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100 %
Last replied
29 Apr 2025
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Description
IF YOU ARE A SOLITARY PERSON (or a couple) WHOSE dream is to settle to a remote rural area one day and start a self sufficient sustainable life; live seasonaly and locally; who loves getting up at crack of dawn and go to bed early to enjoy reading a book and love pets this is THE place to experience it!
I live with my family of two mongrel sheep dogs plus a cat; gardening & landscaping 7/24, almost. If ever have some spare time, I swim, read, write, cook and enjoy the company of some visiting friends and family.
Me & my pets, we live around the sun: get up before it and go to bed soon as it sets, in a unique, remote/isolated setting on the slopes of the Bay of Gokova, at the tip of the Aegean, in Mazi village, near Bodrum town in Mugla province.
The property is 7 thousand square metres, situated on a steep slope; no neighbours in sight with an exquisite view of the Bay of Gokova.
I do not eat and for that matter cook red meat; occasionally enjoy locally caught fresh fish (if ever) or cook with chicken once in a while.
If and when I can find it I like to read on history & philosophy of gardening and gardens; as a matter of fact I have written a book on the history of this particular garden in Turkish: Binbir Bahce Masallari, is its title in Turkish.
Before I chose to settled down in this remote place almost 20 years ago, I have travelled widely and lived in Canada as an infant, studied & lived in the UK & USA and spend some time in Argentina.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
Animal Care
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Interests
Sustainability
Pets
Culture
Farming
Books
Architecture
Cooking & food
Plant care
Gardening
Writing
Animals
Dancing
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Apart from experiencing local Turkish culture, I can try help teach some basic Turkish and cooking; gardening, soil mixing for special plants, compost sorting; pet care. And when & if it is the season/year, how to prick and treat olives, experience of olive oil pressing at a local press when & if the season/year.
Volunteer/s can learn how to maintain a draught tolerant garden; plan & landscape on a temperate to extreme climatic zone and on a steep land; some pruning; potting & re-potting, propagating plants, tending a green house; how to compost.
For ecology & environmental & horticultural enthusiast both the region and the property was a heaven, until the devastating 2021 August forest fire! Yet there are still some forests left unburned, mountains untouched, pristine turquoise beaches to swim. 20 minutes drive away from our village there is a wet land where even flamingos stop over during migration period.
Local fresh product markets are a feast to visit and shop, especially for vegetarians!
Volunteers can explore the many historical sites starting from the nearest & famous town of Bodrum (ancient site of Halicarnassos). The province of Mugla has many ancient sites from Neolithic to Ottoman, with ancient Greek, Roman, Lycian and more, in between.
Or, the volunteer/s can simply enjoy the isolated setting to research online, read, write, swim and sun bath (depending on the season) on our nearby beaches or simply take some time off meditating, enjoy doing nothing in her/his spare time.
Help
Compost sorting, hoeing, manuring, cutting and chopping trees & wood (when needed), pruning, dead-heading, sweeping leaves; preparing beds and soil.
I should let the potential volunteer/s know that life starts by sun rise to beat the heat in the summer.
Pet sitting and grooming will be part of the help expected from the volunteers.
Help with routine house cleaning & cooking.
Transportation is provided upon arrival and departure from Mazi village centre; the volunteer/s has to use the local "midi-bus" service which has a scheduled service to & from Bodrum town.
Volunteers are expected to strictly respect Covid-19 & its variants' health & hygiene rules.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Turkish: Fluent
Accommodation
There is a one room independent cottage with a shower & WC and an outdoor kitchen.
What else ...
I have given most of the information on what volunteers can do in their free time above. So here I add a few more lines on our life here and what a volunteer can expect:
To give you more info on our life style I can say that we live a very spartan and environmentally conscious life: save water & electricity is one of our major criteria. Living extremely organised due to distances; can't afford to say "oops I forgot to buy wine or toilet paper": the next/nearest shopping is half an hour away.
Another important criteria is alertness, along with attention and detail consciousness.
A volunteer should be reliable, practical, organised, clean; should have a creative mind to solve problems when & if they occur with whatever available at hand.
