During our days in sunny Cabo, the pool and the beach areas are popping.
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People come and go throughout the day, taking meals, whooshing off to other activities, returning later for a much needed cooling off in the water.
Others, like my daughters and me, stake out our chairs early and stay all day, sunning ourselves amidst happy piles of novels, cameras, cover-ups, buckets of ice water, and the ubiquitous bottle of sunscreen.
Waiters balance heavy trays as they navigate the traffic, cruising round the pool, down the stairs, and across the hot sand to make sure that every guest is properly refreshed.
Even the lizards crawl out from their hidey holes and bask in the middle of the hot walkways.
But as the late afternoon sun slowly sinks behind the west wing of the hotel, the buzz slowly fades. Imperceptibly at first, then in waves and swells, we all call our kids in from the water, pack up our belongings, and head back to our rooms for showers, actual clothes, and an adventure out for dinner.
At this lovely time of day, my daughters and I have fallen into a happy tradition. Once we are feeling fresh and clean, we slip out to a secret garden in the golden light of evening.
I suppose it's not actually a secret garden. There are no walls or hidden doorways. Certainly the staff is spending plenty of time keeping it up. But the other guests do not seem to know this precious place exists, so we always have it all to ourselves.
So step with me out from the cool of the covered walkway along the back of the building, look across the open space, and be prepared for what is about to burst into view.
^ Bougainvillea. Big, bodacious, bougainvillea in hot pink. Look how the blossoms glow with the low rays of the sun. This giant planting of the tropical classic is the star of the secret garden; see how it stretches along the full length of the wide, white wall to the north. In some places, the tendrils stretch up beyond the structure to wave in the blue sky above. See the pink translucent petals against the sunlight sky? Amazing.
^ Now look close. Zero in on an individual blossom, undulating waves of pink petals complete with a white wide-eyed center. Decide for yourself which sight you prefer: the masses of vines billowing across the white wall and stretching out into the deep blue sky, or the brilliant pink waves of each perfect flower.
I can never choose.
Now, turn your back to the bougainvillea, if you dare, and look south along the back of the building. Tucked into corners and niches all along the exterior walkways, planted in immaculate beds of carefully raked sand, see the gardens full of cacti and succulents.
^ Blue agave, majestic and serene.
^ Barrel cactus, geometric and covered with not-so-sharp spines. Dare you to touch them.
^ Isn't it amazing how the simple and serene pink blossoms of the desert rose hold their own against the riotous bougainvillea? They're both pink flowers, it's true, but there's a place in my heart for each one.
^ While each plant is gorgeous in its own right, it's the vignettes of plant, stone, and that crazy raked sand that sweep me off my feet.
^ This is not a caterpillar. Just a very weird cacti sort of something that looks rad against the radiating leaves of the spiky plant beyond.
^ Is this particular blue agave more or less perfect that the other half dozen we've seen? I can't tell; can you? Let's just take a million pics of each one and figure it out later.
^ Uhh what. Is this from an episode of Stranger Things? It frightens me so hurry, let's move on.
^ And here, at the end of cacti plantings, we come to the last delight of the secret garden. A euphorbia milii, also know as crown of thorns, which I fell in love with at first sight in my adventures around Malaysia. The soft and rounded petals, the subtly shaded coral pink, the generous green leaves - everything about this lovely makes me smile.
And that, I think, is the perfect purpose of our secret garden. In the soft sunlight of the ending day, this beautiful place makes me smile.
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Read all about my latest trip to Mexico
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