Learn about artisan wine making helping alongside locals in the vineyard in Otavi, Namibia

Details

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  Description

  Our Vineyard is situated 13km outside of Otavi (which is the closest town to us) and +-370km from Windhoek, the capital of Namibia and only 170km from the Etosha National Park.
  
  On our 90ha Plot we have a vineyard with wine and table grapes, some sheep and we run a B&B (3 cottages and 4 campsites) owned by the family. We produce artisan Namibian wine on an area of 4ha. Gilmar is the owner and wine maker, he studied wine making in Stellenbosch, South Africa and has experimented with different cultivars in Namibia. We have a small vineyard that produces about 6500 – 7000 bottles of wine per year. It's all made manually with the only machinery being the grape crusher and the grape press. It's mostly organic apart from sulphur that is added to encourage the sugars in the grapes. At your arrival you will be welcomed by our 5 dogs which range from Jack Russel to Ridgeback (without a ridge though) and our honorary dog, Kolletjies, he is our mascot but more to him once you are here
  
  We would like the workawayer to have an experience on our vineyards as it isn't a common thing in Namibia (Namibia has 5 vineyards in the whole country), we have had volunteers in the past who enjoyed the experience on the vineyards as our practices are not the same as in European countries. We also enjoyed having them here and thought that it would be awesome to offer this experience on a platform where more people have access to us
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  Your stay with us will be a collection of different tasks depending on which time of the year you are here. We would love to show you and teach you the life on a vineyard in Namibia (which isn't the typical wine lands country) and how we work on an almost organic vineyard. You will be able to gain first hand and hands on experience in the wine making world and we would give our wine knowledge further to you. From the harvest season (which is our busiest time in the vineyard from October – January) in the vineyards to being helping in the cellar as well as being a helping hand in the office/ the reception or with the wine tasting. We promise you that no two days will go by exactly the same (at least it hasn’t been that way with us) Tamara always dreamed of having a vegetable & herb garden so if you have any gardening knowledge or enthusiasm we are sure you will be on the top of Tamara’s list.
  
  In total we have 13 people employed on our farm who are distributed across the housekeeping, the vineyards/cellar and the lands. Therefore our workforce is in a good place. All of them will welcome you here and give you further their knowledge.
  
  
  Cheers

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Farmstay help

  Hospitality/Tourism

  General Maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  In your free time you can explore the area, whether it just hiking around in the afternoon or taking a trip to Etosha or the Hoba Meteorite. Explore the maize triangle ,which we are in the center of , where you can discover another agricultural side.
  
  If there is any other destination you would like to visit/see in Namibia (for example the Coast or Sossusvlei) during your time off we will help you with the planning of it all. You will be able to find a car rental company in Tsumeb (which is about 90km away) if you would like to explore Namibia on your "long distance" trips.

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  Help

  Your stay with us will be a collection of different tasks depending on which time of the year you are here. We would love to show you and teach you the life on a vineyard in Namibia (which isn't the typical wine lands country) and how we work on an almost organic vineyard. You will be able to gain first hand and hands on experience in the wine making world and we would give our wine knowledge further to you. From the harvest season (which is our busiest time in the vineyard from October – January) in the vineyards to being helping in the cellar as well as being a helping hand in the office/ the reception or with the wine tasting. We promise you that no two days will go by exactly the same (at least it hasn’t been that way with us) Tamara always dreamed of having a vegetable & herb garden so if you have any gardening knowledge or enthusiasm we are sure you will be on the top of Tamara’s list.
  
  You can show us your culture, may it be food, traditions, language or traits and we will show you ours.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  Afrikaans: Fluent
  German: Fluent
  English: Fluent

  This host offers a language exchange
  If you are interested in learning Afrikaans we will definitely be able to help you that language exchange and I am sure one of us will be interested in your home language.
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  Accommodation

  We will offer our workawayers their own little house which will be shared with other volunteers, each one will have their own bedroom and will be sharing the bathroom as well as the kitchen, how you arrange your cooking schedule is completely up to you. We will take you guys to town once a week in order for you to do some shopping for your food supplies and whatever else you need.

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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

  You can arrive in your caravan/motorhome if you like:) there is more than enough space for it. Just inform us beforehand if you are planning on living in your "second home" or whether you would like to sleep in the provided house.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

  Maximum 5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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