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Host rating
100 %
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100.0 %
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Description
Hi my name's Steve, I'm English and I live in my our own little slice of paradise, a 7-hectare farm, with spectacular canyon views to one side, and our own accessible patch of river on the other. We have our own waterfalls, and are within 10 minutes walk of a series of public waterfalls. We just finished building a wood-fired forest sauna made of earth bags, which we are trying to promote to tourists.
We live about an hour's walk from town, taking in breathtaking valleys and small-scale coffee farms. Our aim to is to be entirely self-sufficient economically and in terms of food ... some day ... but it's a challenge especially when you have young children and limited resources...
In other words, we need some help....
We have lots of projects that need enthusiastic hands. We want to finish the bedroom, work on growing organic food, finish the green roofs on our structures, build a tipi ... We appreciate people who are quite independent, though we will of course explain everything that needs to be done. I teach English during the day, so ideally volunteers help us in the afternoon to allow time to give instructions.
We are mostly vegan, though we do buy fresh eggs from our neighbour. We ask volunteers to cook vegetarian food when they are here, although we have nothing against people who eat meat...
I have lived for 20 years in Colombia, first working as a teacher in Cali, then looking to find a more natural, less hectic life in San Agustin around 7 years ago. I am a qualified life coach, enjoy playing the guitar, badminton (we have rackets!), permaculture projects and doing stand-up comedy in Spanish...
Diana, my ex-partner (it's complicated), is a biologist who is involved in local charity work with abandoned animals, and with other local projects. We both work full time bringing up our beautiful 6-year-old girl and a 3-year old boy, who enjoy the company of people who like to make silly faces.
In exchange for help we can share our knowledge of permaculture and natural building, and you can experience a truly stunning setting with a great atmosphere, with views over a canyon and nature reserve, our own waterfalls, river etc. It's great for birding / birdwatching. Come along we could use your help!
We are working towards achieving food self-sustainability, using the principles of Permaculture to try and reduce our impact on the environment as much as possible. We have taken local courses on organic farming, and are slowly working to improve the soil health. We are trying to adapt our diet to more traditional local foods, including 'Achira', manioc, Plantain/Banana, Sweet Potato, Wild rasberries/blackberries, sweet cucumber, Yota, etc. However, we have been mostly dedicated to building recently so our garden has been neglected a little...
We ask for 3 hours help, 5 days a week. We can offer accommodation only, not food. We can offer gas cooking facilities and a super hot shower which is also gas powered, but ask for 3000 peso donation per day to cover this (gas is very expensive and is brought on the back of a motorbike, so it's unsustainable for us otherwise...). This is just over 50 cents in US$...
We are an equal opportunities placement and welcome all races and LGBT+.Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Language practice
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Farmstay help
Babysitting and creative play
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
UN sustainablity goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Steve is a qualified life coach and offers group or individual life coaching for travellers. Diana can teach Spanish and salsa (she's from Cali, the world's salsa capital).
We have made some lifelong volunteers friends in the past, and we are happy to share our experiences of living in Colombia / the Colombian countryside. We also have experience of building using bamboo / earth techniques. Though we are still in the learning stages in terms of organic agriculture, we've made some good progress, and have been studying with local experts. We are eager to share our knowledge and listen to suggestions.Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
(November 2022) We have just finished building a wood-fired sauna using earth bags. We need to finish the green roof, paint it, make it look nice etc. We are also trying to finish an earthbag bedroom, but just the finishing touches. We want to build a Tipi for volunteers. That's quite high on our list... We also need help with agriculture.... The help depends on what you are interested in also... We will always try to explain and demonstrate what needs to be done and we understand that most people aren't used to natural building / permaculture (:
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: FluentThis host offers a language exchange
This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
You can contact them directly for more information.Accommodation
We have a little cabin where I (Steve) live. It has gas cooking facilities and a hot, powerful gas shower. It's made out of bamboo, and has a compost toilet (which you don't have to empty...). The spare room is for volunteers. It has a mezzanine, with double bed upstairs and a bunk bed down below.
What else ...
We use compost toilets, which are without water. Please Google this if you don't know what it is....
We are located behind the San Agustín archaeological park, in the Huila region of Colombia. We are 15 minutes from the town by motorbike, or an hour's walk through beautiful valleys. Motorbike taxi to town costs COP 12,000 or COP30,000-35,000 by car taxi.
San Agustin has a temperate climate, neither hot nor cold. It has the highest concentration of national parks in Colombia, and has a variety of activities for tourists including: visiting archaeological sites (we are within walking distance of the UNESCO World Heritage SIte Archaeological Park and other statues); Horse riding (we can organise cheap tours from the farm); cycling tours; Jeep tours; coffee growing tours. We can rent our motorbike.