We live by checking the weather report couple of times a day between October-April, to make sure that we put the cushions in before a midnight rain -not that it rains often but one has to be cautious; or to be able to un-plug computers, wi-fi, hi-fi before going to bed at night and also before a thunderstorm and lightning arrives.
Since this is a remote place it is ideal for someone (or a couple) who will be content with not having a night life or missing going out to have a drink or two while chatting with other people: social life does not exist in the vicinity especially during off season!
It is an ideal setting for a person (or a couple) who is content with by her/himself into reading, writing, researching/studying or looking for inspiration in nature which might (for some at least) require rather solitary life.
Also, volunteer/s should be aware that there is no central heating nor air-conditioner in the accommodation provided.
By experience I have learned that some volunteers have a tendency to think or behave as if they are in a hotel or hostel, this is neither: Guests, volunteers are requested to respect house rules, keep their premises clean and help & share with domestic house work such as cooking, washing up, cleaning.
And last but not least, this is not a working farm or a retreat where there will be other volunteers to socialise with.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
Since the property is big the wi-fi does not reach the guest cottage, it is only active by the main house where there is plenty of sitting area around on the terrace.
Space for parking camper vans
Ideal place for campervan travellers!
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Feedback (4)
She welcomed us with open arms and provided as an amazing place to stay with privacy and everything you would need in a small house,… read more
Are extremely polite, well mannered, clean and tidy.
They were quick at learning and implementing gardening tasks. They were great with pets.
Clara is an extra asset if not a gem: She is a great cook and meticulous when it comes to cleaning.
It was a joy to have them!
They are most welcome to come whenever they wish.
Initially planning on staying two weeks, we ended up staying three. Ceylân's profile is accurate and the whole experience was very organised. You'll find out that Ceylân is not only a gardening master but organisation master as well. Beyond this, she is knowledgeable, lively and extremely thoughtful - always thinking of… read more
I enjoyed their stay very much and together we have achieved a lot of work in the garden.
Last but not least they are always similing.
Their stay has… read more
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These are extra optional ratings when members leave feedback. The average rating left for each option is displayed.
Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(4.7)
She welcomed us with open arms and provided as an amazing place to stay with privacy and everything you would need in a small house,… read more
Are extremely polite, well mannered, clean and tidy.
They were quick at learning and implementing gardening tasks. They were great with pets.
Clara is an extra asset if not a gem: She is a great cook and meticulous when it comes to cleaning.
It was a joy to have them!
They are most welcome to come whenever they wish.
Initially planning on staying two weeks, we ended up staying three. Ceylân's profile is accurate and the whole experience was very organised. You'll find out that Ceylân is not only a gardening master but organisation master as well. Beyond this, she is knowledgeable, lively and extremely thoughtful - always thinking of… read more
I enjoyed their stay very much and together we have achieved a lot of work in the garden.
Last but not least they are always similing.
Their stay has… read more
She is a hard working, disciplined person with a strong sense of responsibility and tidy. She is good at pruning and watering though she has a tendency to overwater; a beginner’s major & fatal mistake. She is also good and handy at fixing things around the… read more
It was our first time helping with a garden this huge and we were very excited, Ceylan was super kind and patient while we learned how to do it properly and she taught us a lot about gardening and the struggles to… read more
They are very intelligent, full of sense of humour, sharp on time, extreme sense of responsibility, great at learning a task, never had to repeat an explanation or show a thing twice; in short they are dream volunteers! Plus they are always kind, polite, understanding and last but not least full of positive energy hence joy to… read more
They were not skilled per se in the work I asked from them but they were quick to learn and done meticulous job in the garden; weeding and compost sorting and loading into sacks.
Also, Saghar is a great cook; she cooked delicious Iranian food! She was great in… read more
Same goes for you; it was great pleasure working with you! you worked very hard and did an excelent job with "alla Turca" hoe, manuring the olive trees, cleaning dead leaves; also sorting out the good and the bad worms from the compost.
Your participation in preparing food,… read more
The property is really very beautiful, both the nature and the garden.
Everything there is super organized!
Even for a short period of time I did several different tasks, that is good so i didnt get bored. Ceylan (the host), speaks perfect English and supervise all the work. This… read more
