Letter from
Susanna Starr

The first group of 2007, A Gathering of Women, led by Mirabai Starr and Tessa Bielecki was a perfect launch for the season. Twenty four women gathered from all over the United States, including three from England. It was a beautiful week and plans have already been made to have another one next year. (see “A Meeting of Strong-minded Women”, right).

Several more workshops are scheduled for January, February, March and April, although there is certainly room available for those who want to come to visit by themselves or with friends and family. Scheduled are, among others, yoga groups, including tantric yoga for couples, and a travel writing & photography workshop.

There’s been lots of refurbishing for this season, including new linens, memory foam pillows and hand-woven bedspreads. Each room also has a new refrigerator for convenience, in addition to the hospitality coffee and tea in each casita. New dishes in the dining room provide an elegant accompaniment for the candle-lit dinners.

La Tiendita, our gift shop, has been enlarged to include more of a variety of hand-made crafts, including beautiful rugs, placemats and coasters, hand painted wood items, ceramics, jewelry and more. New Rancho Encantado Tee Shirts are there as well as a greatly expanded collection of hand made clothing from hand-loomed cotton shawls to beautifully embroidered “huipiles.”

The new kayaks, which seat two people, are a great way to get around the Laguna and we now can arrange for sailboat trips including swimming in the channel – a wonderful experience!

Food at the Rancho has always had an emphasis on health and now guests are more and more impressed by the expanded menu, which includes some wonderful vegetarian fare. The fabulous home made bread and muffins always draw rave reviews.

Spa services also have been expanded with a full menu that is touching both physically and emotionally. Although they feel quite wonderful, the emphasis is on providing a healing experience and many will attest to Mallina’s magic touch. The variety of massages and other services, such as herbal wraps, appeal to just about everyone who visits. This year, too, there is another spa staff member who provides a different menu of treatments, including in-depth facials, manicures and pedicures.

As always, the incredible trips to the various archeological sites of the ancient Maya continue to fascinate. They can be arranged in advance or while there. These trips are an experience never to be forgotten.

The village of Bacalar, just four kilometers away, is growing along with the general development in the southern part of the Yucatan Peninsula and the recently refurbished Spanish fort is a local destination.

Chetumal, just half an hour away, has been going through some very positive transformations and the Boulevard along the Bahia makes for a delightful drive. All the roads continue to be expanded and driving in the area is very comfortable with ample highways.

Now there are two flights in and out of nearby Chetumal, making it an alternative flight destination. Although the cost of the tickets are more than either Cancun or Belize City, the savings in both time and the cost of ground transportation, make it a viable alternative, since it is just half an hour away from the Rancho, with taxi service readily available.

With the severity of the winter in many parts of the U.S. and Canada, Rancho Encantado is looking forward to hosting even more guests in this beautiful, tropical area on the shore of the magical Laguna Bacalar. The small number of individual casitas and personal service provide a retreat from the stresses and strains of everyday life, with a different, more relaxing sense of time.

–Susanna Starr, January 7, 2007

And in their time together they were cared for by the unseen hands who cooked for them; the people who brought them food and drink and cleaned their rooms in their absence. And they received blessings from the healing hands of the women of the place and they were healed and renewed and blessed by the earth which cradled them; purified by the water; sheltered by the beauty of the trees and caressed by the air.