We offer small-scale retreats in a beautiful off-grid farmhouse in the Spanish Alpujarra, Sierra Nevada mountains.
Our retreats combine tuition and practice time as well as making the most of the amazing location, which includes mountain walks, beaches, sea-swimming, snorkelling, sunbathing, star-gazing and horse riding as well as relaxing and, of course, eating and drinking.
Here are some videos to give you a taste of the kind of music, location and atmosphere at Finca Ara Oko.
We are delighted to offer a week-long winter batá retreat, which offers an intensive study of batá rhythm and song sequences whilst looking over a spectacular landscape. During the week, you will develop technique, stamina, timing and repertoire and meet and socialise with other like-minded people passionate about batá music.
This will be a small group retreat of five people. We will bring in the New Year drumming, singing and celebrating together.
Please visit our Accommodation page to read more about the facilities available at Finca Ará Oko.
Our Donation Policy
Would you like to support young artists (under 25 years) or female survivors of human trafficking to access our retreats? If you can spare any amount for this cause, we will match your funding. All you need to do is add the amount you would like to donate to your total when you make a bank transfer and let us know via the sign-up form. We will inform you as to how we spent the money. Thank you for your generosity.
Find out more about our work with female survivors of human trafficking – Moving Voices UK
Bank Details Account name: Bombo Arts Account number: 63017399 Sort code: 08-92-99 Reference: (Please add the name of the course)
Deposit – Bata Winter Retreat ’24
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We need a minimum number of guests for a retreat to go ahead. Please check with us before buying your flights. A full refund will be issued if Covid restrictions prevent the course from happening or if we do not have sufficient numbers for the retreat to run. Please also see our Retreat Cancellation and Participation Guide.
If you are interested in a bespoke percussion music retreat or would like to stay and have some 1-1 tuition, drop us a line. enquiries@fincaaraoko.com.
Not included in the price
– Extra accommodation: please see our accommodation page for prices.
– Extra meals: Breakfast £5, Lunch £7, Dinner £10
– Alcohol
– Flights: The nearest airport is Almeria (1 hr 20mins drive), then Granada (1 ½-hour drive), then Malaga (2-hour drive). Fares range from £50-350 return. Malaga is often the cheapest and has the most frequent flights.
– Transport to and from the airport: Public transport, unfortunately, is rubbish. The cheapest way is to coordinate your flight times with others attending the course. We will help facilitate this and may suggest a flight time. Here are some taxi prices from 2022.
Taxi to/from Almeria (7-seater) – €110.
Taxi to/from Malaga (7-seater) €170.
Bus to/from Malaga to Motril (Alsa bus company) – €10
Taxi to/from Motril €80.
Taxi to/from Granada €110
– Transport during your stay.
Car hire: Some of you may wish to hire a car during your stay. It is a lovely place to drive with good roads and no traffic. If you choose this option, please let us know as we have plenty of experience of how not to get ripped off by car-hire firms.
– Travel insurance: Please make your own arrangements.
– Extra lessons
– Extra excursions or activities: There are horse riding, cycling and water sports activities available nearby. If you would like us to organise any of these events, please let us know beforehand.
*If you wish to stay longer than 7 nights, please check with us to see if we can accommodate you. If we can’t for any reason, we will be able to suggest places to stay nearby.
We offer small-scale retreats in a beautiful off-grid farmhouse in the Spanish Alpujarra, Sierra Nevada mountains.
Our retreats combine tuition and practice time as well as making the most of the amazing location, which includes mountain walks, beaches, sea-swimming, snorkelling, sunbathing, star-gazing and horse riding as well as relaxing and, of course, eating and drinking.
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