Off-the-grid ranch deep inside the jungle in the Yucatán, Mexico

Informationen

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  Beschreibung

  We started the project as a group of friends living inside the jungle of Yucatán since 2015. We worked a piece of land 6km away from the town of Sotuta. We built and developed the Center of Agroecology, Arts and Oddities, Zutut Ha (a.k.a. el CAAOZ ;) ) a platform from which we were looking to exchange knowledge, practices and experiences, ranging mostly, but not only, around Agroecology, Regenreative and Syntropic agriculture, Tropical horticulture, food forests, Off-the-grid lifestyle, sustainable energy, beekeeping, cooking, waste-management, natural building, tree-net weaving, arts, workshops, dance and movement, music, slackline, and all kinds of oddities!
  
  Pandemic times shook the world and us without excemption. We closed doors along with the rest of the world and are now, slowly, reopening them. Allowing us to continue exchanging collaborative experiences with the many like-minded people who still wish to get involved in projects like ours!
  
  The uncertainty of this current times have reduced the number of people in our community to a minimum, making it harder for the ones that stayed to sustain its weight and many branches. Hence, we are on the quest of integrating people that have the will and time to get involved and commit to the project. (Right now there is just 1 person living inside the forest and 3 more who support the project from Sotuta town).
  
  From our growing years of experience in hosting volunteers, we have learnt that this is accomplished most fruitfully for both parties when the stay is long. ** This is why we are looking for people that can stay for a month onwards. 2-3 months ideally, and if things flow nicely, the possibilty of integrating to the team is open! **
  
  We are registered as a Civil Asociation / Non-profit organization and, parallel to the agricultural work we carry in our property, we are organizing a year long schedule of cultural activities available for free to the people of Sotuta. We receive cultural funding for that particular project but we are constantly pursuing funds from NGOs, national and international organizations, volunteers, visitors, common people, government, etc. to keep this platform running healthy.
  
  Due to this, and of course, all the mess caused by the pandemic, we have a limited posibility to cover all the expenses generated by running a project of this magnitude and keeping it nice and ready for volunteers to experience. For this reason we ask for a daily fee. This fee will vary depending on the lenght of your stay and the depth of your involvement. This helps us cover for all the food and a variety of vegetables, fruits, cereals and seeds needed to cook and keep everyone healthy. Also for the transportation in and out of the land, the working and usable infrastructure such as: solar system, internet, running water, showers and toilets, etc. and many more things to make life in the jungle comfortable and safe. If you read our feedback you will find lots of reviews of beautyful people that have stayed here, some for long, gladly paying for their stay, knowing that every penny counts in helping us keep building this collective dream of ours. Thank you so very much everyone!
  
  At our place we try our best at recycling, reusing and not generating solid wastes. For this reason we ask you not to bring plastic bags, filtered cigarettes, disposable batteries, packed products, tampons & pads, and any other object that can easily becomes garbage. If you do, we will gladly show you the way to properly dispose of this.

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  Arten von Hilfe und Lernmöglichkeiten

  Kunstprojekte

  Sprachpraxis

  Hilfe bei Ökoprojekten

  Unterrichten

  Gartenarbeiten

  Heimwerker- und Bauarbeiten

  Betreuung von Tieren

  Mithilfe auf einem Bauernhof

  Zubereiten / Kochen von Mahlzeiten für die Familie

  Hausarbeiten

  Tourismus / Gastgewerbe

  Handwerkliche Arbeiten

  Hilfe mit Computer /Internet
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  UNO-Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung, die dieser Gastgeber verfolgt

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  Was ist das?
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  Kultureller Austausch und Lernmöglichkeiten

  You will be able to live the experience of what it means to live in an off-the-grid community surrounded by jungly nature. Learning and sharing new skills is very common. Deeper involvement and understanding about a specific topic is encouraged and is usually free for you to choose from your area of interest. We have a wide palette of skills and activities that you can choose from, all subject to availability and of the disposition of time of the given person.
  
  We all have different and varied interests and wish to atract people with common interest in: nature, music, politics, mayan and ethnical cultures, recycled art, cooking, yoga, arts&crafts, carpentry, design, meditation, climbing, slackline, birdwathcing and fotography. A goal being to share what we know and learn from you!
  
