My wife and I stayed at Rainbow Plantation last year in 2013. We were enchanted by the lovely view, and the peace and quiet away from the main road. She and I were in dire straits financially because we are both disabled, and we needed a place to stay short term. We were happy that the owner, Christian worked with us to give us a discount since we were staying there for weeks during the slow season.
There was a certain date when we would have to move out of the room we were staying in, because he had it booked before we ever got there. We asked if there was another place we could stay, and pay the same rent, and he said he wasn't sure. We waited about two and a half or three weeks, and he didn't give us the answer til the day of.
He then said we could stay in the WWOOF'ers cabin, which are people that live there for free in exchange for working on the plantation. We were to pay the same rent, and we took it without examining the cabin, because we assumed it would be similar.
The man who had been living in it, "Jay" didn't clean it very well. My wife spent about eight hours dusting that tiny filthy place when we first moved in. The toilet didn't flush very well, and the shower didn't drain well either.
Apparently, "Jay" was angry that we had moved in, even though we were paying rent. The first or second night we stayed there, he and the other "WWOOF'er", Mike, came back from a party belligerently drunk.
Jay and Mike were standing by the fire, then for some reason Jay began slapping Mike's face 3 or 4 times. Jay began shouting that we are staying in "his" cabin, and sleeping in "his" bed as he poured gasoline on a fire they had just started. "I know you can hear me!" he screamed.
Mike could barely speak or walk, and stumbled on to the cabin's front door, leaning on it, blocking our only exit. Jay demanded that Mike take a shot with him by the fire, but Mike couldn't speak. Then Jay said, "well if you don't come have a shot with me by the fire, I'll bring the fire to you." Then, Jay poured a trail of flaming gasoline toward Mike who was leaning on our front door still. I was watching this silently, hoping that Jay would calm down. When I realized we had no land line, no cel phone reception, no internet connection, no one might even hear us scream in the jungle far away from the main road, we had one way out which was blocked by a drunk man, and another one with a can of gasoline pouring on the ground, I thought, "We are screwed."
When I saw the trail of fire, I woke up my wife, she screamed, and Jay stopped pouring the gasoline. Mike stumbled into this little space between the two tiny buildings the cabin is made out of, and he mumbled and shouted gibberish. My wife was terrified. I asked Jay to put out the fire on the ground. He said, "What fire? There's no fire," and stomped out the fire slowly. Mike wandered off, and they went to bed.
My wife and I hurriedly packed up our most basic necessities, and walked out in the cover of darkness to the main road. We walked about a mile along a dangerous road late at night to an acquaintance's place, which was very hard for my wife who has chronic pain, and we called the police who said they could do nothing.
The next morning, my wife and I were having coffee at a cafe outdoors in front of it, and Jay and Mike approached us a quick aggressive manner. Mike was carrying a large sugar cane stalk as if it was a club over his shoulder. He then held it out in front of him, and whipped out a pocket knife, and began whittling the cane stalk right by us. I told him he needed to back away and give us space. They went into the cafe. I called the police again, and Mike and Jay walked through the kitchen and went out the back door to hide from the police. The police did not arrest them. I emailed Christian and told him what happened. He later emailed me and told me that Jay was not allowed on the property, and to please come back. Of course, I refused, because Mike had also threatened us with a knife and stick. Christian also said, "They're nice guys, just not when they drink."
To his credit, Christian did give us the entire month's rent back, but that's about the only positive thing he did in this situation. I heard later that he allowed Jay back on the property. Me wife and I have been severely traumatized by this experience. It has taken me almost a year to get to the point that I can write about this.
I can see why people love this place, because the setting is so beautiful and quiet, and my wife and I found it very cute and enchanting, until we almost got burned alive in a little cabin in the jungle. read more
