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30 Dec 2024
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Description
Hello! We are Sonja and Holger, a german couple of 57 yo and are living the simple life on a small farm (Quinta Vitamina) in Portugal since 2017. We are located in the beautiful Ribatejo-Region, about an hour drive east of Lisbon. We have found a very remote place at a sandy dead end road with only very few neighbors and are living here with two horses, four goats, one big guard dog and two cats.
The Ribatejo region (northern Alentejo) is the heart and soul of horse-breeding, cattle-farming and cork oaks.
Because we are living so remotely it would certainly be best for you, if you come with your own transportation. We are of course happy to see you and your Camper van. With your own mode of transport you will be fully able to see and explore everything around. But of course we would pick you up at an airport, train- or bus station and provide a little bit of sightseeing if you do not come with your own vehicle.
We speak German, English and (some) Portuguese and we would love to hear from you and maybe see you soon in Portugal.
We keep our calendar updated so please take a look at the available months and get in touch if there is a match with your traveling plans. And if you have extended experience with horses please take a look at our "Winter-Special" in the description below.
"Normal" stays are also possible during winter, of course! Spring, autumn and winter are the seasons when the tasks have to be done because in summer it is simply too hot to do a lot.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Language practice
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
As we have both been teachers and trainers in our old life, we will happily show you how we keep and train our horses and dog (the cats are perfect on their own ;-) ) and maybe you want to pick up some horsemanship skills.
We are trying to grow veggies on our land and are currently operating 3 different types of raised / no-dig beds. Sonja will be happy to explain everything about that type of planting. Also we have a huge amount of old fruit trees (mainly Orange and Clementine) and you can learn about them as well.
Help
As life goes, we always have more on our hands than we can manage alone so we would love some help with the gardening as we try to get more self sufficient and are not able to stay on top of everything on our own. There is always land to clear, trees to cut, weeds to pull out and ideas to share. Occasionally we need a little help in the house - dusting and swiping mostly. And if you are a native Portuguese speaker, we would love some language lessons.
## Winter-Special for horse people ## Now already looking for Winter 2025/26!
We would really like to take some time off living on the Quinta in winter and go on a little vacation for maybe a week or a bit less. We are looking for a couple to come sometime during the months of Oct. - Feb. (please check the color-code in calendar) for a stay of maybe 3 or 4 weeks in between which we would take our vacation. Requirements for this (and only this!) stay would be:
+ couple traveling
+ with own car
+ speaking perfect fluent English or Portuguese
+ having extended experience with horses and with dogs
+ 20 plus years old
If you fit this description and you would like a nice holiday in winter, please contact us and we set up a video meeting.
We would offer a full week of holiday without work for farm-sitting while we are away for up to a week. We would ask you to come for at least 3 weeks: One week working alongside us to get into everything you need to do, one week of farm-sitting and one week of holiday. The daily workload will be very low, maybe only 2 hours per person while we are away but we are looking for reliable people with a certain skill-set.
Languages
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
Portuguese: IntermediateThis host offers a language exchange
We would really love to improve our Portuguese.
Accommodation
We welcome you to visit our little Quinta, stay in our nice Guesthouse with private Bathroom, get impressed by the stunning countryside in Portugal, enjoy the quiet and calm down.
We provide fast internet access but it is not always 100% reliable due to power-outages (not frequent but they do occur) so we are not able to host digital nomads or people who need reliable fast internet for work or other purposes.
You are very welcome to share our meals with us, we are still doing old school German style cooking but with the stunning fresh produce that Portugal has to offer. It is also possible for you to cater for yourself while we provide everything you need.
If you are vegan / vegetarian you might want to prepare some meals for yourself if you do not want to share what we will have. Please be aware that there is only one kitchen we would share.
Please note that in the rural areas of Portugal special diet necessities are a little bit hard to obtain. Gluten free produce is not available everywhere all the time for instance and vegan or vegetarian dishes are normally not served in local restaurants.
What else ...