  Mayan culture is thriving and all around us. You can learn from their customs and way of life, and even learn some mayan if you put in the hours. There are a lot of native speakers close to learn from!
  
  There are teenagers in town eager in learning other languages like english or french, so if you wanna share and give some classes to them, they will be very gratefull. Let us know in advance if this interest you to organize it.

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  Arbeit

  LONG TERM POSITIONS AVAILABLE!
  
  We are looking for people with a specific set of skills that can help us with a different array of jobs such as:
  
  * Carpenters / Woodwork / Furniture making
  * Electricians ( experience with solar systems is great)
  * Builders
  * Arborists / Tree workers
  * Gardneners / Horticulturist
  * Tropical Landscaping
  * Tropical horticulture and food forest development
  * Volunteer / Group coordination / Hospitality
  * Web Design
  * Administration
  * Social Networking
  * Graphic Design
  * Group Therapy / Conflict Resolution
  * Decoration (in and outdoors)
  
  
  We are in need of responsible, selfsufficient people , capable of comitting to a proyect, that are able to come and develop one (or more) of this tasks. Long term disposition is needed. (2-3 months would be ideal)
  
  Currently we have different working areas thay you can specifically focus in like:
  
  - Syntropic/Agroforestry gardens
  - Botanic and natural products
  - Seed planting / seedling house work
  - Composting and fertilizers
  - Building / Remodeling and Bioconstruction work (Carpenters and Electricians needed)
  - Beekeeping (Melipona beecheii = native stingless bees)
  - Waste managemente: zero waste philosophy
  - Group organization
  - Workshops with kids, teenagers and women of the town (this at the town of Sotuta)
  
  
  Daily activities include:
  
  - Cooking for the tribe
  - Cleaning and mantaining common areas
  - Weeding paths and gardens
  - Feeding and tending the ducks
  - Watering gardens and food forests (during the dry season)
  
  
  
  If you think you want to pursue a longer stay with us, feel free to send us your CV for we will be selective before we agree on this. After a short trial-time and if colaboration and mutual understanding flows nice, a full exchange of work for stay and food (no daily fee) is possible.
  
  
  We organize and host events from time to time. You can specifically help us for that if you happen to come during those dates.

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  Gesprochene Sprachen

  Spanisch: Fließend
  Englisch: Gute Kenntnisse

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  Unterkunft

  We can offer two forms of accomodation:
  
  Camping in a tent and/or sleeping in a hammock!
  
  For camping we have built a number of flat platforms where you can place your tent. Please bring your own, since the ones we have for shared use are definitely used and are not in perfect conditions. (same applies for sleeping mat, blankets and tarps) In winter some night might be a little cold. The rest of the year is hot so no need for sleeping bags. Consider bringing a tarp if your tent doesn't have a good rain cover. We experience enough rain fall to keep us wet from May through Nov-Dec. So any weatherproof gear you can bring will definitely make your time here more comfortable.
  
  If you wish so, you can also sleep in a hammock! This can be done over a platform if tarp is available/ on dry months or inside the communal house that is equipped with hammok hooks.. This latter option is discouraged and kept for emergency/short stays only, since we rather keep personal belongings out of communal spaces and also because annoyances tend to ocurr when people sleep in communal areas over a long period of time. Again, its best if you bring your own, but we do have some available for lending. Mosquito nest is a must! Bugs are annoying and persistent.
  
  ** There is presence of the chinche besucona. Also known as piik in maya, vinchuca, barbeiro, chipo in south america, or the kissing bug or barber bug in english (Triatoma infestans) Specially abundant during the dry season ( Nov- May) It is know to be a vector of a protozooa that can cause Chagas disease. This is why we emphasize on bringing mosquito nets and tents that are in good shape.
  
  We use composting toilets. (Avoid throwing disposable plastics inside: tampons/pads, condoms, etc)
  
  Open air showers. Please bring enrionment-friendly higenic products. We have some for sale if you don't have.
  
  Our energy is 100% solar power!! The sun gives us plenty of energy to cover our needs, so its ok to bring phones, cameras, laptop, and other electronic devices. Keep in mind that rainy and cloudy days do happen and we might have to reduce our consumption.
  
