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Help with gardening and bird care on our ecological farm in San Ignacion de Acosta, Costa Rica

Costa Rica
Last activity : 17 Mar 2026

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Host rating
100 %
Last replied
12 Mar 2026
Reply rate
95.5 %
Usually responds within 1 day
Feedback
15
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Country info

If you are not from Costa Rica and planning to visit to volunteer, work or study you will need the correct visa. To find out more information you need to contact the embassy in your home country before travelling.

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Availability

2026

Min stay requested: at least 2 weeks

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What's this?

Details

Description
Hello our farm is located in the town of Llano Bonito - Acosta - San Jose - Costa Rica. We have the honor and blessing of living in a natural paradise, surrounded by pure green, we are dedicated to organic and natural agriculture and poultry farming

Hola somos un matrimonio, mi esposa y yo vivimos en una finca ubicada en el pueblo de Llano Bonito - Acosta - San Jose - Costa Rica. Tenemos el honor y la bendicion de vivir en un paraiso natural, rodeado de puro verde, nos dedicamos a la agricultura y avicultura organica y natural.
Deseamos compartir conocimientos sobre la vida Natural y nuestra experiencia de convivir con la naturaleza.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Charity Work
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
Animal Care
Farmstay help
General Maintenance
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
...
...
What's this?
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
You will have the opportunity to know a unique paradise and fall in love with this beautiful place, where more than work is a lifestyle where the passion for nature comes alive; In addition to the Spanish language and the traditions of Costa Rica

Tendrán la oportunidad de conocer un paraíso único y enamorarse de este bello lugar, donde mas que trabajo es un estilo de vida donde la pasión por la naturaleza cobra vida; ademas del idioma español y las tradiciones de Costa Rica
Help
Volunteers can assist with the following tasks:
- Garden care
- Care of birds and domestic animals
- Planting and harvesting
- Ecological and community projects
- General farm maintenance

Volunteers are expected to be:
- Supportive
- Generous
- Charitable
- Helpful
- Respectful
- Responsible
- Disciplined
- Communicative
- Creative
- Honest
- Transparent

Volunteers can work Monday through Friday for 5 hours per day. In the afternoon, they are welcome to assist with other activities if needed.

On Fridays and Saturdays, volunteers are welcome to join us at the farmers market. On Sundays, assistance with bird care is requested. The farm is not a tourist destination or a place for recreational activities; it is a place to immerse oneself in Costa Rican rural culture and a simple, generous lifestyle. It is a moment to pause, to feel and live a charitable life; it is not for walks or vacations.

---

Los voluntarios podrán colaborar en tareas:
- Cuidado de la huerta
- Cuidado de las aves y animales domesticos
- Siembra y recolección
- Proyectos ecológico y comunitario
- Mantenimiento de la finca en general

Se espera que los voluntarios sean personas:
- Solidarias,
- Generosas,
- Caritativas,
- Serviciales
- Respetuosas
- Responsables
- Disciplinadas
- Comunicativas
- Creativas
- Honestas
- Transparentes

Los voluntarios podrán realizar tareas de lunes a viernes con una jornada de 5 horas por día, según sea necesario en la tarde deben colaborar con alguna actividad si lo desean.
Los viernes y sábado si lo desean nos acompañar a vender a la feria y los domingo solo se pide colaboración en cuidado de aves. La finca no es un lugar para turismo, ni para intereses recreativos, es un lugar de inmersión en la cultura rural de Costa Rica y en un estilo de vida sencillo y generoso con la vida. Es un momento de pausa para sentir y vivir una vida caritativa, no es para paseos o vacaciones.
Languages spoken
Spanish: Fluent
English: Beginner
Accommodation
There is a cabin built with two bedrooms, kitchen and living room where volunteers can stay

Hay una cabaña construida con dos dormitorios, cocina y sala donde se podrán alojar los voluntarios
What else ...
We have a code of conduct that helps us live together in a harmonious, joyful, and respectful environment for all living beings on the property. Drugs, alcohol, and tobacco are not permitted.

We welcome helpful, charitable people with big hearts and a desire to share, learn, teach, and enjoy simple, family, and community life.

This is not a tourist destination; it is a place to pause and immerse yourself in a natural, simple, tranquil, and peaceful lifestyle—a journey inward.

