Coqui Coqui, Tulum, Mexico

Coqui Coqui is a small, 5-room boutique hotel on the beach in Tulum, Mexico.  It started with one room, a small shop and a perfumerie, and then slowly grew, adding one room at a time, making the space feel organic and as ancient as the ruins.  For our honeymoon, this could not have been a better choice.  As far as I'm concerned, 5 rooms is the perfectly sized hotel.  With so few rooms it's possible to talk to the people who work there.  Our experience would never have been as great without Bruno, a chatty Argentinean musician whose enthusiastic addition of dulce de leche to our daily breakfast spread of fruit and bread felt like five star honeymoon treatment.  

I believe these photos do a thorough job of illustrating why the Coqui Coqui experience was such a dream, but it is worth mentioning that the whole place smells unbelievable. The mix of ocean air, sand and perfumes made of coconut and eucalyptus evoke a deep, almost visceral, feeling of relaxation.   When I arrived home I was legitimately sad to throw my clothes in the washing machine and part with the last remnants of Coqui Coqui. 

p.s. For once, this post features only photos I took.  Would really love to do more of this.

    

Chumba Eco-Lodge, Zanzibar, Tanzania

Hello there!  I'm back, and as promised, I will be trying to update more frequently this month.  My wedding and honeymoon were a dream, and a proper Let's Stay Here honeymoon post is in the works.  In the meantime, let's talk about Zanzibar.  

Despite years of living on the African continent, I never made it south of the Sahara. (Did you know that intra-African flights are absurdly expensive?)  But now that I'm working on this project, there is a distinct possibility that I might actually get to go.  Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous island region of Tanzania, seems like a fascinating cultural distillation of the centuries of intermixing of African, Arab, Indian, Persian, Chinese, Dutch, Portuguese, and British traders.  Indian Ocean traders were really the O.G. multi-culties, am I right?

The Chumbe Island Coral Park is a privately-owned nature reserve and the Chumba Eco-lodge on the island aims to have zero impact on the environment.  I appreciate the simplicity of this lodge and the bold use of African fabrics.  I love staying in hotels like this.  As far as I'm concerned, it really isn't a vacation unless you have to throw your toilet paper in the trash.  

p.s. I'd love to check out this restaurant while there.

Photos from the Chumba Island Coral Park website.