Guest Report

[Caroline Brookes]

We stayed at Adventure Eco Farm from 7 – 14 February 2008, in one of the two cabins. The cabins are set a short way from the main house. The accommodation comprises a bedroom with two large single beds locked together plus one single, en suite bathroom with bath and shower with a hair dryer, well equipped kitchen, (which included a juicer and saucepan with steamer, and coffee percolator,) and lounge/dining room with shutters and ceiling fan. The bedroom has windows, air conditioning and a ceiling fan. There is also a TV although we did not use it. The patio area is shared with the other cabin. The cabins are on stilts, and the land falls away steeply to the front, so there is a lovely view at tree canopy level over a lot of the 12 acre grounds. It was great to go to bed listening to all the night sounds and wake up in the morning to the birds’ chorus.

There are two main trails to wander on the property, one easy, the other a bit more challenging. We were often accompanied by the owner’s two dogs, which showed us the way.

Ean MacKay, the owner is a genuinely kind and pleasant man. He arranged for a taxi to pick us up from the airport, stopping via the Canaan supermarket. Ean took us to the Carnbee supermarket one day, helped us out when we had forgotten to bring enough money, and went back to the supermarket later in the week to get us a refund for an over charged item. I inadvertently left my credit card in the room safe when we moved locations, and he looked after it for me until I returned to collect it.

During late afternoon, Ean rings a ship’s bell and masses of humming birds visit the sugar water filled feeders he provides for them. Other birds visit the various bird feeders, including the greedy motmots, and the bare-eyed thrust. The humming birds are amazing, and it is an opportunity to see them at very close quarters.

One day we walked along the road to the beach at the Arnos Vale Hotel. At a slow pace, taking account of the heat, it took us a good 15 minutes. It is an up and down hill route, some of it shaded. The beach is beautiful, but the sea was quite rough at the time of our visit. At the Arnos Vale Hotel we observed plants growing out of gutters, broken gutters on the accommodation block, beach tables with thatched umbrellas, the thatching disintegrating; empty bottles littered the tables and looked as if they had been there for some time.

Local people in Plymouth are friendly and helpful. There are lots of mini-marts that open at various times of the day, where you can get basic food supplies, and some frozen chicken. Fresh food is not readily available.

A kind mini-mart shop keeper called Mark, offered to drive us to church with his family on Sunday, and we were taken to see the shop keeper’s mother-in-law at her home after the service. It was great meeting and talking to her and the family. Thank you, Mark.

I would recommend Adventure Eco for those wanting to be out of the tourist area, looking for peace and having an interest in bird life. Thank you, Ean for making our stay so pleasant.

Caroline