An unforgettable experience, one we'd never repeat.
We came with so much excitement. It was a dream come true for us to come to Hawaii as volunteers, to save enough to get here, stay for a while, connect with the locals, share their daily lives, and contribute something. But that dream vanished overnight. You become physically and mentally
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exhausted, and you also break down financially, because coming to Hawaii isn't affordable, but staying here is even harder.
Anyone who goes after us, especially in the next few weeks, will probably find a much better situation. The cabin was left spotless, they bought cockroach repellent—we'll have to see if it works—and it seems they're going to buy a bed net.
If you happen to be with Josh, you'll surely enjoy your stay. He was kind, calm, and compassionate towards us.
If you happen to be with Anneka, our experience was very different. She picked us up at the airport upon arrival, which we appreciated. However, living together and the way she handled the problem afterward were very difficult. They talk a lot about energy, vibes, and spirituality, but for us, real energy is shown in how we treat people, especially when there's a problem. Vibes are felt and experienced; they shouldn't be used to invalidate, judge, or justify an uncomfortable and unacceptable situation.
To give some context: we're a couple who grew up on farms, surrounded by insects, animals, plants, and humidity. We've also done a lot of backpacking and budget camping in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Polynesia, in places with far more insects and challenging conditions than Hawaii. We weren't looking for a resort, luxury, or perfect comfort.
We knew we'd be sleeping in a "glamping"-style cabin, and we were warned that there might be spiders, mosquitoes, ants, etc. That wasn't a problem for us. In fact, the idea of a cabin by the sea, with a shared outdoor kitchen and a simple experience in nature, was exactly what we were looking for.
Day 1 — Morning
Anneka picked us up at the airport, and so far everything seemed fine.
The cabin was beautiful, made of wood, handcrafted, with mosquito nets on the windows and door, and facing the sea, although before you could see the sea there were pallets and lots of loose, dry branches.
When we arrived, we found it extremely dirty, with spiders everywhere, ants running along the walls, and many cockroaches, both alive and dead, on the floor, walls, sheets, and between the mattress and the bed frame. It gave the impression that it hadn't been cleaned in a long time, or as if no one was expecting us.
Day 1 — Afternoon
Even so, we weren't discouraged. We cleaned, organized, got rid of as many cockroaches as we could, and the ants or spiders on the ceiling didn't bother us much. But when we lay down on the bed to rest, a cockroach fell from the ceiling. We picked it up and thought it was just a one-off.
The outdoor kitchen also looked like it hadn't been cleaned in ages. The utensils were old, rusty, or broken. We started cleaning the bare minimum so we could use it, including the refrigerator, but when we opened the drawers, we found a lot of dirt, dead cockroaches, and eggs. We decided not to use practically anything there and try to make do with the bare minimum.
Day 1 — Night
That night, we really saw the magnitude of the problem. We saw about ten cockroaches between the floor and the wall. We sprinkled baking soda on the floor to try to scare them away. Once we were lying down and ready to sleep, three cockroaches fell from the ceiling directly onto the bed. At that point, we decided to explain the situation and ask what could be done.
From that first night, we suggested a basic and reasonable solution: putting a mosquito net over the bed, like they do in tropical places. It wasn't to eliminate the cockroach problem, but so we could sleep without them falling directly on us. Anneka flatly refused that option and insisted that cleaning would solve the problem. She insisted that if it was too rustic for us, we should leave, something she had already mentioned during the day.
We were also told that perhaps we were attracting insects by using our cell phones inside the cabin. That wasn't true. Precisely because of the number of bugs, we weren't even using our cell phones there normally. The problem wasn't the light from our phones; the problem was that the cabin already had cockroaches inside, on the walls, the floor, the sheets, the mattress, and in the gaps in the ceiling. Besides, light doesn't attract cockroaches.
They offered us a place to sleep that night, and we were grateful.
Day 2 — Morning
In the morning, Anneka suggested thoroughly cleaning the ceiling, floor, and walls, and then trying to seal the gaps with tape. The cabin is made of wood and has many gaps, so it was clear that this wasn't something that could really be solved in a morning with normal cleaning and tape.
Even so, we cleaned again. The cockroach problem isn't solved in a morning with basic cleaning products in an outdoor cabin surrounded by nature. A bed net was still the minimum and reasonable solution to be able to sleep there, but Anneka continued to refuse to accept it.
Day 2 — Afternoon
That afternoon, we went to Kona with Josh's help and spent about three hours walking and using public transport to look for a net in various stores, even though the solution had already been suggested on the first night and had been rejected by Anneka. There was no stock. Even so, our intention was to find a practical way to be able to stay and sleep in minimally safe conditions.
Day 2 — Night
Upon returning to the cabin, we immediately saw three cockroaches on the floor and one on the bed. We dismantled the bed, grabbed the sheets, and prepared to sleep inside on the sofa bed, with Josh's permission.
Then Anneka came out and asked us what we were doing there in her living room. She told us she had already warned us that it was "glamping" and that if we didn't want to sleep in our cabin, we could sleep outside on a sofa bed on the porch (which was full of dust and insects/spiders). She insisted again that if it was too rustic for us, we should leave.
We flatly refused to sleep outside, and also refused to sleep in a cabin where cockroaches were falling from the ceiling directly onto the bed. We were in a remote location, at night, without our own transportation, and without a safe or realistic way to leave at that hour.
From then on, the problem was no longer just the cabin. It became the way the situation was handled. We were made to feel like the problem was our attitude, our "vibe," or our profile, instead of acknowledging that the sleeping conditions were unacceptable.
Josh asked us what our plans were, and we told him we wanted to leave. He kindly offered to drive us the next morning and let us sleep on his couch that night.
Day 3 — Morning
In the morning, Josh drove us, and we were grateful for that. We emphasized the need for a mosquito net, as we felt it was the bare minimum the cabin should have to be habitable. He asked if we would return if we got one, and we told him definitely not, because of how Anneka had handled the situation and how she had made us feel.
We weren't asking for luxury. We weren't asking for hotel comforts. We were asking for something basic: a safe and hygienic place to sleep without cockroaches falling on the bed, and respectful treatment when we reported the problem.
We left exhausted, disappointed, and with the feeling that an experience we had been eagerly anticipating had turned into a very unpleasant situation.
Therefore, we would not recommend this experience as we experienced it.
We thought long and hard about whether or not to write this message because we don't like to leave a negative review or cause unnecessary harm. But we felt it was necessary to share our experience honestly because we relied heavily on all the positive reviews before coming. #redacted# If we had read something like this beforehand, we probably would have made a different decision, or at least come better prepared or brought our own net. We are flexible and easygoing, and we have a lot of experience with tropical or natural environments, but accepting unsanitary or unsafe sleeping conditions is not an option.
Jardinagem geral
Vida na fazenda
Projetos ambientais
Ajuda a cuidar da casa
Cuidar de animais
Hotelaria/turismo
Trabalho beneficente
Criar/cozinhar refeições caseiras
Cuidar de casas e pets
Projetos DIY criativos
Manutenção geral
Ajuda com computadores/internet
