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Come to a cave house finca and help with dogs, land restoration and building project near Guadix, Andalucia, Spain

  • 1583 “me gusta”
  • Última actividad: 27 mar 2024

DISPONIBILIDAD

  2024 

 Estancia mínima:  Al menos un mes

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Detalles

  • Descripción

    Descripción

    ******Thank you for reading our profile to the end before answering

    NEXT BIG JOBS:
    REFURBISHING THE POOL READY FOR SUMMER

    PLANTING UP THE VEG GARDEN

    • WE LOOK ESPECIALLY FOR LONG TERM GUESTS, AFTER A PERIOD OF MAINLY SHORT STAYS, WE NEED A COMMITTED TEAM THAT WILL TREAT THE ALMAZARA LIKE THEIR HOME FOR A WHILE. LIVING VEHICLES WITH FAMILIES ALSO MORE THAN WELCOME!

    • PEOPLE WHO ARE CONFIDENT IN A CONSTRUCTION ROLE AND CAN HELP ME ENCOURAGE YOUNGER PEOPLE WHO ARE NEW TO THAT KIND OF ACTIVITY

    • A FEW PEOPLE WHO CAN TAKE TURNS TO COOK A PLANT BASED / VEGAN MEAL FOR 12 -15 PEOPLE AND ALSO TAKE A ROLE IN GARDENING, A BIT OF HOUSEKEEPING AND GENERAL HOMELINESS, A BIG TEAM NEEDS LOTS OF FOOD AND SUPPORT KEEPING CLEAN AND TIDY

    • LOOKING FOR A COUPLE OF PEOPLE WHO KNOW ABOUT DOGS.
    We need some really focused doggy help. We have 3 rescued podenco hunting dogs . They are high energy, very loving and sweet with humans, but retain a lethal killer instinct with small animals. They are very unsatisfied by lead walks but if you let them free they simply run away for 3 or 4 days, which is unacceptable as they are such hunters. I'm trying to gain some knowledge about how to socialise them. If anyone feels they can collaborate with me on this, I would be so happy.

    ANYONE WITH ANY KNOWLEDGE OF CAR REPAIR WELCOME. OUR AGING VEHICLES ARE IN NEED OF SOME TLC

    • WE HAVE A DONKEY. FROM AN ELDER OF THE VILLAGE.
    She needs some TLC as her care became to much for our neighbour. But she's strong loving and very very calm . From late April I look for someone to be her special buddy as I will have to be away for a bit

    S.T.O.P. P.R.E.S.S.

    A birth is due in September so we will not be accepting any new guests then, and only a few in July and August. At this time we can only accommodate mature, discrete people either with their own living vehicle or who have been with us for a period of time before and we feel we know well.
    .
    When applying to me:
    • Prepare for YES as the answer, so think if you will really like it before you apply.
    • Make a long and revealing profile, it saves lots of questions.
    • Read the host profile, does it fit you? If you mainly hope to care for horses, be near a city, the ocean or work with kids, then we are not the right host for you! Use your intelligence!
    • Sending the same email to 100 hosts is very obvious and a bit rude, and is less productive than sending 5-10 individually-constructed messages.
    • Give all the important information to the host right from the start.
    • Don’t be desperate, if you claim to be something you are not, or have hang-ups, or something that you are running away from, its better to be honest, it’s not unusual for Workawayers to be on a path of self-discovery or escape, but it’s important to be honest. If you have missed telling us something, we will soon know and it would cast a big shadow over our relationship. Some of our best Workaway friends have been escaping from a past life that was destroying them. With truth we can grow.

    At the moment we have some guests who are trying to recover from a bad relationship with alcohol. It's a very difficult thing to ask, but please respect that a drinking culture is not welcome here, we have had some problems lately with Workaway guests over indulging and being drunk and having hangovers, which is thoughtless, and made life difficult for our long term guests who need a gentle kinder, sober environment.
    After taking a tolerant approach I now say, NO weekday drinking, and at weekends, no drinking to inebriation. No illegal drugs at all not even cannabis

    The vibe is quite robust, we are an extended family and as such will sometimes have grumpy days or be worn out, tired from a toddler or the old lady. Or just annoyed with one another. We try not to catch you in the cross fire, if we do we say sorry, explain the glitch and assure you that family life is like that sometimes.

