Sunset Photo Shoot with Sofft Shoes

Villa Santa Cruz was ready for its close-up yesterday evening when the internationally recognized shoe company, Söfft Shoes, came to do a photo shoot for its Spring 2012 collection. The team arrived just before sunset and headed out to the beach to take advantage of the beautiful golden light of Todos Santos. The model, Gabriela, was absolutely stunning as she posed on the winding path that leads from the hotel out to the beach – the Villa’s version of a runway! After hundreds of camera clicks and a wardrobe change, the photographers got their shots and excitedly said, “It’s a wrap!” Check out the pictures below to see a few photos of the shoot.

With clear skies, a warm breeze and a peacefulness that only summer can bring, this is the kind of day that you wish would last forever – and, since today is the Summer Solstice, it almost does just that. On this longest day of the year, we have 13 hours and 32 minutes of daylight in Todos Santos. At Villa Santa Cruz, the sun won’t set until 8:10pm, leaving an impressive amount of daylight hours to get in a game of beach bocce ball, nap in the hammocks, take a dip in the pool and have a margarita…or two! Here are some pictures of this gorgeous first day of summer – enjoy!

Itching to get out on the open road and explore a new area of Baja Sur, we decided to take a day trip to El Triunfo, a small historical mining town about 1 hour northeast of Villa Santa Cruz and Todos Santos. Up in the mountains, the town itself is very quiet and very quaint, but with some surprisingly notable things to see. With only a few restaurants, some mining ruins, and a lovely mission, you need just a few hours to get a good look at El Triunfo.

To begin our afternoon, we first dined at the delicious Caffe El Triunfo for a casual lunch. Serving amazing homemade pizzas, pasta dishes and enormous salads, the Caffe seems to be the center of life in El Triunfo. We enjoyed lounging in the café with iced teas (a nice respite from the heat), watching a steady flow of customers, and chatting with some of the local expats who have made El Triunfo their home. The food is simple, but wonderful, and the homemade bread and sweet treats for sale at the counter are worth the trip on their own.

After lunch, we strolled behind the restaurant to see the remains of the silver and gold mines that were active in El Triunfo from the 1860s to the 1920s (these mines are the reason the town came to be). While most of the structures were crumbling and decrepit, the one beacon that remains is an impressive 35-meter-high smokestack designed by Gustav Eiffel. While it is no Eiffel Tower, it is très magnifique. During the late 1800s, Eiffel traveled throughout Latin America designing a variety of structures and made a stop in El Triunfo – what a wonderful legacy for the town.

Equally as impressive as the Eiffel smokestack, the collection of pianos on display at the El Triunfo Piano Museum is both remarkable and a bit bizarre. The Museum boasts pianos and other instruments from New York, Chicago, Germany, Austria, etc. and are from all different historic time periods. For such a small town like El Triunfo, it is quite unbelievable to see vintage pianos from around the world collected and exhibited in this unlikely location.
After wrapping up our walk through the Piano Museum and wandering through the old Mission, it was time to head home. On the drive out of the hills of El Triunfo and back to the beaches of Todos Santos, we were quite content with our day trip. With a lovely café and noteworthy historical sites, we will definitely recommend this excursion to our Villa Santa Cruz guests.

For many people living in the United States, the 5th of May, or Cinco de Mayo, is a day to let loose and celebrate. With visions of margaritas and cervezas, crazy sombreros and delicious Mexican food, for many Cinco de Mayo is a day to leave work early and hit the neighborhood cantina for a Mexican fiesta. The irony is that while the Americans are partying it up in the USA, it is just a normal day in Mexico without fanfare, parties or even as much as a second thought given to the day…why is this?
Americans widely believe that Cinco de Mayo celebrates Mexico’s independence, but this is just not the case. Mexico earned its independence from Spain in 1821 and celebrates this day – the most important national holiday of the year – on September 16. Cinco de Mayo is merely the anniversary of the Mexican military’s triumph over the French army at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. It was an important victory to the Mexican people because their smaller, outnumbered army defeated the larger French forces, helping the Mexican people develop a much needed sense of national identity in Mexico (which is the reason for its continued celebration).

