Profile information
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Host rating
100 %
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Last replied
9 Jul 2026
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Reply rate
100.0 %
Usually responds within 6 days
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Feedback
7
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Email verified
Country info
Badges (3)
Min stay requested: at least a week
Details
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Description
Come help us in our beautiful little valley in central Portugal, where we're creating off-grid homes surrounded by nature, with a small river for swimming and cooling off on hot days.
We are a small group (Dutch, Venezuelan, Portuguese, and Belgian) who bought this land together five years ago. Since then, we've been step by step transforming this beautiful place into our home. With natural building, gardening, tree planting, and improving and cleaning the land in general.
This season we're finishing several off-grid houses built with earthbags, straw, clay and other materials. We'll be doing lots of clay rendering, laying tile floors, and many other small construction projects.There is always plenty of work in the big veggie and herb garden we are cultivating. Also part of our group is a 3 year old kid who loves having people around to play with, and occasional help with taking care of her is always appreciated!! We have chickens, dogs, and a cat, plant trees, preserve food, and are always working on new projects around the land.
We love having people from April to October who are interested in learning about natural building, gardening, and many other practical skills. Life here is simple, hands-on, and in the middle of nature! We love to work hard, but also to enjoy a lot the life around here Sharing meals together, going to the plenty of parties that are around in summer, enjoying the nature and swimming in the river.
We can provide tents, mattresses, and sleeping bags.
Don't hesitate to contact us for any questions!!! -
Types of help and learning opportunities
Language practice
Help with Eco Projects
Light gardening
Creative DIY projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Babysitting and creative play
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
Light maintenance
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Interests
Self development
Videography
Politics / Social justice
Sustainability
Pets
Van life
Farming
DIY & crafts
Music
Plant care
Camping
Books
Languages
Gardening
Cooking & food
Mountain
Animals
Carpentry
Yoga / Wellness
Nature
Water sports
Hiking
Adventure sports -
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
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Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We are a nice little group of 6 people from 2 to 62 years old. We all speak different languages. We love to work hard, but also to have a lot of fun. We will for sure share a lot of meals, work together and exchange about off grid living in general. We are all learning from each other everyday.
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Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
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Help
We're doing several bigger projects at the moment like:
Cleaning the land with hand tools
Building an earthbag house
Rendering walls with clay
Building wood structures for several purposes as wood shelters etc
Create a green house with recycled windows
Building a outside shower
Putting a floor with tiles and wood
There is also always a thousand things to do in the garden (cleaning, seeding, planting, weeding, harvesting, building structures...) and conserving food.
If somebody knows how to make an oven to fire ceramics would be very cool to try that out!
Also some help with babysitting and cooking can be a big help from time to time. -
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
French: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent
Portuguese: FluentThis host offers a language exchange
We love to mix and play with languages even if the main language we speak between all of us is english. -
Accommodation
Everybody with a campervan is welcome and there are several nice spots on the land for you to stay where you like it. We have tents, blankets, mattress to give you during your stay. You will be able to put your tent next to the river, a bit higher in the forest, or on top of a big rock. As you prefer.
We have a common kitchen where you will have 3 meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner). In order to prepare the meals, we are working with a rotation system, which means that a different person will be in charge of cooking everyday. Some days one of us will do that and sometimes one of the volunteers.
We have a beautiful river where you can swim after work to get clean, refreshed and enjoy!
Also there's plenty of space around for your own shower. -
What else ...
We live very remote from everything. So if you don't have a car, you can come with us when we go shopping once a week. We can pick you up in Sàtāo, Viseu when you arrive (or leave). We live in a beautiful valley with other communities around, a lot of big rocks, a beautiful river, some abandoned villages... It is ideal to have long walks and to swim. In summer there is many parties around and there's a nice pizzeria walking distance.
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A little more information
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Internet access
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Limited internet access
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We have pets
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We are smokers
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Can host families
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Space for parking camper vans
The road is totally practicable, even if you need to be really slow. Every kind/size of campervans can get here and we have different spot to park your home. You will be free to chose where you want to camp.
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Can possibly accept pets
Let’s talk about it.
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How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
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My animals / pets
Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
Feedback (5)
A real hidden gem in the Portuguese countryside!
Everyone there was nice and welcoming, and also a good feeling of community here.
I liked the work schedule too. A nice balance of work/life. Start in the morning then finish work, eat and the rest of the day you had to yourself.
This is a good place to learn about natural building … read more
We had big passionate chats and good laughs - what else could you want ?
Thank you so much for sharing your energy and your space! Sending you all lots of love, best of luck with the building! X
Photos
Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
Feedback
These are extra optional ratings when members leave feedback. The average rating left for each option is displayed.
Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
A real hidden gem in the Portuguese countryside!
Everyone there was nice and welcoming, and also a good feeling of community here.
I liked the work schedule too. A nice balance of work/life. Start in the morning then finish work, eat and the rest of the day you had to yourself.
This is a good place to learn about natural building … read more
We had big passionate chats and good laughs - what else could you want ?
Thank you so much for sharing your energy and your space! Sending you all lots of love, best of luck with the building! X
Milly is this incredible person that feels straight away comfortable while taking her time to observe and get to know the place and the people around. She is incredibly adaptable, hard worker, autonomous, and generous. She is not afraid of heavy work, she is up for everything, she is curious and very … read more
Of course there's the landscape; really beautiful with the perfect swimming spot right by the summer kitchen area, the tent was generous and comfy with Julia and Issa being incredibly accommodating and willing to do anything that would make you most comfortable and at ease. Our time was split helping where … read more
We loved our (unfortunately short) time with Elliot. He is autonomous, he takes initiative, he's a hard worker, and we had a lot of fun. We could show him a job in the morning and knew at the end of the day that it would be done, he's really a great help !! We enjoyed our meals and all of our discussions switching from French to … read more
