Costalegre's Shangri La Comes With an Environmental Twist Mark Sissons - The Sun
go to original October 29, 2013

Cuixmala Mexico - An Overview (cuixmalamexico)

Fancy your own patch of paradise? So did a very wealthy man called Sir Jimmy, who once acquired a huge tract of virgin jungle on Mexico's untamed Costalegre, which stretches along the Pacific coast from Manzanillo to Puerto Vallarta. He then transformed part of it into a lush private playground for him and his jetsetting pals.

It took Sir Jimmy two years and two thousand workers to build a magnificent domed Moorish beachfront castle, followed by three posh guest villas. Then he stocked his Garden of Eden with herds of zebra, gazelle and eland, wild boar, ring-tailed coati and other exotic creatures, along with horses to ride. Finally, this one-time corporate raider had his new realm declared an ecological reserve, thereby protecting a vast array of flora and fauna - from sea turtles and crocodiles to jaguars, pumas and parrots - for generations to come.

Today, three decades after controversial Franco-British billionaire tycoon turned politician and environmental activist Sir James Goldsmith created his own private jungle estate called Cuixmala (which means 'the soul's resting place'), one of the world's most alluring tropical getaways remains a well-kept secret. "Cuixmala is the essential 'non' resort and we are really trying to maintain that feeling of a family property," explains Goldsmith's daughter, Alix Marcaccini, who, along with her husband, Goffredo, is custodian of her late father's magnificent obsession.

The Goldsmith family's holdings here also include a sister property, Hacienda de San Antonio, a meticulously restored coffee plantation near an active volcano about three hours' drive inland, near Colima.

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