Innovation has its own rhythm in Mexico. Tweaks on time-tested traditions—from ancient cooking techniques to tea baths—make local experiences and customs new again.
Just ask the groups staying at the Sandos Caracol Eco Resort in the Riviera Maya, where team building takes shape as barefoot and blindfolded jungle excursions. Such adventures, like the Path of Senses, are crafted to reflect the adventurous Mayan spirit and the jaguar, which is thought to empower us to get out and explore. As one of the most sustainable resorts in Mexico, Sandos is constantly expanding its portfolio of eco experiences; highlights include an ancient Mayan ball game, meditations by a cenote, and learning jungle survival skills where groups work together to build fires, find food and water and navigate their way through lush jungle terrain.
Sometimes, what attendees perceive as the most innovative meeting and incentive experiences actually date back hundreds of years, as is the case at boutique Las Ventanas al Paraiso, a luxury Rosewood Resort located at the tip of Los Cabos’ Baja Peninsula. Here, groups will experience the pre-Hispanic cooking technique of barbacoa, used by the Tlaxcalan people. Working alongside Chef Jesus Chuc, groups will wrap local organic meats in maguey leaves, placing them in a heated, underground oven, before enjoying a traditional barbacoa dinner together with mezcal pairings, traditional salsas and sides. Whale safaris will debut this February, offering groups the rare opportunity to see and discover the peaceful and majestic Gray, Blue and Humpback whale species that migrate to Baja California Sur each winter (famously known as the “Big Three”).
Being in Mexico, tequila is likely to be on the brain of many attendees and trained tequila masters know just what to do. The masters work one-on-one with attendees to discover their personal “tequila signs,” or the tequila that best fits their personalities, through blind tastings of some of the resort’s 150 tequila varieties. Attendees can then use their sign to order special pairings and cocktails throughout the property. Staying in the resort’s signature villas has its own perks, including a tea bath drawn by Mexico’s only tea sommelier, Leticia Saenz. Saenz curates a tea to complement a bath fragrance chosen by attendees. The resort’s executive chef tops off the experience with a dish that highlights the unique notes and nuances of the fragrance.
