More Celebrity Spotting in Mexico

So many international celebrities have made Mexico their vacation destination this month, that it was better to collect them all into one blog entry. The alternative was telling you about another one every day! Here is a round up for April and May so far.


Jay Cutler and Kristin Cavallari
Chicago Bears quarterback, Jay Cutler, did everything right in April. He first surprised actress girlfriend, Kristin Cavallari, with a trip to Cabo San Lucas. Once there, the 'Laguna Beach' and 'Hills' star was thrilled to find Jay going down on one knee. He popped the question and Kristin returned to Los Angeles with an engagement ring on her finger.

Kristin has been bouncing with excitement in interviews ever since. "I think we both knew from the moment we met that we wanted to marry each other. It's been a great situation."


Kristin Cavallari's 5.2 carat diamond engagement ring
When Kate Bosworth and her friends decided to take an all girl vacation, then where else could they go but Cancún? The 'Superman Returns' star was a common fixture on the beach, sending the world's press into a frenzy, when she went topless.


None of her friends were so brave, but Kate appeared happy, relaxed and healthy. It appears that her Mexican vacation was just the ticket for her hectic life. She has just finished filming 'Straw Dogs', which is due to hit the silver screen later this year.

It's over to the west coast of Mexico again for the next on our list. Those wishing to indulge in a bit of 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' should have been in Punta de Mita, just north of Puerto Vallarta. The entire family were there, celebrating Kourtney's 32nd birthday. Quite notably there was NBA basketball champion, Kris Humphries, with his whole attention upon Kim.


The Kardashians were in their beach house for six days, joined by members of the family who aren't usually spotted in their socialite reality TV show. Kourtney's party was held on the beach itself, with many passers by joining in the festivities. But the press only have eyes for Kim and Kris. In the days after returning to New York, they have been spotted looking at engagement rings.

Back up to Los Cabos and it was another girlie getaway weekend for a couple of the stars of 'High School Musical'. Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale swopped LA for some Mexican sun and surf during the May Day break.


While there, the friends met up with another American actress, Shelley Buckner. All three spent their days in an exclusive resort, lounging on the beach and soaking up the sun. With their evenings spent exploring the bars and clubs of Cabo San Lucas.


Then it was back to the grind, as they all had filming projects to return to.

Also in Los Cabos this month were another trio of American actresses. Jaime King and Nicole Ritchie were there to help Jessica Alba celebrate her birthday. It was a belated event, as Jessica had been ill on the actual day. That was all rectified with a beautiful beach party in Cabo San Lucas.


Jessica, who announced her second pregnancy in February, appeared utterly relaxed with her bikini and her bump. She had two year old daughter, Honor, with her and the gang all played regularly on the beach or around the pool.


Had they stayed another week, they could well have encountered yet another celebrity couple in Cabo San Lucas. Newly-weds, LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian, are honeymooning at the Esperanza Resort. Her Tweets have been filled with excitement about it all.

Beautiful night on the beach!!!! How is everyone?!
LeAnn Rimes, 23rd May 2011

What a gorgeous morning! It's a great day to be alive!!!
LeAnn Rimes, 24th May 2011

The couple have been spotted all over town, including the beach, the resort and the Pink Kitty Club. They appear to be very, very much in love.

No news yet on whether they have bumped into the other celebrity couple in town right now. New England Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady, and his Victoria's Secret supermodel wife, Gisele Bundchen, are also currently in Cabo San Lucas.


The couple have been having fun on the beach and around the pool, with Tom particularly rocking their giant waterslide.

Fans of 'Real Housewives of Orange County' might be interested to know that Tamra Barney was also in Cabo San Lucas recently. She visited with boyfriend, Eddie Judge, last weekend, staying at the Casa Dorada Resort.


It appears that things got ranchy in the bar, with Eddie preparing and licking her body, to the cheers of onlookers (visit TMZ.com to see that video).

That's the end of our round up for April and May (so far), but Cabo San Lucas is the current celebrity spotting hotspot, with an option on Cancún.

Easter in Mexico

A combination of three Catholic festivals makes this an exciting two weeks in Mexico. Semana Santa (Holy Week) runs from Palm Sunday until Easter Sunday; while Pascua (Passover) is from Resurrection Sunday through to the following weekend.

Therefore, Easter is another way of saying 'holiday season!' in Mexico. During this holy fortnight, the roads are packed, as Mexicans themselves travel around to their favourite destinations; and the whole country appears utterly relaxed.

Of course, that doesn't stop tourists from other countries joining the throng. Amongst the visitors to our country this week was 'Desperate Housewives' star, Eva Longoria. She was snapped, hand in hand with boyfriend, Eduardo Cruz, exploring the coastal city of Mazatlán.


