17/06/2026
Whilst we were away, several people sent us a screenshot from a Facebook group. As posted below.
The group was set up by Ian Johnston, 79, of Tamworth, UK, a husband, a father, and the director of a one-man-band business. The purpose seems to be to discuss eating and drinking in Playa Blanca. His rules you can see on the screen shot we were sent.
What’s always amused us is that despite spending over four and a half years discussing Jungle Vibes, Ian has zero experience of us as people. In fact, he has never met, nor spoken to, any of the owners, never met our families, and has never even stepped foot inside our restaurant.
He probably wouldn’t be able to point us out on Papagayo Beach at 7am if there were only three Germans tanning their wieners and us having a dip.
The group, which appears to consist mainly of restaurant reviews from Mr Johnston and his friend, has caused quite a few laughs in various local WhatsApp groups amongst actual Lanzarote residents… of which Ian is not one.
But it did make us think.
Some of Ian’s main concerns over the years appear to be:
1) That we somehow manipulate social media.
Ian is convinced that people join Facebook groups and post about Jungle Vibes because we tell them to.
We don’t.
In fact, we’ll pay €10,000 today to anyone who can genuinely prove that we asked them to post about Jungle Vibes anywhere online.
That’s how confident we are.
People find out about Jungle Vibes online because we share our stories, our team, our team, our food, cocktails, and the stories of our guests.
People then visit.
Some share their experience.
Some don’t.
Some leave reviews.
Some post photos.
Some recommend us to friends.
Some tell us what they think we could do better.
Whether good or bad, those opinions belong to them, not us.
That’s how social media works.
We don’t create those conversations.
We simply give people something to talk about.
To put things into perspective, we serve an average of around 4,000 people every month.
Since opening in December 2021, that equates to approximately 216,000 guest visits.
Yet during that same period, we have received fewer than 1,000 TripAdvisor reviews.
That’s less than half of one percent of our guests.
If we were manipulating, encouraging or instructing people to leave reviews, the figures would reflect that.
They don’t.
The overwhelming majority of our guests never leave a review at all.
Why?
Because most people don’t leave reviews.
Most people don’t post in Facebook groups.
Most people don’t write about restaurants online at all.
They simply visit, enjoy themselves, and get on with their lives.
Whilst we love reading posts and reviews, we don’t ask for them. They are 100% organic.
Mr Johnstons next issue: #
• That our artwork looks like the inside of a children’s hospital ward.
Our artwork is inspired by our own travels to wonderful places around the world, the plants, trees and animals we love, and the things that bring us joy.
Every piece is completely hand-drawn and hand-painted by a talented Lanzarote couple whose realistic artwork is admired across the Canary Islands.
Thousands of people have taken photos of it, sat beneath it, celebrated birthdays beneath it, proposed beneath it and made memories beneath it.
Not everyone will like it.
That’s the wonderful thing about art.
But we’d rather create something colourful, unique and full of life than something nobody notices at all. We wanted to create something with a fun and colourful vibe for fun and colourful people 🙂
As a family, every single one of us has learned that we will never be affected by someone who:
• Doesn’t know us
• Isn’t in our lives
• Has never met us
• Has never experienced our business
And we will never take criticism or business advice from someone:
• Not doing better professionally than us
• Not doing better mentally than us
As for the “wicked witch”…
Animals run to her.
Kids smile at her.
Strangers tell her their stories.
People feel safe around her.
Energy doesn’t lie.
To everyone who has supported us over the years, thank you.
We’ll continue focusing on our customers, our team, our family, our community, and the people who actually know us.
The rest is just background noise.
(And more free marketing. In fact, we should probably send Ian a thank-you card at this point. Nobody talks about Jungle Vibes more than Ian Johnston. This post alone will generate more profit for Jungle Vibes than years of discussing a restaurant you’ve never even visited.)
P.S. Comments are turned off because we’d rather focus our energy on what truly matters: serving great food, supporting our team, and creating a welcoming place for our customers and community
Thank you to everyone who continues to support Jungle Vibes and be part of our journey.
❤️
