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Host rating
100 %
Last replied
30 May 2025
Reply rate
88.1 %
Usually responds within 4 days
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Details
Description
We are Laurence and Elisa, 2 nature passionate. Laurence is from Canada and has co-founded a cacao social enterprise in Guatemala 5 years ago. Elisa is from Guatemala and is a bamboo architect. We are passionate in farming, natural construction, and social justice. We are two very pro-active people that always have a few projects going on around the country. Life has been incredibly generous by gifting us a beautiful piece of land on the Atlantic Ocean of Guatemala. The land is PARADISE. We have a 50m white sand beach, a beautiful house, a private cabin, a large piece of land to plant lots of trees,, and 3 kayaks. It is located quite off-gris but public boats from Puerto Barrios to Livingston can stop by. There's a nice creek nearby to kayak peacefully. Our dream: to transform this land into a food forest with cacao, of course, and bamboo. create a beautiful permaculture garden that can keep this place self-sustainable. Host volunteers, guests, and friends to always have a nice community around. Create a wellness culture where we support each other, we stay active, we eat well and we care for the land. We are also founders of the NGO Give Back to the Source, we usually always have a social project going on. We are also connected to a few cacao farms in the region. As we are new to the village, we want to take time to know well the community before exploring impactful partnerships. There are currently 2 workers with us on the project: Victor and Gloria. Victor is the guardian of the land and cares for it on a daily base. Gloria is an incredible cook, she makes the best local dishes and she helps with the cleaning of the house. They have been connected to this land for over 30 years and hopefully a lot more to come. We also have 5 dogs living on the property which are all very dear to us so we highly recommend only dog lovers to apply for volunteering here. The izabal region in Guatemala is very special. It has a mix of cultures, delicious food, incredible nature and a lot of hidden gems.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Charity Work
Art Projects
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Hospitality/Tourism
General Maintenance
Interests
Politics / Social justice
Vegetarian or vegan
Self development
Sustainability
Pets
Farming
Charity work
Art & design
Gardening
Drawing & painting
Carpentry
Architecture
Animals
Sailing / Boating
Outdoor activities
Yoga / Wellness
Nature
Camping
Beach
Adventure sports
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We would love to create daily activities that each volunteer/team member can share so we can learn from each other. It can vary from kayaking, yoga, cacao making, artisanal crafts, games, language class,es and much more!
On a personal level, we are experts in cacao (Laurence) and bamboo (Elisa). We are co-founders of a local NGO working with women, bamboo crafts, and cacao farming communities, and we are always happy to share more about this work. We can share our knowledge about cacao and bamboo. There are a few partner locally owned cacao farms in the region that when we visit, we can invite a volunteer to join the adventure.
Through the work skill exchange, we will design and create a permaculture garden/food forest. The experience itself will be a learning experience and a hands-on apprenticeship.
We will be eating a lot of local ingredients and dishes. You can learn from our local team. Gloria is an incredible cook and her husband Victor is a fisherman.
Help
*IMPORTANT* Only apply if you can commit to a minimum of one month, are 25+ years old, pet-friendly, flexible in contributions, and feel good about community off-grid living.
We are at the start of this beautiful project which means we are very flexible with help. It can include: -
Carpenter - Farming/ tree planting/ permaculture design - Art & home decor - - Natural builder - Kitchen/hosptitality help
We expect to work about 5 hours a day/ 5 days a week depending on your project. Each person should come with a project and objective and we like to let space for initiatives. For each role & project, we are looking for some minimum experience and for people 25+ years old. Some tasks would be done together as a group, others would be solo initiatives. We encourage skill sharing between volunteers as well. On our side, we are always happy to share about cacao, bamboo, agroforestry, and much more!
Example of a week of work:
Monday to Friday:
8 am - Breakfast (eggs, tortillas, oats, banana, frijol, cafe)
9 am - Activity time - Everyday, by taking turns, a volunteer offers an activity with the group
10 am - Start work day - depending of where the project is at, it can vary from gardening, painting/decorating, tree planting, pond making, bamboo crafts and more!