Later, the couple met with Sinaloa state governor, Mario Lopez Valdez, and had lunch. As evening dawned, they flew to Cabo San Lucas to enjoy the rest of their vacation on the beach.


Cabo San Lucas is one of the Mexican resorts that is increasingly popular with the Hollywood jet set. Any time of the year, it's highly likely that a celebrity will be spotted there.

Underpinning all of the festivities, in Mexico, this fortnight is a Christian story; it's horrific, sombre and joyous all at the same time. Jesus Christ, having been arrested in the garden of Gethsename, is taken into the custody of the Romans. He is tortured, before being forced to carry a heavy wooden cross through the streets. Upon Calvary Hill, he is executed by crucifixion.

A crowd of witnesses watched him die; the fact of which is proved when a soldier stabs him with a spear, and Christ neither reacts nor bleeds. Then, three days later, Christ appears, scarred where the nails pierced him, but otherwise alive and extremely well. To Christians, this is the miracle of the resurrection. This is what Mexicans, in general, are marking and celebrating this fortnight.


Good Friday, Cuautepec, Mexico City
Throughout Mexico, there will be reconstructions of these Biblical scenes. Many of these take the form of parades, where Christ carries His cross and Romans escort Him through the streets. In many communities, the full Passion Plays are enacted. Actors depict the events all of the way from the Last Supper, before Christ's arrest, through to the Resurrection. In some, there is even a staged crucifixion, with Christ going up on the cross; obviously ropes, rather than nails, are involved here. They are highly colorful and often profound spectacles, which shouldn't be missed, whatever your religion.

'Foreverland' Being Filmed in Mexico

Filming on the Canadian blockbuster, 'Foreverland', has shifted from the coast of Vancouver Island, Canada, to the balmy tropics of Baja California, in Mexico. Its star-studded cast and crew are currently being spotted on the beaches of Los Cabos.


Juliette Lewis jet-skiing in Los Cabos
'Foreverland' follows the fortunes of Will Rankin (Max Thieriot), a young man, with cystic fibrosis, on a road trip to Mexico. He has with him the ashes of his dead friend (Laurence Laboeuf) and is accompanied by his friend's sister, Hannah (Juliette Lewis). Their destination is a healing shrine, Del Sol, where Laboeuf's character wished to have his ashes scattered. Will hopes that a miracle there will save him from his own painful fate.

Thomas Dekker also stars, in this Maxwell McGuire directed epic movie. McGuire co-wrote the script with Shawn Riopelle. It is billed as a love story, as well as a road movie. Along the way is quirky comedy, tragedy and plenty of scope for dreams and regrets.

Much of the principal photography has been taking place, throughout February and March, in La Paz, the capital city of Baja California Sur. La Paz is already relatively famous in the literary world. It was the setting for Newbury Honor Book award-winning 'The Black Pearl' by Scott O'Dell, as well as featuring heavily in John Steinbeck's classic novel, 'The Pearl'. As might be deduced, the pearl trade, in the area, is one of its major sources of economy. La Paz is also one of Mexico's favourite eco-tourist destinations.


La Paz, Baja California Sur
Britain's Daily Mail newspaper has a photo-spread of Foreverland lead actress, Juliette Lewis, with a mystery man, in Los Cabos this week: 'Juliette Lewis gets wet and wild on the back of her toyboy's jet ski on day two of their beach romance'. The area, which includes Cabo San Lucas, has been seeing a lot of international celebrities just recently. Sean Penn, Scarlett Johansson, Gethin Jones and Katherine Jenkins were all there last month ('Romantic Cabo San Lucas Attracts the Stars').

Romantic Cabo San Lucas Attracts the Stars

It seems that you can't turn around, in Mexico, without bumping into another of the world's celebrities. While most of the great and the good are heading to Tulum, another Mexican coastal resort has emerged as THE romantic get-away for star-crossed lovers.


Cabo San Lucas lies where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific Ocean. It's long been a hideout for the rich and famous, with some truly magnificent mansions dotting its horizons. But the town is also well known for its casual atmosphere. There is plenty to see and do there, with watersports, fishing, glorious beaches, then shops and restaurants catering for visitors and locals alike.

Several nightclubs pump up the volume, once the sun has set. Incidentally, don't miss that sunset. Watching the skies weave their tapesty of pink, peach and red, over the stunning landmark of El Arco, is definitely a profound, heart quickening experience.


An extra lure, for Cabo San Lucas, is that it is relatively close to Los Angeles. Well-heeled Hollywood royalty can easily fly in for a day's relaxation, before returning to the movie lots the following day. Celebrities spotted in town, just recently, include Jessica Alba, Sandra Bullock, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chris Martin, Cash Warren and Kate Beckinsale. But they are not the ones making the headlines.

