from a health issue or a divorce. Or just to get away with friends or siblings to learn new healthy habits to take home.
"It's an ideal place for a woman to come alone. It's safe, it's interesting and the food is superb," says Rady.
Guests are treated to three delicious healthy and fresh meals a day. Mealtime is announced with the sound of a bell, heard all around the resort.
Stations of semi-vegetarian (fish, but no red meat) dishes - sourced locally and from the resort's gardens - are spread out over a large area. Dining
is communal style.
One day's lunch included asparagus soup, tilapia fish, an array of salads with toppings that included hemp and chia seeds, veggie burgers, chickpea
soup and mounds of fresh fruit and beverages like hibiscus iced tea and cooling flavoured waters known as agua frescas.
After a busy morning of fitness classes and lunch, the spa was my ticket to relaxation and rejuvenation. Facials, massages, wraps, scrubs are on the
menu, but the best part is the isolated rooftop terrace, equipped with a Jacuzzi, steam room and sauna, and capped with a mountain view.
After dinner and conversation, it's time for the seminar on Sustainable Happiness Through Chocolate.
What a sweet finale to Day 1. As I walk in the dark along the meandering paths back to my cosy casita, I'm feeling light and re-energized by this
paradise. I imagine if I spent every day living like this, I'd live long and look and feel as wonderful as Deborah."
More information at rancholapuerta.com
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness.”
—Mark Twain
\"La vida es dura, el corazon es puro, y cantamos hasta la madrugada.” (Life is hard, the heart is pure and we sing until dawn.)
—Kirsty MacColl, Mambo de la Luna
\"Alea iacta est.\"
—Julius Caesar
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