Come and help out an off-grid family in nature close to Órgiva, Spain

  • Favourited 445 times
  • Last activity: 4 Nov 2023

Availability

  2024 

 Min stay requested: at least 2 weeks

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Details

  • Description

    Description

    *** We are travelling and can not host during this period. We've started a volunteer profile and use this website from the other side for a while!***

    We are Sanne and Marc, a couple from the Netherlands. For work, Marc teaches singing and theatre and he installs solar systems. Sanne edited study books for 12 years, cooked in a restaurant, had a job caring for horses and now is enjoying being jobless for a while.

    We are living with our 7 year old boy, a cat and two horses in a beautiful field in the valley above Torvizcón. Our place is about 30 minutes from Órgiva in Andalucia, Spain.
    We live in a yurt, basic but comfortable. We have electricity from a solar system and a water connection. We have a little shower house and we use a super basic compost toilet.

    We're trying to live in a sustainable way. We eat mostly organic and/or local and stick to a healthy - mostly vegetarian - diet. We grow some vegetables, recycle, try to reduce plastics and chemicals. Also, we drive an electric car that charges with the solar system. Sanne likes to care for the horses and she started a little veggie patch (not this year, as we have travel plans so gardening is a bit pointless).

    Then there is the project of building a second yurt from scratch, that we're slowly working on. We have walls and doorframes and we are making the roofpoles smooth (with an angle grinder), which takes forever, because there's 80 of them. Next step is to make the roofpoles all the right size and make them fit the holes in the crown.

    If you come to stay with us, your work will depend on what needs doing at that time. We'll be happy to share our knowledge of off-grid living, solar systems, horses and electric cars if you're interested.

  • Types of help and learning opportunities

    Types of help and learning opportunities

    DIY and building projects
    Animal Care
    Babysitting and creative play
    Creating/ Cooking family meals
    Help around the house
    General Maintenance
  • Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Nature, learn about living off grid, yurt building, horses

  • Projects involving children

    Projects involving children

    This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

  • Help

    Help

    Generally we need 1 or 2 people to help us.
    We're looking for people who are okay with being in a quiet place. We're in the middle of nature. We always share the big meal of the day, which is either lunch or dinner, depending on work and school schedules. The other meals you'll mostly eat by yourself, as we prefer our sleepy breakfasts alone. Evenings are private time for us, but sometimes we'll have a nice evening together, we do like a bit of social too :-)
    We prefer people who can work independently and show initiative. We're mostly not doing the same tasks as our volunteers, as we usually have different types of jobs to do and we also have to go away for work and care for our child. We trust our volunteers to be responsible for their tasks and keep track of their own hours.

  • Languages spoken

    English: Fluent
    Dutch: Fluent
    Spanish: Intermediate
    French: Intermediate

  • Accommodation

    Accommodation

    We provide:
    - a caravan with kitchen.
    - internet (limited)
    - the food (fruit/cereal/bread/cheese for breakfast and dinner, and a decent vegetarian meal for lunch)
    - when we go to Órgiva, we'll give you a lift (we go about 4 times a week)

  • What else ...

    What else ...

    If you don't have your own transport, we can pick you up somewhere or you can take public transport.

    Things to do in free time:
    Without transport you can go for walks in the mountains around us and to Torvizcón, or just hang out in the garden or in your caravan. If you're good with the horses (we'll find out by meeting them together), you're welcome to spend time with them and take them for walks (no riding).
    With your own transport or public transport:
    - Go to Orgiva, the main town of the area, with lots of activities like concerts and yoga classes
    - Go up into the Sierra Nevada for beautiful hiking
    - Relax at one of the beaches, at about 45 minutes drive.
    - Granada is about 1,5 hour away

  • A little more information

    A little more information

    • Internet access

    • Limited internet access

      Limited internet access

    • We have pets

    • We are smokers

    • Can host families

  • Space for parking camper vans

    Space for parking camper vans

    It's a bumpy road to our place, most vehicles are fine though.

  • Can possibly accept pets

    Can possibly accept pets

    We like dogs, if they are well trained and good with kids, horses and cats. Also, dogs are not allowed in the yurt or on the bed and couches of the caravan. Please clean up any poo around the living areas.

  • How many Workawayers can stay?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    Two

  • ...

    Hours expected

    4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week (we're flexible)

Host ref number: 137932678548

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