Description
Its a family farm located in the beautifull bioregion of El choco, one of Ecuador biodiversity hotspots, our farm is close to Mashpi reserve, we are surrounded by cloudforests and our main focus in the farm is ecological restoration with permaculture, we are reforesting our old grasslands with food forest of rare fruits ,nuts and cacao, the project is young still, we have been living here for only two years,. We also have 2 hectares of organic hearts of palm (palmito) , and we process them (canned) on site.
. In the farm we are often building things like our new house, workshop and also innovating in aspects like appropiate technolgy, we still run a consultancy bussines with waste water systems with constructed wetlands and rocket stoves, so we also like to build new rocket stuff in the farm like cookstoves, ovens, and dehydrators, so if you are lucky might be involved in one of this exciting projects!
Once a year we run a PDC (Permaculture design Certificate ) and depending on the tine of the year we will be preparing stuff for the course, we do also other courses on the farm related to water management, rocket cookstoves, ovens and other aspects of apropiate technology, regenerative agroforestry and permaculture.
We are a family of four (two little kids of 5 years one and 8 months the other, ) and usually we are taking care of the kids while we do farm chores.
The farm is connected through a trail with 3 other farms, this trail is called SER ( sendero ecologico de la restauracion) so if you stay longer we can also arrange workdays with other farms that also have very interesting offers: one is a chocolate factory( Mashpishungo farm, Chocomashpi the brand) one of Ecuador best chocolates, they have a beautifull cocoa agroforestry plantation, the other farm is Pambiliño where they have a project called "forest school" or Bosque Escuela and every week they offer activities in the forest for the kids of the nearby public school, so they can develop a bond with our endangered ecosystem. The other farm in the trail is Chontaloma where they have a ecological reserve and also are working in ecological restoration, they also have a mini hostel...
Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Babysitting and creative play
General Maintenance
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Farmstay help
Help with Eco Projects
Animal Care
Art Projects
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
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What's this?
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
You could learn mostly about tropical permaculture, bioconstruction, appropiate technology, water management, and agroforestry, if you are interested in deepening your knowledge about this subjects we also offer learning programs.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
We need help mostly in farm chores like removing weeds, planting trees, pruning, building with bamboo and mud, transplanting, working in the tree nursery..filling tree bags..sometimes cooking for the people working in the farm.......
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
Accommodation
We have a confortable bambu cabin for two to four people. Meals shared
What else ...
In the town there is a beatifull river to swim, hiking around the forest,,
A little more information
- Internet access
- Limited internet access
- We have pets
- We are smokers
- Can host families
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
Maximum 5hours a day, 5 days a week

Host ref number: 252179464693

Feedback (4)

1 Jun 2021

Left by Workawayer (Adam & Iva) for host

Our overall stay at Miguel's was unpleasant. We arrived at Miguel's after dark. The transportation proved unreliable and stranded us at a bus stop. An expensive taxi took us to a bridge Miguel described. We hiked up a large hill in the rain, in the dark for a mile with our packs. After arriving we had to search for the owners, they seemed not to… read more have any concern about us arriving. We had planned to stay longer than a month. But ended up only being there for a couple days after hours of dangerous work... digging a ditch and moving earth for 6 hours a day in mud past our ankles. We were asked to carry numerous large planks of wood down a steep and palmito (large spiked trees) filled hill. We felt like we were only laboring, and asking to be injured. A long term intern who had been there a while had recently gotten injured and was now doing work in the home. The hosts didn't make much effort to communicate with us throughout the day, however we can only speak minimal Spanish, so this could have been something we lacked. There wasn't a learning exchange. We were told that we had to get past a few days of the hard work to get to the learning. However this was not normal intern work, it was extremely challenging, blood, sweat and tears. There was no food when we arrived and we were told they had forgotten to tell us they ask Workawayers to bring their own food. There's not a local store. We kept being told a produce truck comes to town but people were unsure when. Additionally no one knew of transportation out of town. When we told Miguel we would be shortening our stay because it was not the exchange we were looking for, he understood and offered us a ride to the city since he would be going there the next day. However, afterwards Paulina came to us while we were eating dinner in a very confrontational, unbalanced way that made us feel like we were being accused. We didn't see a focus on sustainable, free-range, regenerative agriculture. Instead, a focus on housing their livestock and creating comfort for themselves in the jungle. Leading to a lack of food production on their "abundant tropical food forest". The hosts had good intentions but were not in a place to accept Workawayers. Possibly a focus on family matters caused a neglect of care for those coming to work and pressures to house their pigs were the reason for stressed, long and hard hours. We hold no resentment and hope the best for their projects in the future. I would recommend making sure you communicate about food and the work you'll be doing BEFORE making the trek out into the jungle.

(Neutral )

4 Feb 2020

Left by Workawayer (Charles) for host

Lo siento Miguel, me acabo de dar cuenta de que nunca escribí mi comentario.

Pasé un mes en Mashpi en la finca de Miguel y Paulina. Fue una experiencia maravillosa, conocí gente hermosa allí y aprendí mucho en diferentes campos como la construcción, la jardinería y muchos otros.

Recomendaría a cualquiera que venga a vivir una experiencia en este… read more

(Excellent )

8 Jul 2019

Left by Workawayer (Jonathan) for host

Miguel, Paulina y los niños eran muy muy amable! Me quedé 3 semanas y disfrutaba la experiencia mucho. A la gente que le gustan visitarles, le recomiendo traiga mucho comida seca por que no hay una navera! Tambien, preparele hacer trabajo duro! No olvida las camisas con mangas largas!!!

(Excellent )

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Accuracy of profile:
(3.7)

Cultural exchange:
(4.3)

Communication:
(4.0)

1 Jun 2021

Left by Workawayer (Adam & Iva) for host

(Neutral )

4 Feb 2020

Left by Workawayer (Charles) for host

(Excellent )

8 Jul 2019

Left by Workawayer (Jonathan) for host

(Excellent )

21 Apr 2019

Left by host for Workawayer (Cecilia)

Cecilia nos ayudo mucho en la finca, es una persona muy colaboradora y contribuye mucho en lo que puede, las niñas son muy lindas y son una presencia muy alegre y juguetona ! Disfrutamos mucho de su estadía y aprendimos juntos!

(Excellent )

23 Mar 2019

Left by Workawayer (Cecilia) for host

Me quedé en la casa de Miguel y Paulina 2 semanas. Ellos viven en un lugar maravilloso; la finca esta super linda, hay partes todavia en costrucción pero hay ya todo lo que se necesita. La familia es muy abierta y amable, con Miguel puedes aprender varias cosas trabajando, con la Pauli tambien. Ellos fueron viajeros asì que le gusta mucho… read more

(Excellent )

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Help us to build a Permaculture Ecocenter and plant an abundant tropical food forest in Mashpi, Ecuador

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What else ...

A little more information

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Hours expected

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