Words and pictures can't begin to describe what an amazing overall experience this vacation was! I travelled with a friend of mine, but many other vacationers at the resort were travelling solo. Within about 24 hours all 18 of us, from Canada the US and Brazil, all felt as though we were travelling together! I am typically a lazy traveller, I enjoy spending my days laying in the sun and frolicking in the pool or ocean. Anamaya had a schedule ready, but it was all really 'suggestions', you could do what you wanted. So if you wanted to laze around by the pool all day and sleep in the many nap spots that were around, you could. If you wanted to remain busy all day with excursions and adventures, you could. If you wanted a bit of both, that was also an option. The resort let you pick how busy you wanted to be.
FOOD:
The food was amazing! If you are a picky eater though, this may not be the place for you. Breakfast and lunch are buffet style, but not buffet like at an all-inclusive, the buffet consisted of a few options. Dinner was a three course meal. So if you aren't an adventurous eater then you may not enjoy the food as much as I did-not to say that you'll be eating crazy weird stuff, but you don't get much choice. They were great at catering to any allergies or food preferences, two of the guests were gluten-free and the cooks made sure that every meal was either gluten-free or had a gluten-free option. The meals were insanely flavourful and all of us couldn't get over how great the food was! We suggested that they sell cookbooks with their recipes in them on site-we all would've bought one!
ACCOMODATIONS:
Beauty! Clean, cute little cabanas (I think that's what you'd call them). The grounds themselves were gorgeous! Spread out but close enough, all the cabanas had some sort of foliage around them so they were slightly private. The view is to die for-yoga will never be the same again, my studio at home can't beat that view! Of course there were insects and geckos-can't really avoid these things since you are in the middle of a jungle and all! But remember-where there are geckos there are less bugs!
YOGA:
Leah taught our morning classes and I enjoyed them so much I wanted to pack her little body in my suitcase and bring her home with me! I wouldn't say that I'm a hardcore yogi, I'd categorize myself as intermediate I practice a couple times a week. Her instruction was perfect, we never felt lost or confused. The classes were challanging but not impossible, they flowed well. She was really great at observing the class and gearing it towards all of our capabilities. Mandy taught our evening workshops and she was also a great instructor! I learned alot from her workshops, some stuff I had never had a chance to learn about before.
EXCURSIONS:
We booked the yoga/adventure retreat-we assumed that it covered all our adventures, but it turns out that one excursion is covered in the cost of the retreat and any others you pay extra for. There were also many other excursions that were free; waterfall hike, river and bakery tour, town and beach excursion. I did the Tortuga Island snorkelling tour and the horseback riding on the beach (paid for one) then for the free tours I did the river and bakery tour and the town and beach. I enjoyed them all! They were a great way to see some of the area. On the Thursday night we headed into the town (Montezuma) for their reggae night and got to do some dancing and see some locals put on a fire dancing show in the street.
THE POOL:
You've seen it on the website and it really is that amazing. Take a dip at night and check out the stars-loved it!
THE STAFF:
Friendly, helpful, courteous. No complaints with any of them!
COST:
This trip cost quite a bit but it was totally worth every penny. I would not say that it was overpriced at all!
If you are looking to hang out in paradise for a week, maybe do some yoga, eat some good food and have a little fun or relaxation-this place is perfect!