The American press are reporting that Scarlett Johansson and Sean Penn were here, last Tuesday. Ms Johansson appeared to be well over her divorce from Ryan Reynolds. She was practically sitting on Mr Penn's knee, as the couple canoodled over margueritas. They also enjoyed a lobster meal, in one of Cabo San Lucas's exclusive restaurants.

Unfortunately, their stay in such beautiful surroundings was short lived. By evening, Ms Johansson flew back to LA, where she is currently filming, 'We Bought a Zoo'. Mr Penn then travelled on, without her, to Venezuela. He is a close friend of President Hugo Chavez.


Sean Penn and Scarlett Johansson
Cabo San Lucas could never be viewed as a quick day-trip destination for European stars, yet they are here too. Last January, the British media were awash with the news that Gethin Jones had finally got his girl. The Blue Peter presenter apparently packed a £10,000 diamond engagement ring, in his luggage, for his Mexican vacation. Once in the heady, romantic environment of Cabo San Lucas, he bent down on one knee and popped the question.

The lady being proposed to was his long-term girlfiend, none over than internationally renowned mezzo-soprano, Katherine Jenkins. (Dr Who fans will know her as the exquisitely singing Abigail, from the last Christmas special.)


Gethin Jones and Katherine Jenkins
The news broke when Ms Jenkins announced it on her official website.

“Geth and I are engaged! He popped the question at the end of an amazing holiday on the coast of Mexico and of course I said yes. We haven’t set a date yet but it will be sometime next year.”

The engagement ring
Meanwhile, Gethin's description of the scene can be heard on the BBC. Unfortunately, it appears that they won't be returning to Mexico to actually exchange their vows. The wedding is scheduled to take place in their native Wales.

While we're all now contemplating our own romantic trips to Cabo San Lucas, it seems like a good time to end on a song from Katherine Jenkins.

The Magical Old Baja

The Old Baja... a taste of old Baja... it's just like Old Baja...

It's a phrase that you hear often. It's not even just the elderly senors and senoras sitting back with misty-eyed nostalgia. People in their 30s will sigh over their tequilas at the mention of 'old Baja'. The internet is full of it. Newcomers and tourists would be forgiven for thinking that 'old Baja' is some mystical Otherworld. Perhaps a legendary Brigadoon, that only appears once every 100 years for just one night, to carry off heroes into the sunset.

So what is it?

It's a region of Mexico that you can visit right now. It's the Baja Peninsula of Las Californias. Back in 1510, García Ordóñez de Montalvo published his 'Las Sergas de Esplandián', which talked of an island to the west of the Indies. This island was entirely populated by women, in the manner of Amazons, and was ruled over by Queen Califia. The island was named California after her. The legend was so well known that when the Spanish Conquistador, Hernán Cortés, travelled along the Pacific coast of Mexico and the USA, he was convinced that he had found the place. He then worked out that the area wasn't an island. It was a peninsula. Nevertheless, he named it California.

Today, there are three Californias, known collectively as Las Californias. From the top, they are California, in the USA; then, crossing into Mexico, Baja California and Baja California Sur. 'Baja' means 'lower' and 'sur' means 'south'. So it's California, Lower California and Southern Lower California. When people refer to the Baja, they are talking about the Mexican peninsula.

But that's the modern Baja. The 'old Baja' was in exactly the same place, but felt different. Even 20 years ago, few people had electricity, especially in Baja California Sur. Towns like Cabo San Lucas were a fraction of the size that they are today. The main visitors were sailors, stopping for food and fuel. They might have dined at the single restaurant or paused for a drink at the only bar in town.

In 1949, the American director, Silas Johnson, travelled from the north to the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula. He recorded what he saw and created this short film, showing precisely what 'old Baja' was.



The film is only 60 years old, so many of those children would only be in their 70s now. Baja did not change overnight. In fact, there are still some areas where 'old Baja' is alive and well in everyday life. For many though, the lure of tourism grew too great and the last ten years has seen a lot of expansion. Much of this has happened during the past couple of decades, so even those in their 30s might remember Johnson's Baja. Those in their 20s or even their teens will recall a Baja slowly transforming into the vacation mecca that it's becoming now.

We can use Google Streetview to take a tour of Cabo San Lucas today. You might notice a few changes since the end of Johnson's 1949 film and the scenes in 2010.


View Larger Map

Click on the map and use your keyboard's arrow keys to take a virtual tour through the streets.

The Baja Peninsula is still tranquil. There are still old Spanish colonial towns and small fishing villages. There's still a lot of the old Baja in evidence, but it is disappearing fast. If you wish to experience it close to how it used to be, it might be worth going soon. Wait just ten or twenty years and the old Baja could well have vanished under the prosperous new Baja. And good luck to them!