The summer is officially over, but we Baja locals like to say: “Farewell, summer. Welcome, summer!” Seasons here south of the border, under the sun, are not divided into the ‘common’ fall where the leaves on the trees transform into yellow, red and brown, and fall off in fear of a harsh winter; it is not where the winters are snowy and you can go ice skating on the nearest pond; nor where in the spring time the nature awakens in full bloom; and in the summer time you go to the beach. Rather than that, I see Baja California Sur as an eternal summer, with the fishing season (even though we do fish throughout the year), the rainy season, the turtle season, the whales season, and so on. And I love it.

A life less ordinary, and completely personal(ized) to your desires. Where every day can be as your best dream come true. An amazing day at the beach, a day full of adventures never seen, the most amazing wedding day… In this issue of ESCAPES, we take you through the beautiful traditions of Mexican weddings, and we invite you to incorporate a piece of them into your wedding day as well. We proudly tell the story of two most important moments in the history of Mexico, while this year we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the independence and 100 years of Mexican revolution. We are excited to guide you through a beautiful ecological home in the East Cape area of Baja Sur, Casa Shelly, which was awarded for its sustainability and design in cooperation with the nature. We share with you more than 7,000 years old history of corn, whose role in Mexican culture crosses the culinary arts, and has many cultural and religious denotations as well. And if by any chance you have fallen in love in this beautiful place and wish to make it your home or summer home, we have prepared a selection of some of the best properties for sale throughout the state.

I wish you a beautiful season, may you release many baby turtles to the sea and see plentiful of magnificent whales passing our waters,

Romana Lilic,
Editor in Chief

The ancient Chinese proverb says that the whole year’s work depends on a good start in spring. So how will your year be?

If you haven’t made any New Year’s resolutions, now is the time to do so. But don’t just write them down and forget about them later; make them happen!

In Baja California Sur we don’t need snow to melt away and flowers to start blooming to know that the spring is here. But there is something in the air this spring that makes me feel confident that this is going to be a good year!

We’ve got plenty of things going on all around Baja Sur. We have a new international airport in Cabo San Lucas; the urbanization and construction of hospitality and residential projects are at work again; we’ve got new quality businesses opening, bringing value to us residents and returning visitors.

We’ve got the increasing interest of creative young professionals with a vision of the future of Baja California Sur. Several of the state’s architectural projects signed by this ‘new blood’ have already received national and international recognitions.

Together with them, and with people who have been passionately working for and promoting this beautiful place through outstanding events, social responsibility projects and education, we can make this a very good year!

So, don’t forget the lessons you’ve learned in the challenging 2009, stick to your values and start your spring well! With that, don’t forget to live your life Baja California Sur style! With this issue of ESCAPES we hope to give you some ideas, insights and inspirations for a beautiful spring.

Romana Lilic

For header photo of frangipani (plumeria) we give big thank you to Swami Stream (via Flickr).

Dear reader!

Regardless of your personal and business goals for 2010, don’t forget to escape from time to time.

Be it an escape to a far away land, favorite wellness retreat, gourmet restaurant, to your special place at home where you recharge, get new energy and inspirations, a hammock or laying chair in the garden, or a virtual escape. ESCAPES magazine aspires to provide you with ideas for all your getaways.

We can be your practical resource (see our stories, guides and extras), as much as a destination to dream and recharge (see our inspiring articles and images on Baja California Sur, culture, traditions, travel, and real estate).

We wish you lots of wonderful escapes in 2010!

Romana Lilic,

Chief Editor of ESCAPES magazine

WELCOME to this festive edition of ESCAPES magazine! Festive not only because the most festive times of the year with many celebrations and holidays are coming up, but also because ESCAPES magazine is celebrating its 1st anniversary.

As with any birthday, we’re able to look back over the year at the steps we’ve taken while keeping an eye on the future and the wishes we hope to fulfill in years to come. To celebrate our 1st birthday, we launched a new website – www.escapesmagazine.com.mx – on which we will post the content of the magazine as well as local activities, photo galleries, the images you supply, polls, competitions and much more… We opened ESCAPES Club, a dedicated Club for readers of ESCAPES magazine and Grupo Riveras’ clients and business partners. In the ESCAPES Club you will find different offers, promotions, gift certificates and products, offered by our companies and valued partners. Take advantage of them, we prepared them especially for you!

And to give our 1st year anniversary the sparkle it deserves, we are giving away 100 gift certificates with $100 USD value for Diamonds International. To enter this exciting drawing, send an email to escapes@pedregal.com or call us at (+52) 624 143 0202 by December 31st, midnight (BCS time). Celebrate and sparkle with us!

With best wishes,

Romana Lilic

Chief Editor

Feedback: escapes@pedregal.com

The most beautiful stories are often shy. It happens that they are so obviously visible, that you look at them, but don’t really see them. If you don’t pay attention, if you don’t dream about the beauty, if your look is not as calm as the sky, they might slip away from you.

This time we slowed down our tempo and spent a beautiful day (actually two) at El Rincon, private premier residential ocean view community in Pedregal de Cabo San Lucas. We fell in love with the home and the view. Whales have been passing by, ocean breezes have been playing with our hair, while Chase and Paola were playing at the 3rd floor and gold retriever Luke enjoyed sunny day at the terrace. The time seemed to have stopped.

Followed by the wind and water, we found another hideaway on the mere south of the peninsula, in Los Barriles. Our hosts moved to this small vivid town from cold and beautiful Alaska, exchanging their winter lifestyle for morning walks by the ocean, kite surfing, hiking, pleasant clima, great positive energy and so much more. They set up their home by feng shui rules, very intuitive and with common sense. Ocean front home embraces you with energetic colors and furniture brought from many winds of the world, on the inside; and lush gardens and inviting outdoor area on the outside. When you enter their home, you feel like at home indeed.

Do you like silver too? We explored for you about its history, which made small village of El Triunfo become briefly a capital of Baja California Sur in years 1828 and 1829. In our guest columns you can learn about contemporary urban spaces and real estate market, and seek your home in our real estate guide, covering whole Baja Sur area.

Together with the growth of pages of the magazine our Gourmet section is growing, too. We are introducing Restaurant Guide with selected restaurants from Baja, and our Chef of the issue Fernando G. Soeda Takeuchi is welcoming you to taste food from 7 asian countries. Meet Connie Worth, a Canadian who exchanged her hockey spirits for the beauties of this land. And the last but not least, meet top 10 winners of ESCAPES photo contest “Escapes in Baja”! Dear readers, your response was great, and the photographs we received are even more amazing, each telling its own story. Thank you for dreaming, seeing the beauty of Baja and sharing your beautiful stories with us.

Chief Editor of Escapes

feedback: escapes@pedregal.com

Every day there is a fiesta in Mexico! That was my first impression about Mexican lifestyle after moving to Baja Sur in November 2007. And even though there are around 6,000 festivities in whole Mexico throughout the year, September introduces us to the most festive season. Rich culture and colorful traditions, with rituals and ceremonies that never fail to amaze, are inviting us to join with family and friends to celebrate. Accompanied by plentiful of activities offered by nature, entertainment and social responsibility events, I will use the coming festive season to remind myself to cherish every single day and every precious moment that takes my breath away.

I would like to invite you to capture precious moments of your escapes in Baja and send them to our Photo Contest (see page 41). Top ten photographs will be awarded and toured around Baja Sur.

Join us and let’s celebrate the life together!

Romana Lilic,

Chief Editor of Escapes

feedback: escapes@pedregal.com