CAN WE HAVE DINNER?

The Finca is completely empty. The last guests left this morning. I haven’t seen this place this quiet. Yesterday Carlos returned from his week off.

“Any room reservations, Paulo?”

“None. And unless we have any walk-ins there will be no one for dinner.”

Everyone’s been talking about a tourist crisis but it didn’t affect us. Until today. Since I’ve been here, and due to amazing marketing, the lowest we’ve had was six guests.

The Finca is completely empty.

It is amazing how much effort was put into advertising this place. Although one will either find it in all the travel guides, be it your Lonely Planets, your Rough Guides, your Le Guide du Routards, your Let’s go, or you’ll find Finca posters & leaflets all the down to the Panama Canal, it is the power of word-of-mouth that gets people to come here.

So if the Finca Tatin - a place usually highly recommended by other travellers - is completely empty, how are other Guatemalan hotels and hostels doing? What about the rest of this Continent?

When I set foot on my journey down the Latin America, I never consider being anything else but a solo traveller. But I, being a realist person, I know that I depend somewhat on other travellers.

If there are no travellers, the bus companies with have no other option but to cancel their scheduled buses.

Travellers pass on great bits of info to other travellers.

…

Riiing Riiiing.

I picked up the handset.

“Good afternoon. Finca Tatin.”

“Hi. We’re just staying in a hotel up river but they had a problem with the kitchen so there are only cold sandwiches available. It’s six of us. Can we come to have dinner at your place?”

“Claro que si! Of course you can.”

Looks like not all is lost...

Ciao 4 now

~ Paulo ~