Join us in transforming our finca and land to reconnect with nature in Quindío, Colombia

Details

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  Description

  We are two friends, Pablo and Dominique.
  Together, we own a small piece of land in the heart of Colombia's Coffee Region, next to the Barbas Bremen Nature Reserve. The property is a 15-minute walk from the Barbas River and about 1.5 hours on foot from the beautiful village of Filandia. We took over the land in 2021, and since then, we've been gradually building an eco-hostel using mainly Guadua—an indigenous bamboo species known for its sustainability in construction.
  Located along a quiet road, it offers easy access to the natural reserve, which attracts people going on a hike, particularly on weekends. We aim to serve organic meals and provide environmental education to those guests, while also working to restore the surrounding forest through permaculture practices. This is why we are excited to welcome volunteers eager to get hands-on with our construction projects, whether it's painting, gardening, to help in the kitchen or other tasks.
  Beyond just a place to stay, the finca/ecohostel will also be a place for the local community, hosting environmental education events that raise awareness about sustainability, conservation, and eco-friendly practices.
  Besides friends, volunteers or hostel guests, we have to mention that two dogs will be around you nearly all the time. Noah can still be a bit clumsy, but he’s a people lover, and both dogs will surely make you smile. However, you should not be afraid of tall dogs...

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Farmstay help

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  Hospitality/Tourism

  General Maintenance
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  What's this?
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  You have the chance to learn and contribute to the before-mentioned fields. If you have further ideas to engage, you are welcome to propose them. We can do some tours in the area in the nature reserve to spot birds, and monkeys, visit waterfalls, natural river pools, viewpoints, beautiful coffee villages, etc. We also provide information on our projects, the local flora and fauna, hiking routes, and other places to visit. We have binoculars for animal watching and do campfires from time to time.

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  Help

  So far, we’ve had the best experiences with this approach: when you arrive, we’ll spend the first couple of days getting to know each other and assessing how and where you can best contribute to the construction, gardening, or other tasks. During this time, we’ll provide honest feedback from both sides—hosts and volunteers—to ensure everyone is learning and improving. Based on this, we can decide whether we’ll continue working and living together for a longer period.
  
  Sometimes the weather is not on our side or there are no guest in the hostel. Therefore, we cannot ensure that you we have task for 4-5 hours per day. That is why we also promote to volunteers to stay minimum 2-3 weeks. Of course, our preference is to make people to feel comfortable and to stay for 2-3 month. We have made very good experience with people that really got to know how the life at the finca works, to work on their own projects and to feel home.
  
  Usually, there is a variety of tasks to tackle each day, but we also make sure to carve out time in the afternoons to enjoy activities like taking the dogs to the river, reading, watching a movie, or simply relaxing. That said, we encourage everyone to stay mindful of opportunities to help those around you. Put your best effort into the work, not just in terms of hours, but in the quality and energy you bring. It’s about contribution and generosity, not just ticking off tasks. And if you bring something to share with us, we’ll gladly do the same!
  
  Our day usually begins around 6:30-7:00 am when the dogs eagerly lead the way to the river for their first bath. After that, the day kicks off feeling refreshed. Of course, if you’re not keen on going to the river, that’s totally fine. By 7:30, we typically start work. Living tasks like cleaning, and maintaining the house are shared responsibilities among both volunteers and hosts since we all enjoy having a clean space and delicious food. Depending on the day, we might be working on tasks like planting trees, construction projects, cutting and carrying wood, grocery shopping, preparing the house for external guests or to making our guests feeling comfortable, etc.
  That said, if you have a personal project or idea you’d like to pursue—whether it’s painting a wall or designing a new table—you’re welcome to dive in. Any help is appreciated, and we look forward to exchanging ideas, learning from each other, and, most importantly, having fun in the process!

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  German: Fluent
  Spanish: Fluent
  English: Intermediate

  This host offers a language exchange
  Pablo is still not very advanced in his English skills and open to help you with improving your Spanish and to learn some english vocabularies from you. Of course, both of us are always happy to learn new words in other languages than english, too!
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  Accommodation

  Depending on the numbers of volunteers and guests, we can offer you either a private room or a shared room (we have bank beds) together with other volunteers. We’ll do our best to make you as comfortable as possible. We’re planning to plant plátano, bananas, citrus fruits, herbs, yucca, vegetables, and more. Hopefully, soon we’ll be able to serve you a nutritious and organic lunch from our garden. In the meantime, we’ll provide the best meals we can, though most of the ingredients won’t come from our own land just yet.
  We truly enjoy sharing and would love it if you could share with us whatever skills or resources you can. While we mainly need help with construction, gardening, and general maintenance, we’re also open to help with painting, advertising, or any other ideas you might have. All kinds of contributions are welcome!
  We have three meals a day. Breakfast is usually prepared by the person who wakes up first, and lunch/dinner is a group effort. We provide basic food, but if you'd like anything extra (a lot of cheese or meat every day, alcohol, sweets, or snacks), those costs are up to you.

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  What else ...

  You can walk from the place of accommodation to the nature reserve, as it starts where the farm ends. We have visits of howler monkeys almost every day. There is an uncountable variety of bird species. The river Barbas is one border of the farm, where you can go for refreshing swims. Having at least a basic level of Spanish would be an advantage. Our common language spoken is Spanish as some people do not speak other languages (Communication with Pablo will be in Spanish only). Whenever Dominique is on the farm, German and English are possible too.

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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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  Can host digital nomads

  We have a reliable internet connection, and we've already held online meetings without any issues. As long as there’s no thunderstorm, you can definitely work from here at any time of day. However, please keep in mind that it would be favorable to priorities the community and exchange/support with and for others than sitting in front of the computer.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  We have space in front of the house to park a campervan. The road to get here is a bit rough, though.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  If your pet comes along with with our dogs, Noah and Aegon, you are welcome to bring your pet :)

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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