Costa Rica
Bisher 254 mal gespeichert
Pura Vida! We are a couple, Roberto (from Costa Rica) and Sophie (from England), who currently live and work in the area of Pacuare, on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Our house is located about 20m from the beach, right next to the mouth of the Rio Pacuare - it is a really beautiful part of the world, very remote, with few people and some of the most amazing wildlife the country has to offer (one of the reasons we love it here so much!)
Roberto and his family have lived in this area for most of their lives, and we currently run a small enterprise on our property producing coconut fibre from coconut husks which we sell to vendors throughout the country. This means we have a couple of employees (friends!) who live on site and work on the coconut fibre production with us. We are also next door to one of the many turtle conservation projects in the area so we like to host the volunteers in the evenings when we put some music on and chill out after work.
As well as the coconut business, we are also working on starting up an Eco Hostel. This is a project very early in its conception, but we are moving forward with plans to improve our current land and buildings and then open our doors to travellers from around the world.
We also like to help other members of the community here with some of the upkeep of the local area - for example we work with the local school to help maintain their gardens/land, and spend time maintaining the main (and only!) road to ensure everyone can benefit by being able to easily access their properties. We also like to do beach cleaning days to help get rid of plastic and waste from the beach and help keep our local environment clean and in the best condition for the wildlife in the area.
We are looking to host anyone with any relevant skills who is willing to help us with our projects, help to maintain our property and contribute to our small community, all while being able to experience living life as a real Costa Rican 'tico'!
Sprachpraxis
Hilfe bei Ökoprojekten
Gartenarbeiten
Heimwerker- und Bauarbeiten
Zubereiten / Kochen von Mahlzeiten für die Familie
Hausarbeiten
Tourismus / Gastgewerbe
Handwerkliche Arbeiten
Although you will be able to get by here speaking English (as Sophie is from England) we do recommend that you are able to speak at least a little bit of Spanish, or are willing to learn! There would be the opportunity to learn either Spanish or English while you are here if you wish to.
For us the most rewarding part of living here is being surrounded by nature, and we would love to share that with you - everyday we get a visit from the monkeys, there is a resident sloth who hangs out in the garden from time to time, and we have frogs, lizards, birds, butterflies and so much more, so this placement would definitely suit someone interested in nature and animals. There are things like bugs and snakes that live here too which has proved a problem for some people in the past, so it is better to be aware of this in case you have any strong fears or phobias - but we would like to think we can help make sure your time here is amazing despite this!
We like to grow some of our own fruits and vegetables and currently have lemons, avocados and chillies in season which we often use in our cooking.
We like to enjoy our time off and often take boat trips to places like Tortuguero or Parismina, and sometimes go swimming in the river or at the beach. The guys here like to play volleyball and football, and we sometimes watch international games and movies on the projector. Although we are in a remote location, there is a small bar nearby and we do like to have a party every now and then.
If you would like to visit anywhere else in Costa Rica, before, during or after your stay here, we can help arrange transport if required and we are happy to share our advice for things to do and places to see!
We welcome all travellers who would be able to help with one or more of the following, depending on your skills:
- Gardening and property maintenance - we have two fairly large plots of land (one in front of the beach and one on the lagoon) which we need to look after by cutting the grass, clearing tree litter (mostly coconuts!), planting fruits and vegetables, building and maintaining fences and other small construction or manual labour jobs. If anybody has any special skills in construction, we would love to hear from you as we currently have a couple of small buildings we are looking to repair/improve.
- Daily household cooking and cleaning - we have a few mouths to feed each mealtime and it would be great if we had some help in the kitchen which would free up more of our time to work on our business projects. Rice and beans is a staple here (there's no escaping it!) but we also like to try new things, so anyone with experience of cooking for large families would be welcome.
- Social media and content management - we run our own social media pages for our business and any help with content creation, scheduling, advertising and researching would be much appreciated (you would need to be able to provide your own laptop/tablet for this).
- Coconut fibre production - if you would like to see how the coconut fibre production works we're always happy to have an extra pair of hands to help out with this too!
If you think you can also help us in any other way, please let us know as we are open to ideas of how to combine your skills with what help we require.
Gesprochene Sprachen
Englisch: Fließend
Spanisch: Fließend
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You would be provided with a single bed in one of our dormitory rooms with a set of shelves for storing your things. There is a shared bathroom with a toilet, sink and shower, and you will have full access to our communal kitchen and living areas.
There is no mains electricity here, so we run everything from solar panels - this means that our water is not heated and our electricity sockets are currently only available in the communal areas and usually only while there is sunshine (but we are looking to improve this!) Also, internet access is available but limited - there is a limit on the number of users at one time, but we all take turns when there are a lot of people needing access. Priority is given to those who need it for work or important/urgent communication purposes.
We cook communally for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and often have coffee and a snack in the afternoon (4pm is coffee time!) We would like to ask that you be responsible for your own food costs during your stay - you have the option to buy/bring your own food, however, due to our remote location, if you wanted to go out to buy your own food during your time here this would involve a two-hour round trip on the boat and car/taxi which you would also have to pay for. We find it is easier for us to do one big shop for everyone and each person pays ₡35,000 for their share per week - this will include the basics for 3 meals per day (fruit, vegetables etc. and meat for at least one meal per day). Any extras such as alcohol, treats etc. will be an additional cost but we are happy to pick these up for you when we do our shopping run. (Maximum 15 hours per week help)
As we live in a remote part of the country, our location is only accessible by boat - you would need to take a taxi or bus to the nearest town of Batán and from here we can arrange a taxi to the boat dock, and then a boat to our local drop off point. The taxi from Batán costs ₡10,000 each way, and the round trip on the boat is ₡25,000 per person.
We can help you with any of your travel requirements so just let us know what your plans are and we can make sure to get things arranged for you.
Although you can use US Dollars here in Costa Rica, we highly recommend bringing colones with you. Everyone accepts colones, and you are more likely to get a better price and not have to pay higher rates of exchange.
Useful things to bring with you:
- mosquito net for your bed (all other bedding is provided)
- bug spray (especially if you are prone to getting bitten!)
- suncream
- a raincoat... while it is warm and sunny here most of the time, we have a very tropical climate which means occasionally it can rain quite heavily at times
- a good pair of closed-toe shoes (trainers or walking shoes)
Internet Zugang
Eingeschränkter Internet Zugang
Wir besitzen Tiere
Wir sind Raucher
Familien möglich
Dieser Gastgeber ist bereit, Reisende mit Haustieren bei sich aufzunehmen.
mehr als zwei
Maximum 15 hours per week
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Korrekte Angaben im Profil:
(5.0)
Kultureller Austausch:
(5.0)
Kommunikation:
(5.0)
