Experience family life in the peace of the mountains in Monchique, Portugal

Details

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  Description

  Hello travellers! We are a family living in the mountains in the Algarve. We have goats, dogs, cats and a horse. We moved here to surround ourselves in nature and give ourselves the opportunity to grow our own food, lead peaceful lives and let the children feel free in this amazing landscape.
  
  So far we have been working on the land, clearing and creating vegetable gardens. We are half way through replacing the roof on the house which we will eventually use half for our family home and half as a communial space.
  
  There is a river running on our land, which runs all year, and there are many tracks which lead you to discover hidden parts of this special place. Our water comes from our bore hole and we have some small springs which we are yet to put into action.
  
  Our place is a ten minutes drive away from the town where there are shops and cafes (they are open!!). There is a good community here, a mix of rustic locals and now more lovely people coming to chose to live here for the peace, air and water.
  
  We are flexible as to what work exchanges we create, it can be with or with out food and are mainly interested that it feels fair and supportive to all.
  
  I am Rachel, mum of two, age 3 and 11 and my partner is Dan. I worked in the past as a florist and graphic designer and love to work with my hands. Here I am learning more to work with willow and design the growing spaces we have here. Dan is a vinyl loving DJ who is handy and also loves to be outside.
  
  We are really open to ideas of families staying, aswell as any one who connects with us and the land here. We always have the feeling there is enough space here to share and there are areas around the forest and river where you can make your own camps to feel at home with your own space. :)

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Babysitting and creative play

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We hope to learn and inspire each other about moving towards living in ways where we can rely less on supermarkets and the big companies. We are happy to share what we have learned so far about our growing here and our building working with a rammed earth house, our experiences as parents and our ideas about family life.

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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 would like to honour the strengths and feelings of the volunteers as much as possible and have so many projects that hopefully there is something to suit everyones flow.
  
  Mainly the tasks will be gardening, helping with the house build, building wooden structures in the gardens, fencing, irrigation set up, looking after animals, and helping sometimes in the kitchen.
  
  We would like to create an area which just guests and volunteers can use with an outdoor kitchen, showers and loo. One of the first jobs of the volunteers could be to help design and build this using wood and cob.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Portuguese: Intermediate

  This 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.
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  Accommodation

  We have plenty of private space for vans and campers and can also provide a tent with mattress and bedding. In the coming months we will also have a caravan for use with its own kitchen.
  
  The shower has hot water and is in an outside cubicle also the toilet is a compost loo.
  
  We are flexible in terms of how we arrange the food. Usually lunch is the meal we will all eat together, and other meals can be taken separately.
  
  We have one tent already and have two bell tents coming soon which will be for volunteers in their own camping area.

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  What else ...

  There are alot of beautiful trails to walk in this area and Monchique is famous for its water, there are waterfalls to be found in certain spots and some incredible trees and views. Alferce is a sleepy village also about ten minutes away which has a traditional vibe and worth a visit. We are about 50 minutes drive to the west coast which has beautiful beaches, and we are always up for a trip.

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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

  can accommodate all size vans.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

  Maximum 4 hours, 5 days a week

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