Log 35: Get Out
This place has some serious fundamental problems. And I do not care one bit if it makes me sound like a wimp - I am not staying here for five weeks. I have decided that firmly. The operation here is literally a mess.
Much of the information that I was given before hand about Liberty Vista is simply inaccurate. Christine hypothesized there may have been a time when the farm was doing great, which is what earned it an amount of positive reviews on WWOOF that seems shocking to me now. However, right now the farm is struggling to keep its head above water, and it shows in their business practices and in our camp.
The work we do everyday is exclusively working at their honey stand and snack shack (both of which are very dirty and should not have food prepared in them in my opinion). There is mouse and gecko poop all over the food preparation area in the mornings. My first shift, I watched the owner select a bag of chocolate chips from storage that had clearly been chewed into by mice, and proceed to use them in the chocolate chip peanut butter balls they sell.
On top of all this, I have not so much as seen a beehive. Yesterday, Anastasia was scheduled to go on a "bee tour" that we supposedly all get to take, but then was uninvited when the farm owner realized she didn't have enough bee suits to go around.
To make matters worse, the camp is a disaster - ridiculously overgrown and unkept with tents set up in tall grass on rotting makeshift pallet platforms. Trash is strewn around the fire pit area, and Christine told me that when she arrived the kitchen sink was piled high with dirty dishes. The shower is filthy and moldy (?) and there's no fire wood, fire starter, or functioning lighters on the premises. Anastasia and I were able to get a fire going on night 2, which was a huge improvement to camp and a win for the whole group.
Back to my grievances. The compost toilet is quite literally overflowing. We informed the owner of this and were told it would be taken care of. It has not been taken care of. They also provide relatively little food, but are very unresponsive when it comes to helping us get to town for supplies. It feels as though we are incredibly isolated - especially without cell service - and at the mercy of the people running the farm.
All that said, I am fine. There are three other woofers here, and they have been a godsend thus far. Well, there are two other WWOOFers here, Teá’s leaving tomorrow due to the moth larvae in her sleeping bag. The other two women leave on March 8th (3 weeks out from my planned departure date), and frankly I think I would feel extremely uncomfortable being here once they leave - despite what the owner says, it doesn't appear that more people are going to trickle in anytime soon. One of the women is getting a rental car about a week before her departure, and when she goes, I am going with her. We'll see what happens from there.
All this is a bit of a bummer, but even in two days, it has certainly been a priceless experience. It's just not an experience that anyone should have for 5 weeks.
