Profile information
Host rating
80 %
Last replied
11 Mar 2024
Reply rate
60.9 %
Usually responds within 4 days
Feedback
21
Email verified
Badges (2)
Details
Description
Hi, welcome! 🙏🏻
Right now we are hoping for people interested to come from 8th April onward, for about 10 days.
We are looking for help for landscaping a new area with amazing potential, right below a cliff where we found fresh water springs and a medieval water basin (under 1.5m of earth!) with the clearest water that we are rehabilitating.
We also want to plant bamboos, bananas and Papayas etc. Lots of exciting stuff!
Our tree lines in the forest below need to be taken care of and mulched, a great way to learn about permaculture and syntropic agroforestry practices! 😅 We especially connect with seekers and people that want to learn and grow.
My name is Matthieu. I have been a photographer for over 20 years, and an active National Geographic photographer for the last 20 years. My wife (she is German, we met in Indonesia) and I bought a beautiful terraced land near Palmela, overlooking a valley called Vale dos Barris. We have planted around 1500 trees/plants so far, including about 90 fruit trees.
We are in need of people that DON'T mind physical effort :) outdoor showers & dry toilets & a nice camping set-up (in our wood paneled van, see picture!) in a beautiful setting, that like good food and are full of positive vibes. We are following syntropic agroforestry principles and if you are curious, I love to share my knowledge on that.
If you have a van, we can also host it on the land, couples welcome.
We are 1mn walk to the medieval village of Palmela and the first bar ;) We are 40mn to Lisbon (Oriente) by public bus.
Although it can be chilly in the morning in winter in the van, it gets quite warm during the day. We can provide a warm sleeping bag if you don't have any.
More about the FAMILY:
We have 2 boys, Timo (12) and iluka (17). Both our kids are born on the road (one in Hong Kong, the other in Istanbul) and speak German, French, English and Portuguese. Our boys are home-schooled. We are a truly multicultural family, love sharing our travels (we have been to most countries in Asia) and we have been living since 3 years inside the Arrabida Nature Park, just 35mn south of Lisbon.
Please write "pineapple" in your message when you contact us, so we know you have read our description (as we get lots of request). Thanks, love and light.Types of help and learning opportunities
Art ProjectsLanguage practiceHelp with Eco ProjectsGardeningDIY and building projectsFarmstay helpCreating/ Cooking family mealsHelp around the houseGeneral MaintenanceCultural exchange and learning opportunities
We have travel the world for the last 20 years and look forward to hearing about your life, and introduce you to the local markets, area etc. We are passionate about good food, music and world culture.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
- woodwork / carpentry
- help planting trees, soil preparation etc
- Help with occasional cooking (we love cooking!), shopping etc
- general housekeeping and basic buildingLanguages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
French: FluentAccommodation
You will stay in our van (electricity, water, kitchen, all wood covered), near our house, just 1mn walk to Palmela village.
Although it can be chilly in the morning in winter in the van, it gets quite warm during the day. We can provide a warm sleeping bag if you don't have any.What else ...
Our land is adjacent to the medieval village of Palmela - you look front in the valley and you are in full nature, but you walk back up and in 1mn you are in the village. 3mn walk from our place is a bus station that can take you to Lisbon.
It's an exchange: we are excited to host you , and should you come with a respectful and positive attitude to help us and take part in the activities. We are looking forward to it! :)A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
This host can provide space for campervans.
Can possibly accept pets
This host has said they are willing to accept those travelling with a pet.
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Hours expected
Maximum 5 hours a day, 5 days a week
Feedback (12)
Photos
Feedback
These are extra optional ratings when members leave feedback. The average rating left for each option is displayed.
Accuracy of profile:
(4.9)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(4.9)
Matthieu is truly full of life, vigour and utter enthusiasm for his project, and this made it easy to work with him even though I was at times physically going beyond my comfort zone!… read more
Matthieu, Mareile and their inspiring kids made me feel at home. Their project has a great balance, feeling of being off-grid but near a local town.
There is always plenty of work to do, but my time was respected and there was always time for a break in the Spring bath!
It was also great to… read more
How can I start? This was my first oficial workaway and I couldn't have imagined it better myself!
I truly feel that I have made a second family. The family as a whole is a group of four super intelligent, artistic, warm and friendly individuals. I easily felt at home with them and feel so grateful to have been a part of their lives, as well… read more
Matt is always fun to be around, friendly and good laugh. He taught me a lot, especially about the permaculture, and travelling and… read more
He built a dry toilet for us and worked hard on digging channels and swales on our land, always in good spirit. He came with his girlfriend Sara (connected account), and they both stayed in our van.… read more
Starting with this family in February I had the incredible opportunity of starting on their project from the very beginning. With not much expectations we worked out how to get going on their beautiful piece of land in Palmela - what a sight that place is. I had the most… read more
Matthieu is a enthusiastic and energic person, combined with his wife Mareille a very calm and organized person, there is a lot to learn from this family ! It was so nice to contribute in their lifestyle, which is a day to day plan, you will Never get bored ! The Time work is flexible,… read more