By Goop.
Visiting
a
faraway
country,
kids
in
tow,
doesn’t
scare
me.
Family
bonding!
Adventure!
Howler
monkeys
as
far
as
the
eye
can
see!
The
knowledge
that
it
takes
a
full
day
of
travel
to
get
us
there,
however?
Terror.
It’s
tricky
enough
loading
a
family
of
four
onto
one
aircraft.
Factor
in
two
flights,
two
large
airports
(Los
Angeles
to
Houston;
Houston
to
Managua,
Nicaragua),
two
slogs
through
international
security,
and
a
90-minute
car
ride
to
Rancho
Santana
,
our
final
destination,
and
the
result
better
be
greater
than
the
sum
of
its
parts.
With
the
risk
of
over-indexing
on
mathematics
metaphors—and
giving
away
the
ending—our
family
had
twice
the
fun
of
any
vacation
we’ve
ever
been
on.
And
the
adventure
of
getting
there
turned
out
to
be
more
preview
than
hassle.
DAY 1: Monkeys and Dune-Surfing
Rancho
Santa
is
massive.
Like,
five-beaches
and
2,700-acres
of
tropical
forest
massive.
With
multi-bedroom
residences,
free-standing
estates,
and
a
twelve-room
boutique
hotel
to
choose
from,
we
went
for
option
one
in
the
interest
of
everyone
having
their
own
bedrooms.
So
massive
is
the
operation
that
the
property
employs
over
90
percent
of
the
surrounding
town,
which
only
adds
to
to
home-away-from-home
vibe.
The
walk
to
breakfast
at
La
Finca
Y
El
Mar
for
waffles
and
yogurt
parfaits
brought
with
it
exotic
bird
sightings,
a
sibling
tiff
regarding
which
pool
to
plunge
into
first,
and
approximately
137
stops
to
smell
the
flowers.
Pulling
the
parent
card,
we
bypassed
the
pools
in
favor
of
Playa
Santana—a
relatively
chill
precursor
to
our
first
family
activity:
sand
surfing.
At
Rancho
Santana,
you
are
likely
to
have
a
surprise
adventure
on
your
way
to
a
planned
one:
In
this
case,
we
saw
multiple
Howler
and
Spider
Monkeys
on
the
20-minute
drive
to
the
sand
dunes.
With
help
from
our
guide,
we
hiked
a
small
cliff,
boogie
boards
in
hand,
and
took
turns
“surfing”
down
the
sandy
incline.
Dinner
at
La
Boquita—the
pretty
open-air
spot
facing
Playa
Rosada—means
everyone
went
to
bed
with
tummies
full
of
pizza
and
the
freshest
sushi.
DAY 2: Farm, Fish, and Family Meal
Breakfast
(all
meals,
actually)
was
the
most
“farm
to
table”
we’ve
ever
consumed,
being
that
all
the
food
at
Rancho
Santana
comes
directly
from
their
sprawling
farm,
only
a
few
hundred
yards
away
from
the
table
it’s
eaten
on.
Touring
said
farm
isn’t
mandated,
but
it
should
be.
In
addition
to
all
manner
of
produce,
all
animals
are
ethically
raised
and
produce
the
farm’s
organic
eggs,
meat,
and
dairy.
They
also
contribute
to
the
compost
and
fuel
used
to
maintain
the
rest
of
the
farming
operation.
Following
a
fishing
trip
for
one
kid
and
a
romp
on
beach
number
three
for
the
other,
we
took
advantage
of
the
on-site
market,
La
Tienda.
Much
of
the
ingredients
used
in
Rancho
Santana’s
restaurants
are
also
available
here;
we
scooped
up
as
much
as
we
could
carry
for
a
good-but-not-as-good-as-Rancho
dinner.
DAY 3: Spa and Something Just for Kids
After
breakfast,
it
was
time
to
split
up:
grownups
hit
the
spa
while
the
kids
made
good
use
of
the
Kids
Club.
To
categorize
The
Spa
in
El
Bosque
(translation:
The
Spa
in
the
Forest)
as
“outdoors”
wouldn’t
be
entirely
accurate.
But
to
call
it
“indoors”
isn’t
quite
right
either.
Sleek,
rustic,
and
overwhelmingly
lush,
the
entire
thing
is
built
right
into
the
dense
thicket.
Treatment-wise,
things
were
kept
to
the
basics,
which
was
nice
because
deciding
between
dozens
of
massage
options
was
too
much
for
my
vacation-drunk
mind.
Meanwhile,
over
at
the
Kids
Club:
every
toy,
art-and-craft,
and
video
game
is
accounted
for.
But
the
babysitters
are
great
at
dreaming
up
from-scratch
activities
like
collecting
shells,
building
sand
castles,
and
feeding
the
farm
animals.
DAY 4
Our
last
day
at
Rancho
Santana
brought
with
it
two
realizations.
First:
This
is
the
kind
of
place
that
lends
itself
exceptionally
well
to
longer
stays.
In
addition
to
the
breadth
and
scope
of
things
to
occupy
a
family
of
four,
it,
simply
put,
feels
like
home.
Something
we
won’t
forget
when
booking
a
return
trip.
Second:
surfing.
As
in,
we
all
need
to
pick
it
up.
An
entire
travel
book’s
worth
of
guided
tours
and
experiences
is
on
offer
here—horseback
riding
journeys
for
all
skill
levels,
sea
turtle
hatching
(season-depending),
birdwatching,
acro
yoga,
and
so
much
more—so
study
up
ahead
of
time.
But
it’s
the
surfing
that
keeps
travelers
from
all
over
the
world
coming
back
for
more—and
from
what
we
hear,
some
never
to
leave.
The
newly
launched
Surf
House
makes
learning
the
sport
from
scratch
or
honing
existing
skills
incredibly
convenient
with
daily
lessons,
transport
from
break
to
break,
all
the
gear—even
a
professional
surf
photography
session
to
capture
the
memories.
by
Kate
Wolfson