    There have been times when we have enjoyed yoga and a bit of not very serious meditation, less so recently as the projects seriousness has kicked in and our elder has become more demanding and tiring. However, if the right people are around us it might rekindle. But don't expect things to be too esoteric!!, and it's nice when people can make music and arty things, but this isn't the focus of the stay whatsoever. This situation is a new little community albeit the core members are family, we didn't always live together, so we are new to each other and are drawing on several streams of experience to learn to grow together. There have been adjustments to make in the early days! But by and large we love it

    Three years back, we managed to create a new food-growing area. We have connected with the bio-cyclic movement, which is about relying less on animal waste to grow crops and more on forms of hot composting of plant waste, which in our area is specifically the waste from olive trees and the pomace produced in the oil extraction process. We draw from lots of ideas to make our veggies grow in a desert! It's no good being rigid and inflexible following gurus. Best check out the few websites that show successful greening of deserts!

    Mostly at the moment it's not so much a project as a family home, and as such, outside your 4 or 5 hours "working" I expect you to share various household tasks without having to be asked, as you would if it's your home, like sweeping the floor, washing dishes, wiping surfaces, empty the coffee pot, empty compost bin, keep your own room tidy and clean....just be good house members

    I freely admit we have bitten off more than we can chew work wise, but it's such a special place! So...we welcome new and old friends if they want to help out, because one day this place has the potential to become a stop off bunkhouse for those interested in losing or finding themselves in the desert, to have an extensive food garden, offer extended hospitality to back packets and bikers and a teaching space for courses..… but that is firmly in the future and ideas can change and might have to if pandemic fear alters people's attitude to travelling and mixing. Indeed the need to limit air travel is real food for thought

    We have an extended family The household is myself and partner,, son, daughter and her partner, and their little daughter and at present we also juggle the care of the eldest member, who was born in 1927… so a true elder! She comes from Southern Italy. She speaks English and Neapolitan Italian…. various other helpers, friends, relatives and community members join us at different times. Everyone does a lot to help la abuela, but mostly there is a lot of physical outside work, which we need to concentrate on.... More about that later.

    We live on the edge of the area known locally as "El Badlands" since so many Spaghetti Westerns and other genre of films have used this area for location shoots, another name is the Gorafe Desert, and part of the UNESCO Geoparque de Granada. The town of Guadix is 35 mins to the west, and Baza 20 mins to the east. Granada is just over an hour drive away. At the moment the airports most likely to connect to anywhere are Málaga and Alicante, both have some ok bus connections, Málaga via a change at Granada, and Alicante has some direct buses, and some where you take the bus to the city bus station and get a direct bus to Baza. Granada has an airport and hour and 15m away, with bus to town and then bus to Guadix, and so does Almeria which is less than 2 hours away, but it does not have great bus connections, although there are some. Always check the last bus before you book a flight that lands after 1900h for any airport.

    We bought the property in June 2018, after searching for four years to find “the right place” this place is much more complex than we anticipated and needs a lot more work than we had planned, but if you come you will see why, when we found it, we made a very fast decision to buy it! It seems very special to us, and we love to share it’s strange, harsh magic. We partly moved there Oct 2018, and have completed the process in Jan 2020

    Nobody had lived there permanently for well over 10 years, but had occasionally used it for holidays... as the previous owners got older and they and their families came less, it became very untidy! There is a huge garden which at present has no obvious form or function, a neglected olive grove, a chopos plantation which now needs some attention, a disused but sound olive mill, a huge old swimming pool, oh... And 6 dogs,all of them are rehabilitated street dogs who were in a bad way when we found them, and still retain a vagabond instinct…

    There is limited public transport local to the house, one bus morning one bus 06.45h returns around 1600h in the afternoon, and we will always give a lift if we can.

    Although we usually host independent Workawayers, groups of friends would also be welcome - the accomodation is dormitory style, in the summer it was in a former olive mill which has been converted for human habitation in the 1980s, so it's not very elegant but it works. Now cold nights are with us and we have mainly completed the renovation of the old cave chapel we have moved the beds in there, it's so cosy, but not quite as spacious. All the beds are singles, and old Spanish size which is 1.8m so think about that if you are very tall

    If you have a living van then we can easily invite a couple or family.

  • Tipos de ayuda y oportunidades de aprendizaje

    Tipos de ayuda y oportunidades de aprendizaje

    Práctica de idiomas
    Ayuda en proyectos ecológicos
    Compañía para ancianos
    Jardinería
    Construcción y bricolaje
    Cuidado de animales
    Cocinar para toda la familia
    Ayuda doméstica
    Mantenimiento general
  • Objetivos de sostenibilidad de las NU que intenta conseguir este anfitrión

    Objetivos de sostenibilidad de las NU que intenta conseguir este anfitrión

    Objetivos de las NU
    Fin de la pobreza
    Hambre cero
    Salud y bienestar
    Educación de calidad
    Igualdad de género
    Agua limpia y saneamiento
    Energía asequible y no contaminante
    Trabajo decente y crecimiento económico
    Industria, innovación e infraestructura
    Reducción de las desigualdades
    Ciudades y comunidades sostenibles
    Producción y consumo responsables
    Acción por el clima
    Vida submarina
    Vida de ecosistemas terrestres
    Paz, justicia e instituciones sólidas
    Alianzas para lograr los objetivos
  • Intercambio cultural y oportunidades de aprendizaje

    Intercambio cultural y oportunidades de aprendizaje

    Learn about cave dwelling, join in the village life, engagement is strongly recommended.