  We have a big and equipped kitchen, where most of the magic begins! We invite food lovers to share their skills and cook lovingly for the tribe. We also appreciate help in cleaning and mantaining the space, since it used constantly and can become a mess very quick when not mindful. We mostly cook vegetarian dishes and vegan people are often happy and well fed around here, but, we also eat meat of local farmers and of our dear ducks when we can. If you have a look at our feedbacks you will notice that the people are really happy and satisfied with food prepared here! :)
  
  We have a small "tiendita" (lil store) where we have for sale different products, some our own like the honey from our bees, melipona bee eye drops, and other products from different regional producers. You can find ecological products like non-disposable toothbrushes, razors, eating utensils, straws; home-made soap and solid shampoo; and also tobacco, coffee, rapé, botanical medicines, etc. All this supports us economically and help us prolong the life of our proyect.
  
  Due to extreme weather conditions and thorny jungle fauna, we ask ppl to bring working clothes and boots as well as comfy, hot-weather clothes for resting time; a water bottle; headlamp; swimming suit and pair of sandals. If you wish you can also bring musical instruments, juggling and other toys to have fun with!

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  Was noch ...

  Close to us is Sotuta, a mayan village with many things to appreciate. There is a beautiful underground cenote (natural swimming pool), a big spanish castle, now being activated as a cultural house, ran by one of our members in which we make organize different workshops every week. A year calendar is available if you are interested in participating in that area.
  
  Our community is near some mayan archeological sites and colorful mayan villages you can visit!! Chichen Itzá, Uxmal and Ek balam: Valladolid, Yaaxcaba, and Izamal , to name a few. We are located 20 km away from a main highway. Public transportation has a limited schedule and reach, so be mindful and plan ahead. We can facillitate any advise and travelling information about this area!
  
  There are many cenotes (natural swimming pools) where we frequently go to swim and practice slackline/climbing (bring climbing shoes!! ) :) Cenotes are the entrance to the main aquifer in the Yucatan Peninsula, so please avoid swiming with chemical sunscreen, mosquito repellent sprays, creams, perfumes, etc. and bringing any form of thrash, disposables, and any sinking electronics. Leave no trace behind!
  
  You can also go to the beach. A few public buses will take you in 3-4 hours. There are some natural reserves where you can go watch flamigos and beautiful flora and fauna, 5-6 hours away. If you like to visit Mérida, the biggest city of the state, is 1 and half hour away.

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  Etwas mehr Information

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    Internet Zugang

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    Eingeschränkter Internet Zugang

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    Wir besitzen Tiere

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    Wir sind Raucher

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    Familien möglich

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  Kann Digital Nomads unterbringen

  We now have satellite internet with good reliability. We also have working space/conditions for digital nomads. Our energy relies 100% on the sun. Most of the year we have enough power for all our energetic needs and a bit more. On rainy season though, me sometimes need to measure our consumption, specially around persistent rain and cloudy days.

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  Platz zum Abstellen von Camper Vans

  Dieser Gastgeber bietet Platz für Wohnmobile.

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  Hier sind Haustiere in der Regel willkommen

  Please let us know in advise. We have dogs and cats, so in case we agree on accepting your pet, we need pets to be friendly, respectful and owners responsible.

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  Kapazität - wie viele Workawayer maximal

  mehr als zwei

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  Arbeitszeiten

  5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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  Dieser Host verlangt Gebühren

  mehr dazu

  Warum lässt workaway.info Einträge von Gastgebern zu, die einen finanziellen Beitrag verlangen?

  In Entwicklungsländern (wo die meisten Gastgeber gemeinnützige Arbeit oder Gemeinschaftsentwicklungsarbeit anbieten) verlangen einige unser Gastgeber einen kleinen Beitrag, um die Gastfamilie oder NGO zu unterstützen (meist handelt es sich um weniger als 5 USD pro Tag). Workaway lässt diese Art von Einträgen dann zu, wenn die Spende direkt an die Familie oder die NGO geht und nur dazu dient, die Kosten des Aufenthalts des Volunteers abzudecken. (Dies wird im Eintrag des Gastgebers deutlich angegeben).
  Wir lassen keinerlei Inserate von Agenturen, „Vermittlern“ oder Projekten zu, bei denen wir das Gefühl haben, dass sie Profit aus dem Aufenthalt von Volunteeren schlagen wollen.

  
   

   

   

  MXN100 a day for food (3 meals)

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