Gringo Haven II - Finca Ixobel

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When we arrived at Finca Ixobel, our first thought on rolling through the gate was that there must be some mistake - this place was way too nice for us. Set on huge, immaculately maintained grounds in the midst of large expanses of alternating farmland and pristine pine forest, the place looked like a ranch getaway for the rich and famous. But a quick chat with the front desk confirmed that it was indeed, beyond all reasonable expectation, priced for the budget traveler. We settled into our pine cabin on stilts and quickly commandeered a beer to sit on our porch and watch the sunset.
The next few days have passed in a lazy haze. Just as at El Retiro, everything is provided for you here. There is a restaurant serving meals and snacks all day. There are activities, including horseback riding and various cave tours, all reasonably priced, available for your pleasure. There is even a very tempting three-day horseback jungle trek, but we have to get to Antigua for Semana Santa tomorrow.
Each night an enormous buffet dinner is served, and afterwards there is a bar, considerately placed ten minutes down a path away from the sleeping areas, where you can go and drink Quebec Libres and danse salsa, or sit around the fire. There is, as everywhere in the world where backpackers end up, somebody putting on a flaming poi show. It's like summer camp, and the employees sucked into the vortex and working for room and board for months on end, are like the counselors. And then you begin to see the summer camp dynamics, the cool kids and the outcasts, the frat boys and the hippies and the geeks.
OK. 'nuff said. Last time I got going on this, I got an email from someone saying that as I travel I leave a "scorched earth of bitterness" in my wake. I love the phrase, and it was meant encouragingly, but it is perhaps a sign that I need to soften my rhetoric.

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Comments

[telemach]

finca travellers social structure
Hi Chrissy: You shouldn't feel bad about writing your observations or worry what other people tell you about them. It is your journey not theirs. I don't know if it mattered to you where you fit into the scene and group dynamics there, but dont forget one other element to your visit there, besides the people and the place, it was your time there. I've been there and other places like it, and returned and found it to be completely different from the first time i was there. One time you laugh until your sides hurt and then, could be just the next night, and nothings going on and everyone goes to bed early just to be away. So, maybe go back and see some day, or go somewhere else, just really cherish the great times when they roll around for you, and let the other stuff pass, you'll forget those time sooner than you think. cheers, tele