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Join us on a small family farmstead in Vila Cova de Alva, Central Portugal

Availability

  2025 

 Min stay requested: at least 2 weeks

Jan
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Details

  • Description

    Description

    Hi! We're a British/German family living in Central Portugal with our two teens, the boyfriend of our daughter, 2 dogs and 4 cats. We live in a beautiful location in Central Portugal, about an hour east from Coimbra and the coast and a little over an hour to the Serra da Estrela, where the tallest peak in mainland Portugal is.

    I, Fran, work online and Christian is the one who maintains the farm mostly. You will be working alongside Christian, except when the whole family works together sometimes at the weekend. Our quinta (farm) is a bit over 1 hectare with many fruit trees, olive trees and vegetable gardens. These we use purely for personal use. Unfortunately in August this year our farm burned in a huge fire, killing many of our trees and setting us back a lot, hence needing some help more than ever.

  • Types of help and learning opportunities

    Types of help and learning opportunities

    Help with Eco Projects
    Gardening
    DIY and building projects
    Creating/ Cooking family meals
    Help around the house
    General Maintenance
  • Interests

    Interests

    Van life
    Sustainability
    Self development
    Pets
    Farming
    Events & social
    Languages
    Gardening
    Cooking & food
    Books
    Animals
    Winter sports
    Yoga / Wellness
    Outdoor activities
    Nature
    Mountain
    Hiking
    Fitness
    Camping
    Beach
    Adventure sports
  • UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

    UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

    UN goals
    No poverty
    Zero hunger
    Good health and well-being
    Quality education
    Gender equality
    Clean water and sanitation
    Affordable and clean energy
    Decent work and economic growth
    Industries, innovation and infrastructure
    Reduce inequality
    Sustainable cities and communities
    Responsible consumption and production
    Climate action
    Life below water
    Life on land
    Peace, justice and strong institutions
    Partnerships for the goals
  • Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    I am an online English teacher and am passionate about learning other languages. I speak Portuguese to a reasonable level and learned French and German at school. I am also passionate about Yoga, health and well being and even have my own yoga studio at home, where I teach on a Wednesday morning and Sunday morning. You'd be welcome to join the classes for free.

    Christian is an animal and garden lover and enjoys fitness, cooking and travelling.

    This area of Portugal is a bustling international community offering many interesting markets, events, workshops and classes.

    You'd be welcome to join us on outings whether it be a music event, weekly market or a trip to the beach or the higher mountains. We even get snow sometimes for skiing/snowboarding!

  • Projects involving children

    Projects involving children

    This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

  • Help

    Help

    The kind of work we're looking for help with this Autumn/Winter are planting trees to replace the ones burned, pruning olive trees, building a fence around the land, building a chicken house, compost bins and wood storage shed. If you have some experience in woodwork this will be a great advantage. Don't worry we will never ask you to do dangerous tasks but if you're comfortable to use some power tools, we do have some small hand held battery powered tools to help with pruning.

    Often we will be working together, so if you enjoy working in a team it's a bonus!

    If you enjoy working outdoors and love animals you'll also be happy here.

  • Languages

    Languages spoken
    German: Fluent
    English: Fluent
    Portuguese: Intermediate

    This host offers a language exchange
    As I'm a language enthusiast, I'm very happy to help teach English and would love to learn a new language!

  • Accommodation

    Accommodation

    We offer you a very comfortable, recently converted, self-contained stable as your accommodation. It has 1 bedroom with a double and single bed, a bathroom with a hot shower, and an open plan living room/kitchen with wood burning stove.

    We will provide you with all the necessary food for simple breakfasts and dinners which you will prepare yourself.

    There will be seasonal vegetables you can freely pick to supplement your meals. Lunches we will prepare and eat together, or sometimes we will ask you to prepare lunch for us all, depending on the job of the day.

  • What else ...

    What else ...

    It's important to know that we're NOT vegetarian/vegan. I used to be for many years but don't wish to engage in moralistic discussions about it. I believe the food we eat is a personal choice.
    We are non smokers and prefer if you are too :-)

    If you want to be a little bit independent here on your days off, we have bikes, but you have to be relatively fit to get around the mountains!

    To arrive here you can get a bus/train to Coimbra. From there another 1 hour bus journey will bring you a bit closer, where we can pick you up.

    We look forward to meeting you!

  • A little more information

    A little more information

    • Internet access

    • Limited internet access

      Limited internet access

    • We have pets

    • We are smokers

    • Can host families

  • Can host digital nomads

    Can host digital nomads

    If you need to work, it would be possible after lunch but there is not Internet in the stable only in the main house.

  • Space for parking camper vans

    Space for parking camper vans

    This host can provide space for campervans.

  • Can possibly accept pets

    Can possibly accept pets

    If your dog is well behaved and doesn't chase cats or wild animals we can consider allowing you to come with your dog.

  • How many Workawayers can stay?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    More than two

  • My animals / pets

    My animals / pets

Host ref number: 337437323237

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