The town is steadily receiving more interest from foreign tourists, but is still relatively 'undiscovered' when compared to comparable sites in Colombia and South America. Our neighbours still live in a simple, traditional way. You can find locally-produced milk, cheese, eggs, and honey within a short walk from the farm.
Particularly welcome are badminton players, musicians and lovers of 90s rock, biologists, animal lovers, Vipassana meditators and yoga practicioners, and wanderers looking for an answer to life's contradictions... Also, if you have children you are more than welcome as we have a 6-year-old and a 2 year old!A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We have good broadband internet but it is about 80% reliable. If you are depending on video calls at a certain time of day this could be a problem.
Space for parking camper vans
We are 5km from town but it is unpaved and quite steep in places.
Can possibly accept pets
We have 4 female dogs and 2 cats .... So male dogs integrate more easily...
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Hours expected
The morning = 3 hours, 5 days a week
Feedback (75)
Volunteers have a small independent house, for 1 to 4 volunteers.
In general,… read more
Ich kam eine Woche früher als erwartet an ( was kein Problem war :) ) und passte für 1 Woche mit zwei weiteren Freiwilligen auf das Haus und ihre Tiere auf. Das Haus ist 1 ½ Stunden zu Fuß von der Stadt entfernt, umgeben von Dschungel, Wasserfällen, mitten in der Natur. Sie haben ein wunder… read more
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Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(4.9)
Communication:
(5.0)
Volunteers have a small independent house, for 1 to 4 volunteers.
In general,… read more
Ich kam eine Woche früher als erwartet an ( was kein Problem war :) ) und passte für 1 Woche mit zwei weiteren Freiwilligen auf das Haus und ihre Tiere auf. Das Haus ist 1 ½ Stunden zu Fuß von der Stadt entfernt, umgeben von Dschungel, Wasserfällen, mitten in der Natur. Sie haben ein wunder… read more
My girlfriend and I stayed for 2 weeks. The work was from Monday to Friday 3 hours per day. We could choose… read more
The parents were also really really helpful and understanding, they did more work than we asked for, and were very resourceful and independent... A highly recommended family!!!
The… read more
Nous étions logés dans une dépendance à côté de leur maison avec tout le confort ( cuisine et salle de bain privé ) .
Notre travail pour le volontariat consistait à terminer un sauna ( peinture, ciment, pose de parvent ) et la création d'un escalier en bambou permettant… read more
Him and his wife Diana are lovely persons and a wonderful hosts. I spent there a couple of weeks helping him out with photos, videos and website.
His home is always full of people from all over the world, always sharing thoughts, experiences and activities. He offers everyday a different… read more
Really chilled out and friendly place, two beautiful waterfalls and lots of delicious ingredients to make some great vegan food and cake!
I volunteered at a yoga retreat they where hosting and it was amazing, great tribe and lots of opportunities to join in with the yoga and grow and develop myself
On top… read more
I had in mind to stay two weeks but I left after 4,5 weeks with a big smile and many great memories. Volunteering here felt like helping friends instead of working. There's a great atmosphere where everyone looks after each other. Even as a non vegan and non vegetarian person I have to admit that I… read more
Waking up to have such a perfect place to practice yoga and then working with bamboo and mud.
I got to learn new things and share and explore my skills.
A chilled vibe throughout the days and great to be a part of and see the project developing.
Many waterfalls and statues and hills to explore in time off.
San… read more
Would highly recommend staying with Steve and Diana!
It was my very first workaway staying/volunteering. I was so lucky to meet with Steve and Diani, and to stay their beautiful handmade ecohome, in a very nice valley.
We practiced pregnancy yoga couple of times with Diani, since we are waiting Kiya and cooked vegan/vegetarian foods. In this point I learned a lot from Diani,… read more
It was my very first workaway staying/volunteering. I was so lucky to meet with Steve and Diani, and to stay their beautiful handmade ecohome, in a very nice valley.
We practiced pregnancy yoga couple of times with Diani, since we are waiting Kiya and cooked vegan/vegetarian foods. In this point I learned a lot from Diani, … read more
Apart from all the things we've done ranging from constructing walls to coffee-making and many more cool things it especially was the atmosphere of a very wearmhearted and open-minded community living at a very beautiful place surrounded by nature that made everything so… read more
Hannes and Max
What an amazing place, with even more incredible people, to share the quickest 2 weeks of my life!
Volunteering with Diana y Steve was honestly one of the best experiences of my trip to date...I learnt so much: amazing recipes, poo wall building skills, and can proudly say that myself and a fellow volunteer dug the largest hole this… read more
Thanks for a good time Steve, Diana and all the other volunteers!
Thanks for having me at your place, I had the best time!
Es un lugar muy tranquilo y lleno de energía y respeto, de San Agustín me… read more
great food really relaxing location.
Steve and diana thanks so much for having good us And good luck with everything.