Cinco de Mayo is celebrated in Mexico as a regional holiday in the State of Puebla (where the famous battle took place), but really nowhere else in Mexico. Yet, the celebration of Cinco de Mayo in the United States has exploded! It seems that Americans have transformed the day from its origin as the commemoration of a Mexican military victory into a day to celebrate Mexican pride and culture – similarly to the celebrations of the Irish, German and Chinese heritages associated with St. Patrick’s Day, Oktoberfest or the Chinese New Year.

So, even though the US celebration of Cinco de Mayo has evolved into something bigger than the actual holiday itself, it remains a great day to join in to celebrate the vibrant Mexican culture. So, go on, leave work early, head down to a Cinco de Mayo celebration and shout “Viva Mexico!”

When giving tours of the Villa to guests, the pièce de résistance, without doubt, is the spectacular view from the Roof Terrace. With sweeping vistas of the Pacific Ocean, our guests glimpse pinpoints of surfers in the waves and then turn to us and ask, “Do you surf?” We sheepishly look at the floor, avoid eye contact, shuffle our feet, and barely whisper, “No, not really.” We then ramble off a litany of excuses like “We’re so busy” or “I once had a bad experience in the ocean” or, my personal favorite, “La Pastora is not a beginners’ break, etc.” just to salvage our reputations. Matt and John even claim that they discovered our property in 2001 while on a “surf trip.” They did look the part – they had surfboards strapped to their old VW van and camped at the major surf spots – but they managed not to actually surf, choosing instead to relax with some cervezas on the beach. While Matt has had some friends take him in the water to learn to surf, the lessons usually consisted of one phrase – “Charge it, bro!” – leaving novice Mateo to figure it out for himself . . . not an easy task for a boy from landlocked Winnemucca, Nevada. Poseidon seemed to get the best of him every time.
With all these excuses and cover stories, it was time to grab the bull by the horns and learn to surf. We called up Mario Surf School Owner, Mario Becerril, and arranged to have a lesson with two of his instructors, Chuy and Luis, at Cerritos Beach. (www.mariosurfschool.com) Located just 25 minutes south of Villa Santa Cruz, Cerritos is a good learners’ break due to its sandy floors and smaller rolling waves. Matt and I met Chuy and Luis on the beach, put on our wetsuits, and learned the basics while still on the sand. They demonstrated how/what position to lay on the board, how to push up to a kneeling position, to balance your weight, and finally to stand up on the board and ride the wave. We gave it a try on the sand a few times and then we were ready for the waves.
The waves were a bit big that day, so we stayed “on the inside” and focused on riding the white water. Our instructors were with us the whole time, making for a great beginners’ experience – they helped us over waves on our way out, decided which wave we would ride, and released us into the wave. With the major decisions made for us by the instructors, we could focus on converting the motions we had gone through on the sand into actual surfing. And, the result was amazing – we both stood up on the first wave! We were really doing it!

We are excited to host two back-to-back Yoga Retreats in July – reserve your space now, they are filling up fast! July 16 to July 20th & July 20th to July 24th.

Organized by a San Diego based group, Asana in Paradise, these retreats promise to be a relaxing, luxurious and fun-filled few days at Villa Santa Cruz.  Visit their Facebook page for more details and contact information.

This is the story of how we came to be…

In 2001, Villa Santa Cruz founders Matt Canepa and John Brown, came down the Baja Peninsula on a surf trip and camped just north of Todos Santos and the famous La Pastora surf break. They knew immediately that the area was special and fell in love with the white sand beaches, ocean views and solitude of such a private beachfront spot. After discovering that the 45-acre property, known as Rancho Santa Cruz, was for sale they quickly decided to buy it. Over the next few years, they transformed the raw land into today’s Villa Santa Cruz, overseeing every aspect from conception to construction, and completed the estate in 2006.

Later that same year, Matt met his future wife, now Jessica Canepa, when she came to visit Villa Santa Cruz. Matt proposed one year later in the Villa’s ocean-side Palapa and in 2009 the couple was married on the roof terrace. After two years living together in the United States while Jessica pursued her law career, the couple decided it was time to make Todos Santos their full-time home and began converting the estate into a boutique hotel on the beach. Now, Villa Santa Cruz has opened its doors for all to experience the beautiful house, relaxing pool, secluded beach and gorgeous ocean views.