1 pm: Lunch - usually 1 or 2 volunteer cooks together and the others help with dishes. (Food can look like: rice, vegetables, eggs)
2 pm: Work - Can vary, we also welcome personal projects where you input your unique skills
4 pm: Relax! - You can go kayaking, paddling, swimming, relaxing in the hammock
7 pm: Dinner - Usually organically we all cook together or 1 or 2 people take the lead and the others do the dishes! (food can look like: pasta, red tomato sauce with vegetables and cheese)
8 pm: Relax, fire, board games, quiet time, good conversations.
Saturday/Sunday: day-off - explore Livingston, Rio Dulce, enjoy quiet time, its all yours! Food is available in the kitchen for personal or group cooking!
The days off could vary depending of the needs of the project but we always secure 2 days off a week!
Important note** cooking between yourself (no guests visiting), processing food, cleaning and mantainance of the common areas are things we don't consider in the working hours. The 9 am morning activity isn' t part of volunteering hours and we expect everyone to participate as it enriches each one of us experiences.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
French: Fluent
Accommodation
We offer a bed in a 4-bed dorm or camping option. The 4-bed dorm in a spacious cabin that we just renovated, in a clean and secure space. If you prefer your private space, you can bring some camping equipment and pitch your tent on our land, We will provide a variety of ingredients and access to the kitchen. The kitchen will have rice, pasta, vegetables, fruits (Bananas, 1 watermelon and 1 papaya a week), eggs, beans, coffee (1 cup a day). Between volunteers, you can manage to cook together.
Not included: olive oil, coconut oil, extra fruits, snacks, deserts, peanut butter, all-day long coffee, cheese, yogurt, milk, honey, meat and seafood. You are welcome to buy any of these ingredients in the local store or in Puerto Barrios, the larger town a boat ride away. You can cook seafood in our kitchen, but no meat is allowed.
*If you like snacking and desserts, please prepare a small budget for yourself.
What else ...
We prefer mature people as we seek to have a community (we are 29 and 37 years old). There are mosquitos and bugs, we are located in nature, please come aware and prepared. There are no parties but we do like music by a fire, chill music during the day, board games, and a few beers at times. We are vegetarian but eat fish and shrimp sometimes. We welcome non-vegetarians but very few meat would be available during the stay (you can eat out anytime if you crave meat).
It is quite off-grid, so be ready for a more laid-back lifestyle. You can reach us by boat from Livingston or Puerto Barrios or by car (45 minutes from Puerto Barrios city). There are no atm's and boat rides out of the place are around 4-7$ one-way.
Before confirming your stay, we like to have a videocall to go through all details and ensure the expectations of everyone is well set. We will only answer requests that add in their subject: Dates & role for their stay. We hope to share memorable moments with you and create magic together! :D
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We recommend buying a tigo SIM Card in case the electricity goes out. The signal of TIGO comes in very well and can handle videocall.
Space for parking camper vans
You can drive directly to our place. We aren't used to hosting campers but we are very open to it. We can find you a nice place to park. We live off a 1 hour ride dirt road so only high cars are recommended to come, 4x4 is a plus!
Can possibly accept pets
We have 2 dogs of our own and share the place with a family that has 3 more dogs. They are generally very friendly to other dogs. We love animals as long as they are nice to our pets and guests, they are welcome!
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Feedback (3)
Thank you Nicola, you are welcome back anytime!
The place is really a paradise, beautiful beach, the hosts laurance and elli are wonderful people and also the locals are super nice. I recommend this workaway to anyone who enjoys being in nature, wants to learn something new, wants to be in a family environment and likes it a bit quieter.
Thank you so much for letting… read more
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Thank you Nicola, you are welcome back anytime!
The place is really a paradise, beautiful beach, the hosts laurance and elli are wonderful people and also the locals are super nice. I recommend this workaway to anyone who enjoys being in nature, wants to learn something new, wants to be in a family environment and likes it a bit quieter.
Thank you so much for letting… read more
