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Host is looking for help immediately
Host rating
100 %
Last replied
14 Apr 2024
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Details
Description
We are David & Eli, a Belgium couple and since 2014 we live and work on our 12 hectare beautiful land with view on the Serra da Estrellla mountains.
We have cats, dogs, chickens, ducks and goats and we have a big organic fruit and vegetable garden. We try to live a sustainable life and provide our essentials as much as possible from our own land, fruits, vegetables, eggs, milk, meat, wood, timber, water, ...
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Our land is privately located and a dirt track of 1km separates us from the outside world. You can experience being in full nature enjoying the peace and silence. We have no direct neigbours but we are located between 4 small typical portugees villages on walking distance, each with a tiny grocery store and a local bar where the locals meet for coffe and social company. They are always very pleased and exited to see strangers coming by!
We are located about a one hour drive to the top of the Serra da Estrella mountains and the way to it leads you through beautiful and exiting places.
You will experience daily life in rural, central Portugal, and learn what it takes to maintain and run a farm on a 12 hectare land.
Help
We are generally looking for volunteers to help us with the maintenance of the land, the animals, the garden, the household, and all round DIY projects...
The land is partly open, terraced and partly forest. The main part of our forest has burnt in a forest fire in 2017. The main part of the burnt forest has been cut, but there's still quite some wood to be processed. We are giving the native trees and vegetation a chance to regenerate. We often need some strong and energetic people with a good physical condition to help us out on the land, cutting wood, processing and stacking firewood, clearing heavy vegetation, making fires, cutting grass, pruning, etc.
If you have any experience in using a brush cutter, or other machines that could be very useful.
The animals, the garden, the kitchen and household also ask a lot of our daily effort. In this area we are looking for help in feeding the animals, milking the goats, making cheese, cleaning stables, planting, watering, weeding, and harvesting, cooking and washing up and some general household tasks. Experiences are not required but doing the tasks with a smile and a good attitude are a must!
Are you a DIY enthusiast, and you have some experience with woodwork/ carpentry / stone or masonry for example... we will certainly have some nice creative tasks for you! On a farm like ours there are always some small handyman's tasks waiting for the right hands... Small repairs, fencing, fixing, creating, etc.
The help needed is usually very divers and often depends on the season, different things to do in different times of the year... and of course we try to take in account the interests and qualities of each individual volunteer.
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If this sounds like where you would like to be part of then send us a message with a clear description of why and what area you are attracted to, your skills or experiences and what period you are available for.
If you are interested in animal care we do require a MINIMUM stay of one month! No need to apply for less ... It takes a while to get comfortable with all the routines, milking, making cheese, herding, to get to know their behaviours and personalities... So the effort to teach you all this is only worth it for us in exchange for a long term stay.
For other divers task we can consider shorter stays depending on the season and on the offers that we receive...
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent
Portuguese: Intermediate
Accommodation
We have caravans for our volunteers to sleep and a sheltered kitchen where our volunteers can cook and eat.
Sheets and blankets are provided and we have a comfortable hot shower and toilet.
Daily tasks like cooking, washing up and keeping the common area clean and tidy are shared responsibilities and we expect everyone to cooperate in these things.
We try to find a good balance between cooking and eating together but expect our volunteers to be able to take care for themselves from time to time (but then of course we provide the essential ingredients).
What else ...
We offer our volunteers food and accommodation in exchange for help on our farm. We are not very strict in counting the hours per day you help out but appreciate our volunteers to be flexible too. Some helping days will be longer and harder than others so now and then we will build in extra days of rest depending on everyone's needs and how hard the work has been!
In general we rest days will be during the weekends but sometimes depending on the weather we will decide differently. Also the routines of the animals need caring during the weekends as well, so we will sometimes ask some flexibility in that.
We are open minded and try to divide the tasks depending on our helpers experiences and capacities. So it's important to us to get a little information about who you are, why you would like to join us and what you expect of your experience on our farm!
In general we like one or two volunteers preferably staying over a longer period of time to help with all the daily routines with the animals and household. But in certain periods we will need more than one or two volunteers at the same time when we are planning on a bigger task.
We are looking forward to meet motivated people who are open for adventure!
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
The mobile reception is very good on the land so people who bring their own hotspot can work online... Our wi-fi only works around our house and doesn't reach our accommodations.
Space for parking camper vans
People traveling with their own home on wheels are always more than welcome! The access to our land is by a long sand track but even medium to large vehicles can easily get here. We have a camper spot with water and electrics and have hot shower and toilets.
Can possibly accept pets
Only well behaved pets can run free on the land. We have dogs, cats, goats and chickens and we don't accept other animals chasing them! Also realize that it's often not possible to have your dog at your side during certain tasks. Your dog might have to stay at your caravan during the working hours.
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Hours expected
Flexibility is appreciated! With a average of 5hours a day, 5 days a week.
Feedback (18)
Feedback
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Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(4.6)
Communication:
(5.0)
She has mainly been taking care of the goats,... Milking, feeding, herding them during grazing twice a day, making cheese, etc ...
She's great with animals and has some kind a natural way of taking care of them.
Above that she's been a great all… read more
It has been a very special and intimate experience for us. Tėja is a very sensitive girl with a warm hart, a beautiful soul!
With a lot of patience and dedication she has been taking care of the animals on the farm. She daily took the challenge to take our 20 goats out for grazing, which is not… read more
They are very talented and skilled in various ways, they form a great team together, they work hard and are very independent and responsible… read more
In the beginning, we worked with clay, filling the walls of the community area with a group of volunteers. Eli showed us how to take care of the goats, milking, feeding, and taking them out to graze. The main project we… read more
Vanessa has a lovely personality and is a fast learner and a hard worker. Whatever job she gets her hands on she will not give up until she gets the job done!
She has been helping out on our farm in so many things over the… read more
Julia is… read more
He has been cutting down excessive forest vegetation with the strimmer which he seemd to get the hang of very easily and he obviously enjoyed the work as he often couldn't stop!
He has made… read more
He has been digging out out compost loo, helping out to replace the… read more
There is always a lot to do on their large plot… read more
He has learned to milk the goats and has been taking great care of them. He has also worked hard on the land, strimming heavy vegetation and… read more
They are deep, honest, and hard workers ,with a great philosophy of life,but with the feet on the ground.
If you work with them sure you have first class conditions!
They are organizated,pacients(next time I will speak english better,Eli....) and good teachers.
The… read more
First I was alone, which was very comfortable for… read more
The work was varied ranging from taking cares of the goats to tending the vegetable gardens, with a great amount of strimming in between!
It can get hard, specially with the summer heat coming, but the breaks were enough to get a good rest.
I stayed in one of… read more
He got to handle some machines and got the hang of it really quick and good! He has been working with the brush-cutter which he managed to get under control quite easily and he did some carpentry work which didn't seem any problem either... he's a good all round handyman...… read more
They are a cheerful couple always willing to help with anything! Very flexible and fast learners.
Really good cooks! We loved there curries... and the kitchen stayed clean and tidy!
We have had Sarah and Ruben together with some other volunteers and it was amazing to see how good they came along and… read more
THANKS A LOT..!!
