Profile information
Host rating
80 %
Last replied
17 Jan 2024
Reply rate
66.7 %
Usually responds within 21 days
Feedback
10
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Email verified
Host offers payment
Badges (3)
Details
Description
UPDATE AUG 28
We have filled all of our positions for 2023 and 2024 (OMG!). But always feel free to drop us a line, though we can't promise anything, it's always good to meet those of you who are keen to get to know us and be part of what we've built here!
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Hey there! We're Andrea and Bongo. We've worked and travelled all over the globe, but now we've put down roots in beautiful Whitney, Ontario on the border of Algonquin Park. We love the outdoors and love to go backcountry camping, hiking, canoeing and birdwatching. We also try to live as sustainably as possible - we've got chickens and a pretty awesome garden on our property. In the spring we make our own Maple Syrup right from our trees, and in the fall we make lots of preserves from the goodies we grow. We're both super loveable, and our property is an LGBT/BIPOC safe space. It's nice to meet you!
Our place is pretty cool. We have 5 rental cabins as well as a log cabin hostel on our property. The cabins were built in the 1940s and are amazing relics of the past! Our place is a "retro resort" - we have VHS tapes and records to listen to, as well as a pacman arcade machine. We are totally obsessed with everything old and vintage, and we live our lives pretty much back in time. Typically we host travellers from 18-50 (no children!) passing through, and we tend to attract young and eager folks who are looking to disconnect with their phones, and reconnect with nature.
In July of 2022, we opened a bar in our log cabin lodge. We are musicians and play live music on Fridays, Saturdays, and Tuesdays during bar service. We are looking for folks to give us a hand around the bar, and if you're musically inclined, we'd love to have you join our band and play with us! Our bar is the coolest spot in town and THE place for nightlife, especially in the summer time. We're in a small town (population 400 people!) and people come from miles around to hang out at our place in the evenings. We're also looking for extra hands around the resort to help us clean and fix up things. Workawayers that stay with us have access to a canoe and all of our knowledge so that in your free time, you can explore beautiful Algonquin Park - the oldest provincial park in Canada.
We're typical Canadians: we are crazy about hockey, winter, camping, canoeing and being outside. We're also incredibly polite, positive, happy people and we love love love meeting new people, and playing music with anyone and everyone!
We believe in living every day to the fullest. Come and hang out with us and we promise that you'll never want to leave!!
Feel free to check out our instagram page, for a better look into our lives and a closer look at the camp.
Can't wait to hear from you!
Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
You'll learn an extensive amount about canoeing and living life in the Canadian wilderness. We can teach you some great skills like how to build a fire, how to grow a garden and maintain it for food, how to have a kickass music jam around a campfire, and how to provide great guest services.
If you're looking to practice your English skills, you've come to the right place! We were English Teachers in South Korea for 2 years, and we love to help people with language skills!Host offers payment in line with the minimum wage
This host offers accommodation and payment.
Host has indicated that they will pay at least the minimum hourly wage of their country for each hour worked and that accommodation will also be provided. They are asking for help with a business or business activity. Contact the host directly via the site messenger for more information and details about the wage provided. Any arrangements should be agreed in advance with your host.
Help
We're looking for super energetic, adventurous and outdoorsy folks to come and give us a hand! A few things you can expect to do on a daily basis: helping clean and organize around the resort, helping us during busy bar service nights (usually on Friday and Saturdays, this can be either musical help or just help chatting with and managing guests), helping Bongo with some light property maintenance and some fun building projects, and most importantly: hanging out with us and our guests around the bonfire at night, playing music and singing songs. We love to teach and mentor, and we're extremely patient and fun loving, so every day will be a day to learn and more importantly: have fun! And we'd make sure to give you an introduction to canoe camping in Algonquin Park so that you can have an understanding of the Park and how to navigate it.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Accommodation
You'll get your own room with private bathroom and shower. The room is part of our nature lodge and doesn't have a kitchen, but we do equip you with a small BBQ, kettle, and coffee maker in your room. You'll also have a small mini bar fridge, and of course we have the tavern and cafe below, where we can work out a meal plan for folks staying a month or longer.
What else ...
Spend your time off canoeing in Algonquin Park. We'll teach you how to canoe, how to fish, and how to be an outdoors expert!
In the winter, you'll have access to our XC Skis and snowshoes, and maybe we'll even get to take you out ice fishing!
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
This host has indicated that they love having digital nomads stay.
Space for parking camper vans
We've got a whole little area for any camper vans or vanlifers who'd like to park nearby.
Can possibly accept pets
Anything is cool with us as long as you keep your pet well mannered and maintained.
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Hours expected
5 hours per day x 3 days
Feedback (5)
Photos
Feedback
Five weeks felt like barely two and from the very first moment, we felt like members of the family.
The work is fun, easy and hey - you can clean cabins while listening to some old LPs, how about that?!
Andrea is a excellent… read more
Andrea & Bongo considered me as a guest more than an employee. I spend a lot of time with them, it was awesome. They present me to their friends, to the locals, we went to camping in Algonquin, they make me discover their beautiful region. They also help me with my objective which was to improve my English… read more
Andrea and Mike will always be in my mind. Like a small family I was taken under their wings and was given "the Whitney experience".
I could never write down all the things I learned from these guys, there is simply too much. I felt like a family member during my stay and I will return.
The work was fantastic and… read more
