Hotel Activities Worth Hanging Around For
I had a great time going on outings with the Media Group that stayed in the Mexico hotel, Villa Del Palmar Loreto (VDPL) together, but I am so glad that Ayngelina, Cailin and I decided to stay a few extra days. I am always looking to spend more time in Mexico (especially with such great roommates) but the extra time gave us all a chance to explore the activities the hotel offered. Although I often consider hotels just a place to sleep after a day of exploring, this place kept me pretty entertained.
Getting jiggy with it in the pool
Yes, I just referenced a Will Smith song. Trust me, it’s appropriate. Every day, VDPL offers free aqua aerobics classes. I’d never tried a water aerobics class before because I figured it would be a lot of older people and the workout would be really cheesy. Well, I was right, but it was also really fun. Did I feel silly trying to get as low as our instructor, Erick, and using hip moves I generally reserve for the club? Yes, of course, but it was hilarious and it really did give my legs a workout.
Ayngelina and I working it in Aqua aerobics class.
Dance Club for the Cool Kids
Ayngelina and I joked with Erick that he should teach salsa lessons. He told us he wasn’t a great dancer, but that he knew someone at the hotel that was. Less than 30 minutes later, Dance Club was born. Erick introduced us to Duvis, who became our personal dance instructor. Every day at 3pm we’d gather by his boombox and learn how to salsa, meringue, and all other forms of Mexican ass-shaking. Erick and another hotel employee, Yazmin, joined us as well. We all got sweaty, got low, and worked on perfecting that seemingly unnatural but oh-so-sexy hip maneuver that Latinos are born knowing how to do. My legs ached at the end of class, but Dance Club was my favorite part of the day!
The moves were harder than this photo makes it look. Photo credit: @CailinOneil
Ceviche and Micheladas – learning by stuffing my face
Cailin, Ayngelina and I attended a cooking demo for making ceviche. The chef explained how traditional ceviche is made, talked a little about its origins, and then showed us the ingredients he intended to use for our ceviche. He opted to use mint and papaya in place of the traditional cilantro and tomato. The result was a colorful and delicious dish. You can get the full recipe here.
The next day we met up with Erick and Yazmin again for a bartending lesson. We all wanted to learn something distinctly Mexican, so we requested a lesson on Micheladas. Yazmin and Erick, who we found out were cousins who had come to Loreto together, were so cute as they apologized for their English (which was actually very good) and explained how the Michelada recipe differs in each region of Mexico. I have never been very keen on drinking a beverage that involved hot sauce, but I actually found my creation to be quite tasty. Get the full recipe here.
Everybody in Loreto getting tipsy
If you haven’t figured this out yet, I like to drink. Luckily for me, so does Ayngelina (and Cailin, to some extent) so I had great companions for all the drink-related activities.
First up was a wine tasting. Seeing as I lived in Argentina for a year and a half, I was there more for the wine than the educational tidbits. However, I was surprised that the activities director, Carlos, offered up some facts and tips that I had never heard of before. We sampled two wines, La Ceto from Baja Sur, Mexico and Sarmiento from Chile, both reds. We did the usual swish, see, sniff, sip, savor business, but Carlos also taught us a cool breathing technique that brought the flavor into your sinuses as well. After taking a drink, you inhale deeply through your mouth and exhale through your nose. It really brought out the flavors in both wines. We were also given chocolate and limes to taste with the wines. I’ve done chocolate and wine before, but no one in the group had ever thought to try citrus. I was shocked when I tasted the difference the lime made. I’ll have to try that technique next time I’m patient enough to savor my wine.
After the sophistication of the wine tasting, I was due for some straight-up drinking debauchery. So when they announced that they would be having a Margarita Race, I signed up right away. I had no idea what a margarita race might entail, but I was pretty confident I’d get a margarita out of it, so why not?
The Margarita Race turned out to be a pretty ridiculous and embarrassing ordeal, but fun nonetheless. Ayngelina kindly volunteered me to go first. The race involved different stations set up around a square bar. The stations were: sombrero, blender pitcher, ice, limes, tequila, triple sec liquor, lime and salt, and bicycle blender.
I’ve never looked classier in my life. Photo Credit: @Ayngelina
Each participant had to put on the sombrero and keep it on the whole time, which was actually kind of tricky considering the wind. They then had to race around the bar, putting all the ingredients into the blender pitcher. Once all the ingredients were in and your glass was salted around the rim, you placed the blender pitcher onto this special stationary bicycle. The faster your pedaled, the faster your drink would blend. When your drink was sufficiently blended, you poured your drink and were forced to chug it. Cailin, Ayngelina and I struggled the most with the chugging. It wasn’t the strength of the drink, but the coldness of the chunks of ice that slowed us down. In the end, we were beaten out by a 17 year old whose dad was cheering him on. Ayngelina and I tried to challenge the minor to a shots contest, but his mother ushered him away from such terrible influences.
Chugging a cup of ice is a lot harder than taking shots! Photo Credit: @Ayngelina
All the activities made for some packed days of working out, drinking, and dancing. The staff members knew us by name and were incredibly friendly. I really enjoyed that they were not overly formal with us and seemed like they genuinely wanted us to have a good time. Mission accomplished, VDPL. Now if only you offered a hangover breakfast special.