    You can learn English and Spanish of course, from various members of the household, and the neighbours and maybe a little (Neapolitan) Italian from Josie the grandma. Learn together with us…we are novices too…or share knowledge about simple building techniques including the use of yeso and the unique qualities of cave houses…

    The wider area, also known as the Altiplano de Granada has plenty of history, stronghold of the Moorish Kingdom of El Andaluz, and last part to fall to the Christian conquerors. There are widespread and very visible signs of the Mesolithic culture that flourished here, and remains from settlements of some of the earliest known hominids in Europe nearby at Orce too! Have a look on Wikipedia!

    There's the wonderful lake, Pantano de Negratín, hot springs, even a hot waterfall! Cool mountains, hot desert, and tapas free with every beer or wine in the little bars in the villages.

    However, beyond all that, there is the warm hospitality of everyone in the area. Of course, foreigners are to be observed and to be gossiped about, and present a curiosity. But mostly there is genuine happiness to meet you and you will quickly immerse into village life if you are accepting.

    We have had the privilege to create life long friendships with many of our volunteers, and they have made great lasting friendships with each other too.

    While volunteering with us, you'll have the opportunity to see an amazing part of Spain. If this all sounds appealing then please send me a message.

  • Proyectos con niños

    Proyectos con niños

    En este proyecto podría haber niños. Para obtener más información, consulta nuestras directrices y consejos aquí.

  • Ayuda

    Ayuda

    Main manual tasks:

    NOW

    1. Planting crops of common vegetables, weed and generally take care of the food garden

    2. Help with donkey and dogs

    3. Stabilise the steep bank near swimming pool. Build retaining wall.

    4. Refurbish swimming pool

    5. Install a solar water heater. Eventually we aim to have solar panels and batteries, we need to plan infrastructure and installation and would welcome help with this.

    6. Several areas of the olive mill courtyard wall is crumbling. Big job there! And needs an army!!

    POSSIBLY IF THE RIGHT PERSON COMES!

    7. Bicycle maintenance...I have acquired a medley of old bikes and need a handy help keeping them safe

    8. Lots of fiddly little maintenance jobs :plumbing,, painting, compost duty, carpentry, finishing unfinished bits of work ... All the usual things on a big place

    And last but not least, Joining in and adding to village life.
    Make life joyful for all you meet.

  • Idiomas

    Idiomas hablados
    Inglés: Fluido
    Español: Fluido
    Italiano: Fluido

    Este anfitrión ofrece intercambio de idiomas
    We have 3 fluent Spanish speakers, one competent Spanish second language speaker, 3 others with various levels of incompetence. We incompetent Spanish speakers want to learn more. The elder speaks Neopolitan Italian, and all of us speak English.

  • Alojamiento

    Alojamiento

    Quite a substantial part of both houses consists of cave, which is a very different way of living, but wonderfully cool in the summer and warm in the winter. There are some out-built parts, these are hot in summer and COLD in winter (unless heated). Everything is rather basic - comfortable but not stylish!

    The Workaway guests have their own shared space in the old chapel, again a bit primitive, it's like a dormitory, there's a area to relax with sofas and there's 2 bathrooms shared with the family, electricity and wifi

    There's tents and hammocks to relax outside, and a west facing covered patio behind the almazara for beautiful sunsets... and all things evolve e.g. in the past we set up a small performance stage!

    The food is vegetarian or vegan. We do not use meat in this house. All family members are various degrees of vegetarian or full vegan.

    We make porridge and toast for communal breakfast, there's a a snack time late morning and a late lunch Spanish style. It's a communal meal which will always be simple but plentiful. In the evening we don't eat much nor do we provide an arranged evening meal. There is the opportunity to make a sandwich or use any left overs from lunch.

    I'm not good with fussy eaters and don't welcome people who want to eat differently and separately. I have a very small kitchen so like to keep it clear of too much traffic. I also take a moral stance on reducing consumption of animal products and eating junk food so don't want it around me, my house or my grandchild.