Please note that there is absolutely NO public transport where we live. If you do not come with your own mode of transport you will be reliant on us to take you where you want to go or need to be. We will of course do that within reasonable limits.
If you are traveling from outside the EU you have to carry health-insurance for travelers, if you are an EU-citizen you have to carry your blue EU-health-insurance card.
We are sorry but our Quinta is not suitable for families and children under the age of 14 due to the size of the room and the settings on the land (open well, electric fencing, big animals).
Do not worry if you are allergic to horses and/or cats - you do not have to interact with them if you don't want to. Horses and cats share the barn and the surrounding areas as a living space and you can easily keep your distance. The dog on the other hand lives with us in the house and is around the people on the Quinta all the time.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
We have space for any size of vehicle on the land but the really long ones can not reach the house (single track road with narrow bends).
Can possibly accept pets
We have a big (40+ kg) Raffeiro Alentejano guard dog. Our dog is very social and welcomes every other dog that can behave itself kindly. She is not too fond of very lively, energetic dogs but once she gets used to another dog, that's fine. As our cats also like to enjoy a quiet country life we might ask you to keep a dog that is chasing cats as a hobby on a leash.
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Feedback (14)
They have the best work ethics you can wish for, an eye for things that need to be done and are always up for any task. We achieved so much… read more
They took on every task we put on them in a great can-do spirit, no matter if it was the olive harvest, weeding vines, pruning trees, cleaning the stables and pastures or helping the neighbors getting the manure.
We have enjoyed their… read more
the workload is very manageable especially between two people! they… read more
Even the work was a little bit different as we first thought (building the new greenhouse took muuuuuch longer than expected) Zsolti and Bálint just worked through every days tasks… read more
Photos
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They have the best work ethics you can wish for, an eye for things that need to be done and are always up for any task. We achieved so much… read more
They took on every task we put on them in a great can-do spirit, no matter if it was the olive harvest, weeding vines, pruning trees, cleaning the stables and pastures or helping the neighbors getting the manure.
We have enjoyed their… read more
the workload is very manageable especially between two people! they… read more
Even the work was a little bit different as we first thought (building the new greenhouse took muuuuuch longer than expected) Zsolti and Bálint just worked through every days tasks… read more
The work ethics of Carmen and Andreas are… read more
The vibes were good, the work was fulfilling and the food delicious. I really liked their communication. Work hours were always clear. They made sure we had… read more
It was such a happy coincidence that the weather turned bad and they wanted a dry space just when we needed help to get on with the goat enclosure.
Alex and Marcelo are are great couple - full of joy and love for each other and the world around them. Their… read more
The two of them are very heart-warming people who make sure that the people around them are doing well. They integrated me perfectly into their everyday life and always made sure that I was doing well. They are very affectionate with each other and with their… read more
Aline is a very friendly, gentle and lively person and you feel good as soon as you meet her. Our animals felt the same, the male guard dog did not even bark once at her at first encounter, which is very, very special.… read more
So we where delighted to host Hannah for a week and because of her help the olive harvest was done in two… read more
Our plan was to stay with them for two or three weeks, but it turned into an amazing four-week adventure! We helped them finish up some projects around their house, and seeing how happy they were made us even happier. It felt so good to leave a positive impact… read more
We can hardly believe that four weeks are already over. We agreed on three weeks but have been only too happy to extend the stay for this nice and hard working couple. Both are very easy going and simply fun to have around. They worked very hard in the garden, for the horses and on various… read more
This was my first experience with Workaway, and saying it was great is an understatement!
For the two weeks I spent with them, Sonja and Holger made me part of their family. I spent my time with the animals, gardening and in general making the best out of my time in their beautiful little… read more
We wish them all the luck for their journey… read more
What started out as two weeks ended up being four. We got along well with Holger and Sonja right away, so we spent many hours together. Not only at the Quinta, but also at the… read more
The… read more
We were there for 10 days and worked in the garden. We were able to organize our time freely and were also allowed to work… read more
