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ENVELOPING NOT DEVELOPING:
Danzante rooms embody a blend of age-old materials and methods, creating a rustic, Mexican charm, coupled with the modern amenities and conveniences of a five-star resort. The natural adobe brick used in our buildings was handmade and hand-fired in a kiln on our property with clay from a nearby lagoon, by a local adobe master. Palm leaves were carefully cut and hand-woven by locals, to create the charming “Palapa” roofs and patio shades, in the same tradition as their ancestors have been doing for decades. Pithaya Cactus wood strips harvested from the remains of dead cacti were used in room ceilings, each piece custom cut and fit, bringing the texture and feeling of the desert into each room. Multi-colored volcanic slate and stone form the basis for hand-laid walls, stairs and walkways, all built by local workers and artisans. Architecturally, Danzante resort blends subtlety into the hillside. Viewed from the ocean the 9 unique suites sculpt the top of the rocky mountain like a cliff dwelling overlooking the blue ocean and outer islands.
WIN-WIN: MUTUAL OPPORTUNITIES:
Danzante employs only native villagers from the immediate area. They set high standards of employee treatment with fair wages plus benefits while supplying and encouraging job training. Fishermen’s wives, who embody age-old methods of cooking traditional Mexican meals “from scratch”, prepare carefully planned out meals for Danzante guests, adding such healthy touches as utilizing produce from our local organic garden, native cactus, fruits and herbs, and replacing lard with olive oil. Mutually beneficial is the proximity to a fishing village, with local seafood appearing seasonally on the menu. Local villagers are employed and trained as naturalist guides at Danzante, sharing the wonders of both the mountains and the sea that abound in their native homeland. Our hiking guide, Chuey, can decipher any animal print in the canyons and knows the call of every wild bird and animal. Modest as he is, a gentle smile tells he is most proud to open the eyes of guests to the beauty of his environment.
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equipment for cottage industry arts and crafts. Danzante is the founding member of a local, non-profit educational foundation (Association for Higher Education in Ligui and Ensenada Blanca), with financial contributions to scholarship funds, educational materials and teacher salaries for the local rural schools. Danzante sponsors a student from the grade schools each year to assist in the “Children’s Day” (Dia del Nino) fund-raising activities, and guests frequently endow to these programs with gifts and supplies.
