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Host rating
80 %
Last replied
23 Jan 2025
Feedback
24
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Description
Hola amigos! We're a Belgian-Panamian couple with a finca in Dolphin Bay on Isla San Cristobal in the archipelago of Bocas del Toro in Panama. In the early days of our project volunteers helped us realize quite a few ideas, it's been 4 years now since we hosted anyone at all but for the high-season of 2024 we are temporarily looking for some help until our main staff member returns from her pregnancy leave.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Help with Eco Projects
Teaching
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
Hospitality/Tourism
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Papito is Panamanian and his family lives nearby. He works on several construction & farming projects with a crew of mostly indigenous people.
We speak Spanish to each other but both speak English too.
So this is a great place to practice your Spanish & meet a lot of local people!
We'll also supply you with all the material you need to bring your project to a good ending. We have decent set of Dewalt power tools and power generators to help you.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
***2024 - our main need at the moment is for a hands-on couple/two motivated friends/or 1 self-starter who can help us out with preparations for our chocolate tours (setting up, preparing chocolate treats, packaging bars etc.) & possibly assisting with the cleaning of rooms before the arrival of guests when needed. Our right-hand is soon going on pregnancy leave; we'll employ temporary staff for the arrival days of guests for cleaning but they will need some help & supervision.***
Other projects at our finca:
-construction: help tiling a bathroom, renewal of the bridge to the cacao forest,...
-plumbing: installation of sinks, outdoor shower, new rain water collection system
-solar setup: assist Papito to set up a 12V solar system at his bar
-garden: pick and dry cacao, hibiscus, lemongrass etc. for future projects, collect horse manure & mix it with cacao pod shells (sounds tasty, right?), planting out seedlings,...
-chocolate making: help in the full process from tree to truffle
-marketing: promote the horse/night/cacao tours + treehouse + Jungle Café, add photos to the website,...
ALWAYS LOOKING FOR ACTIVE, HANDY PEOPLE... If you're ARTISTIC & a good painter: please write us too & add pictures to see if your style would be a good fir. Feel free to contact me if you have any special skill which you think could be of use.
Other possible tasks: entertaining our crazy kids of 7 & 8 years old (or let them enterain you!), helping them with homework or painting & playing with them
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
French: Fluent
Dutch: 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
Accommodation & meals:
For 5 hours of work we'll give you 3 meals (a mix of Panamanian & European food) and a bed/matress. Usually you won't be off Saturday and Sunday, but rather two other days in the week. You are expected to clean up after yourself and help with the dishes besides these hours. Every day will be different, and if we are going somewhere (Bocas, Almirante, the beach) you are welcome to join.
Since we are on an island, we are off the grid so we need you to pay attention to your use of electricity and water. There is electricity to charge your cell phone or laptop but no hairdryers please :) 6 bigger ones will be installed later this year (2016). We've upgraded our water tank to a bigger model since the previous one would occasionally run dry when we had volunteers and there was no rain for a week (luckily Bocas is pretty wet generally so then we do a rain dance & the next day it rains). So no more stress about water, yet we still use it sparingly. So if any clothes need to be washed, we bring them to Almirante where a local lady takes good care of them.
Costs:
You pay for your beers, soda's, snacks (other than bananas & fruit from our gardens).
We'll try to combine your pick-up & drop-off with picking up guests or a planned shopping trip so there is no cost for you. That may require some flexibility from your side.
What else ...
Duration of your stay:
We prefer longer-term volunteers. The preferred minimum stay is 10 days, but for the right person we are flexible.
Good to know:
Shops can only be reached by boat so it's best to buy whatever you can't live without before arriving here :)
We are in the tropics so there are insects, especially outside, but also some inside. So please imagine yourself camping in the JUNGLE before contacting us. Our house is far more comfortable than camping in the jungle, but if ants and an occasional spider in the house freak you out, this is definitely not the right place for you. It is truly a wonderful place & we do our best to make it as comfortable for you as we can but nature simply rules here.
Things to bring: long trousers, sunscreen, repellent, a flash light, boots. We have a few pairs of boots for volunteers but having your own size is better :)
Animals on the farm:
-4 horses: CC, Preciosa, Tequila & Smokey
-3 to 4 (big) dogs: Blue, Whiskey, Charlie & Louis
-roosters, hens, sheep, ducks
-2 cats
Wild animals you can spot here:
Dolphins, sloths, monkeys, alligators, toucans, parrots,...
Fun things to do right here:
Horse riding, fishing from the dock, swimming, jungle walks, peddling in Dolphin Bay with a kayuko
Fun things to do in the neighbourhood:
Snorkeling, going to the beach,...
I've worked with volunteers before at a finca/resort on the same island - I found it refreshing to host volunteers and mostly appreciate self-guided, hands-on people who make suggestions and show initiative. We hope to hear from you soon!
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We have shared areas with wifi.
Space for parking camper vans
We live on island so no vans will be able to get here but we can offer space for a sailboat.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Feedback (14)
We loved staying at the accommodation and working outdoors in the jungle. The work was never repetitive and Dorien was very flexible with allocating tasks to fit our wishes.
Thank you for everything, we’d love to visit again and… read more
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Feedback
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Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(4.8)
We loved staying at the accommodation and working outdoors in the jungle. The work was never repetitive and Dorien was very flexible with allocating tasks to fit our wishes.
Thank you for everything, we’d love to visit again and… read more
It is a beautiful and peaceful place with interesting projects. I sincerely appreciated my stay at Dorien and Papito's finca.
I helped mainly with the breakfast with Beatriz with whom I learnt also the local cuisine. I joined sometime the chocolate… read more
Iz & Tania are really great artists & were always willing to help out with other things too. I highly recommend them!
Es un lugar hermoso, Dorien es muy buena anfitriona y habla muy bien español.
Fue muy divertido y gratificante trabajar aqui!
Nos llevamos un bonito recuerdo!
Dorien is very relaxed and I felt home very quick, Papito is a funny guy always an amazing story to tell. I helped cooking in the kitchen for the Airbnb guests, the family and us. She is very open to what you… read more
We had to shorten our stay because of a family problem,… read more
We slept in the uper floor right under the roof on a nice matress with a mosquito net. During the day it can be similar to a sauna but in the evening its cool and Perfect for a… read more
We shared the main house with Papito and his lovely kid Tony , and slept on the last floor on a very comfortable double bed with mosquito net. This provided us with a nice privacy and the feeling… read more
Together with Papito we build an outside bathroom for the treehouse. Therefore we went shopping by boat in Almirante, which is part of the cultural panamerican experience. We also helped them with the daily housework, as cooking and washing dishes, but still had enough time… read more