---

Se cuenta con un código de convivencia que nos ayuda a convivir en un ambiente armonioso, alegre y respetuoso con todos los seres vivos que habitan la finca. No se admiten drogas, ni alcohol ni tabaco.

Se esperan personas serviciales, caritativas, con mucho corazón y ganar de compartir, aprender, enseñar, disfrutar de la vida sencilla, familiar y comunitaria.

No es un lugar de turismo, es un lugar para hacer una pausa y una inmersión en un estilo de vida natural, simple, tranquilo, pacifico, de viajar hacia el interior de uno mismo.
A little more information
- Internet access
- Limited internet access
- We have pets
- We are smokers
- Can host families
How many Workawayers can stay?
One
My animals / pets

Host ref number: 224796375374

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Feedback (9)

6 Jan 2026

Left by Workawayer (Sarah & Aleeza) for host

We spent two weeks with Maria and Leo on their farm and had an intense, exciting time with highs and lows. The farm is beautifully located in the middle of the mountains, and the journey there alone is a small adventure. It is literally a the road to the farm continues on to a small village and ends there—no one comes here unless they truly belong… read more here. The surrounding area is basically only accessible by car or motorbike, or via very demanding hikes up and down the steep roads. As far as the eye can see: mountains.

We had our own cabina with a breathtaking view of the mountains and fruit trees stretching as far as you can see. Leo and Maria live in the main house, where meals are also cooked and shared together. When you are here, you truly become part of the family. Life is simple, sustainable, and in harmony with nature. Leo and Maria live with and from nature—together with many animals (chickens, dogs, cats, bees, birds, insects…). The day starts early, between 4:30 and 6 a.m., with roosters crowing and feeding the animals, and usually ends around 7 p.m., when everyone is tired and goes to bed.

There are no clear working hours here—because life on the farm fills the entire day, seven days a week. This was challenging for us, as we are not used to this lifestyle, and we had to consciously set boundaries from time to time to make sure we were doing well. The description of 5–6 hours of work per day did not quite match our experience; we had to actively ask for free time or days off, otherwise we would have continued to be fully involved at all times.
The concept of collaboration here means truly becoming part of the family and immersing yourself one hundred percent in this way of life. For that, we are very grateful. Cooking, eating, and working together and experiencing what it means to have organic farming as a life’s purpose—practiced in a traditional and authentic way.

Maria is the soul of the house. She radiates an incredible amount of positive energy, perceives the people around her very intuitively, and often tries to read from their faces what they might need. She is sensitive, kind-hearted, and met us with great patience when it came to our Spanish skills. She always invested a lot of energy to make us feel comfortable and included.
Leo knows every single plant on his land. His eyes light up when he starts talking. He knows all the animals and can tell stories about symbioses between leafcutter ants and fungi. He is deeply passionate about what he does, strongly connected to nature, and genuinely enjoys sharing his knowledge.

The first days were beautiful, exciting, but also exhausting. We met Leo’s family—the visits there were a wonderful change of pace and offered fascinating insights into the family history and the mentality of the locals.
We also experienced Christmas and New Year’s Eve, which, however, do not play a big role here, as farm life does not pause for holidays. Leo can hardly sit still anyway, and Maria is influenced by that energy as well.

During our stay, the renovation of the main house began, turning the entire place into a large, loud construction site. That was the point when we started to feel a bit lost and regretted being there at exactly that time instead of at another. The sense of connection gradually faded. Both Maria and Leo were ill and afterwards often very stressed. A clear division of roles emerged: the men worked on the construction site, while we worked more on our own and suddenly felt quite isolated and no longer truly part of everything. We continued to cook and help for everyone, which at times did not feel entirely on equal footing. Leo was often grumpy and impatient, likely due to the tension caused by the house renovation, and Maria was sent back and forth a lot. The initial magic slowly faded, which we found very unfortunate. In all the hustle and bustle, it was sometimes unclear which tasks we were supposed to take on.

At another time, we would probably have experienced much more of actual farm life: working together in the vegetable garden, harvesting fruit, doing whatever tasks the respective season brings. As a result, we were only able to get a limited glimpse into permaculture and cultivation practices.