    My daughter and I used to run a festival café together so we are not bad cooks. We have a strict budget by necessity but always provide enough protein, carbs, lots of olive oil and work to make sure there's enough vitamins and minerals present in the diet

  • Algo más...

    Algo más...

    Come to the Altiplano de Granada!

    The 2 local towns in the area have theatres, cinemas, clubs, museums, shopping as well as the aforementioned history. Granada is the regional capital and is elegant and we are blessed with all amenities you would expect in such a place. There are direct buses from Baza, Guadix and Granada to all major cities’ airports in Spain. Granada has an airport, and Málaga has flights to all parts of Europe and some intercontinental flights too. Málaga is 2.5hrs drive away, or 4 to 5 hrs on the bus network.

    Enjoy the desert the Geoparque, Parque Megalithica, the Pantano Negratín, the hot springs in the woods, the mountains and the beautiful sky.

    Enjoy the tapas culture.

    Now they have started again, join in the many fiestas and ferias in the villages nearby...

    See cave houses, with the natural temperature control, warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer.. and ramble round the strange troglodyte villages which are all around.

    Public transport exists but better from the big towns I'm sure everyone will co operate with lifts to connect to public transport to go places on your days off.

    Bicycles are also available. But some need mending!

    If you read the feedbacks below, you might be confused, because in summer, until this year many of my WorkAway guests helped me run festivals. So will mention that.

    BIG WARNINGS!
    1. SMOKING, DRUGS, ALCOHOL

    Please... I don't welcome smokers.... I don't like smoking in the house and grounds my partner is in a fragile battle with nicotine, and having other smokers in the group is really bad for his rather feeble willpower! REMEMBER this is a dry area. Fires start easily.

    One strike and you are out with any illegal drugs. I have had enough of people using my place to get wasted, fraternising with all the semi criminal elements in the area and drawing the wrong attention to us.

    Drinking alcohol is only tolerated at fiesta and social occasions. No weekday drinking, and no habitual drinkers, and at weekends no drinking to the point of rowdiness and inebriation. We are trying to raise a family here and do not want this type of life around children. It's also been the vector for destruction, minor accidents and naughty behaviour. So it's now not an option.

    2. FIRES
    No campfires or barbeques, if a fire started it would devastate the area and we would never be welcome back. This is no small matter. Don't leave bottles or drinks glasses abandoned that could focus the sun, the same warning for prescription spectacles. Fire is feared above all else

    3. WATER
    Water is scarce and expensive. Please be sensible about short showers, pausing the flow while you soap and shampoo. Washing machine only use when full, and on short cycle
    Flush the loo only when it's solids, not for pee, unless many have accumulated!
    Watch out for dripping taps, leaks and reuse as much as you can to water the garden.
    Water the geraniums, they repel mosquitos

    4. DRAINS
    don't put paper down the toilet anywhere in Spain. There is always a bin provided. There are times when it's nicer to flush the paper, and in these odd occasions, I'm sure it's fine.

    5. RUBBISH
    There is no house to house rubbish collection, so take your rubbish to the bin and recycle skip in the village. Avoid too much packaging.

    6. ELECTRICITY
    The tariff is CRAZY high and varies throughout the day. Please get familiar with the cheap times and use greedy appliances only then. We are on a very low feed of 3.3kw so go easy and be thoughtful I if the washing machine is on its a good thing we heat a kettle by gas!

    7. The food is vegan or vegetarian, we do not provide meat, and do not tolerate it in the kitchens.

    8. SMILE!

    To show you have read this, please mention "Almazara" in your reply, to show you have read to the end.

  • Un poco más de información

    Un poco más de información

    • Acceso a Internet

    • Acceso a Internet limitado

      Acceso a Internet limitado

    • Tenemos animales

    • Somos fumadores

    • Puede alojar familias

  • Espacio para aparcar autocaravanas

    Espacio para aparcar autocaravanas

    We are cautious about the really big motorhomes with a long chassis overhanging the back wheels as there is a steep dry riverbed to negotiate to get to out place. But small campers and van conversions will be fine.

  • Podría aceptar mascotas

    Podría aceptar mascotas

    We can accept a dog only if it is sociable with other dogs, and if you are in a living vehicle not in the house I think our dogs might be too much for a visiting dog Not cats our dogs are hunters by nature and can kill cats

  • ¿Cuántos voluntarios puedes hospedar?

    ¿Cuántos voluntarios puedes hospedar?

    Más de dos

  • ...

    Horas esperadas

    4 or 5 hours per day or 25 hours per week, 2 days off per week (usually weekends), must be flexible to fit in with other household needs

Número de referencia de anfitrión: 647855692517

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