Nevertheless, this time was an experience we would not want to miss. Leo and Maria are special people living in a special place. They are creating something truly valuable, something they can be absolutely proud of.

(Very good )

2 Mar 2022

Left by Workawayer (Sasha) for host

I spent 5 weeks with Leo and Maria and am very thankful of my time I spent with them. They care so much about their farm and their volunteers! This experience was amazing, real, authentic, educational, and full of love! I learned so much about sustainability, farming, animals, selling, and my Spanish improved a ton!
Leo and Marie are in their… read more

(Excellent )

20 Feb 2020

Left by Workawayer (Elodie) for host

Como describir mis 2 semanas? Intensa. Un lugar lindo, vibrante, por entre las montañas. Con una familia hermosa.
Cada día empezó a las 5.30am. Cuidar las cariñosas gallinas estaba una grande parte del día, así como trabajar en la huerta y cosechar las frutas.
Las demás tareas estaban más o menos numerosas según las necesidades y decisiones de… read more

(Excellent )

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Accuracy of profile:
(4.8)

Cultural exchange:
(5.0)

Communication:
(4.5)

6 Jan 2026

Left by Workawayer (Sarah & Aleeza) for host

(Very good)

2 Mar 2022

Left by Workawayer (Sasha) for host

(Excellent)

20 Feb 2020

Left by Workawayer (Elodie) for host

(Excellent)

29 Jul 2019

Left by host for Workawayer (Workaway member)

Los chicos se mostraron buenas personas, pero observamos que les falto interes para adaptarse e integrarse a la finca y a nuestra familia. Se mostraban aislados y retraidos.
Nosotros les explicamos a todos los voluntarios al llegar que buscamos personas activas e interesadas en aprender sobre la naturaleza, sobre nuestra cultura y costumbres.
A… read more

(Good)

15 Apr 2019

Left by host for Workawayer (Erin)

Fue una gran experiencia. Erin es una persona increible con un gran corazon, siempre se mostro colaboradora y servicial en todas las actividades de la finca. Compartimos muy buenos momentos, intercambiamos mucho de nuestras cultura y del idioma. Erin se gano el corazon de todos en la finca, aqui todos la extrañamos. Le deseamos muchos exitos en su… read more

(Excellent)

14 Apr 2019

Left by Workawayer (Erin) for host

My stay with Leo & Maria was nothing short of awesome! They are truly wonderful and beautiful people who have so much heart and passion for not only what they do, but sharing in it fully with you. This Workaway is for those who like to be fully immersed in the culture of a place and people. I was there for only a week, but we spent a few nights… read more

(Excellent)

10 Mar 2019

Left by Workawayer (Workaway member) for host

María and Leo are lovely people with good vibes and the farm is beautiful, with an amazing abundance of fruit (seriously, like an infinite number of mandarinas, oranges, bananas, malanga, etc). The cabin was very new and I had it all to myself, as I was the only volunteer. I really enjoyed my time on the farm and the jobs I had to do, which… read more

(Excellent)

27 Nov 2018

Left by host for Workawayer (Maja)

Fue una experiencia magnifica, muy positiva. Es una persona que lleva el perfil ideal para nuestra finca. desde el primer momento se entablo una excelente relación, a pesar del idioma nos logramos entender perfectamente. Se gano el corazón de todos en la finca. Es una persona increíble, con un gran corazón, con muchas virtudes. Le agradecemos… read more

(Excellent)

14 Sep 2018

Left by Workawayer (Maja) for host

It had a great time there!!
Maria and Leo are very good people with a beautiful mind, a little bit hippie(:
Their Finca is in the Middle of nowhere - very beautiful landscapes, sunsets and animals! And very peaceful! Besides the work on the Farm and spending time with Leos Family in the next Collage there is not much to do, so make sure to bring… read more

(Excellent)

27 Nov 2018

Left by host for Workawayer (Hinna)

Fueron pocos días, se le agradece la ayuda con las gallinas. Tristemente no logramos un intercambio prospero de conocimiento, ya que mostró una actitud muy pasiva hacia las actividades en la finca. Nosotros le brindamos todo, comida no faltaba, ella no intento cocinar, ni tampoco pregunto nada, casi no tuvo integración con nosotros. --text… read more

(Neutral)

12 Aug 2018

Left by Workawayer (Hinna) for host

It's really important to communicate with this couple. On the workaway page, it says volunteers should work 4/5 hours per day and get the weekends off. This is not true, I was told I would have to work every day (6 hrs). I found Leo and Maria to be quite difficult to work with and I wasn't given much independence and felt like I was having to… read more

(Good)

27 Nov 2018

Left by host for Workawayer (Sam & Mariona)

Tristemente no se logro una buena relación, ni comunicación con estos chicos, se pudo percibir que tenían otros intereses y no buscaban aprender sobre nuestra finca ni nuestra cultura.

Estuvieron muy poco tiempo, y por decisión propia se retiraron. No sentimos que quisieran adaptarse ni integrarse a nosotros, a veces mostraban cierta actitud de… read more

(Neutral)

26 Jul 2018

Left by Workawayer (Sam & Mariona) for host

When we first arrived Leo and Maria were friendly and welcoming. We had planned to stay 2 weeks although left after 6 days. During our stay we were given a tour over the Finca, chatted a lot, Collected the eggs, feed and looked after the chickens, harvested lemons for sale in the market, fixed the roof of the compost shelter and collected grass… read more for compost. We stayed in a nice, near new wooden cabin built next to the chicken coop, the chickens can be quite noisey but comes with a beautiful view of the incredible Costa Rican landscape. Very close to the house there is a bar run by a lovely couple who are funny and beautiful people, where you can meet some locals and where we had a very fun time.

We (with another girl) were the first work-awayers with Leo and Maria and they were a bit lost and disorganised. After a couple of days after our arrival we had to ask them exactly what they were expecting from us as it felt like they wanted us to follow them around from sunrise to sunset. Leo said “working 4-5 hours a day (as they said on the work away page) it was not worth it the food they were giving us.” It was quite confusing and dispiriting and it was something they should’ve told us before we had arrived there. In the end we agreed that we would work 5 hours a day with 2 days off and we wouldn’t go with them to sell their products in the markets in San Jose. Which also wasn’t said to us before we arranged our stay - that we were expected to go with them from Friday - Sunday (our days off.)

After “the talk” the vibe and atmosphere got tense and uncomfortable, they stopped eating with us and we didn’t feel welcome any more, they barely talked to us. We are not sure if it was because they didn’t like us anymore or because of the talk we had or because during our days off we went to the bar.

Originally they were giving us a ride on our last day to Acosta, after the weekend they told us the car was full and they wouldn’t take us. We asked if they could give as a ride to Cangrejal (the closet town which is a 5-10minute drive away) to which they couldn’t give us an answer because they were to busy (being in the same room). The day after when we met them during breakfast (5.30 am) Leo offered us to give us a ride that same day around 12pm to Acosta. We didn’t feel welcome anymore so to leave that same day felt like the best thing to do. We were rushed to quickly organise accomodation. We then had to dig and move some dirt and rocks for a couple of hours and when we were finished he rushed us to pack our things and leave with a sour taste in our mouths.

It was a real shame how it ended as we had such a good time in the beginning. Anyway we felt like we had to be honest in this review, we recommend communicating what is expected of you before you arrive.

(Neutral)

27 Nov 2018

Left by host for Workawayer (Angela)

Fue una experiencia muy positiva para nosotros. Angela se supo adaptar a las actividades en la finca, siempre se mostró muy colaboradora tanto con el cuidado de las aves, con la cocina y en la recoleccion de citricos, también nos enseño a confeccionar pulseras. Se puede decir que es una persona muy tranquila, amistosa, gentil, colaboradora e… read more

(Very good)

9 Aug 2018

Left by Workawayer (Angela) for host

It's extremely important to establish clear communication with the farmers before coming to work here. Workaway has restrictions on what you can post on your page, so Maria and Leo were unable to express their exact needs at the farm. If you plan to work here, make sure they are aware of your own expectations (i.e. How many hours you are willing… read more

(Good)

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Help with gardening and bird care on our ecological farm in San Ignacion de Acosta, Costa Rica

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Last replied

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Details

Description

Types of help and learning opportunities

UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

Help

Languages spoken

Accommodation

What else ...

A little more information

How many Workawayers can stay?

My animals / pets

Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host

Feedback (9)

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