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Host rating
85 %
Last replied
8 Apr 2025
Reply rate
100.0 %
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Details
Description
Hello!
About us:
We are a retired, but still very active couple originally from the Netherlands). Louis has been working in water management, Most of the time he spend in the Netherlands, but he was also involved in international projects in for example Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Philippines, Mozambique, Nicaragua and Colombia.
Sylvia is an experienced textile artist. Her work will surprise you and even touch you emotionally!
We have three grown-up children who live in the Netherlands and visit us regularly.
We have a broad interest in nature and culture, love to watch moving and read books. We like to stroll through nature watching plants, making pictures of birds (Louis) and collecting stones for Sylvia's artwork.
We have traveled quite a lot in Europe, South- and Central America, Asia and the Middle-East. Before our move to Spain we lived for four years in Colombia. So lots to talk about! We speak Dutch, English, Spanish and some German.
In August 2023 we bought a complex of two houses, an old olive mill, an old winery, a bodega (wine storage) and a very nice garden in the small village of Torvizcón in the Alpujarra mountains. The Alpujarra is a beautiful mountain range between the national park Sierra Nevada and the Mediterranean Sea. You will love it!
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Help around the house
Interests
Sustainability
Culture
Music
Books
Art & design
Photography
Gardening
Nature
Cycling
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Sylvia is a very experienced textile artists. If you want to participate in her work it would be good that you have some experience in craft techniques. For several years she also practises Tai Chi. If you are interested you can join or learn.
Louis knows a lot about watermanagement, plants and birds. If this has your interest he can tell you a lot. Louis is also an experienced human resource manager. He can talk with you about making choices, about finding a path in your life. He will surprise you ;-).
We are very enthusiastic and proud of our village and our house and would like to share this with you. The buildings we bought have a very rich and interesting history. Living here has really enriched our lives and has also given us many new personal insights. It would be intering to share these experiences with you. But of course we are also very curious about your experiences with different cultures and what impact this has had on your view of the world.
When you visit us, we imagine that we do things together in the morning to make the buildings or garden a bit more beautiful. This is also a good workout, because the entire complex consists of 6 floors! In the afternoon it is siesta, which you can fill in as you like. And we imagine that the evenings are for exchanging our more cultural and personal experiences. And of coarse we can make some trips into the village or region to give you an impression of the Alpujarra culture and traditional live. We would like to know and research more about the Moorish influences.
Living here will give you a good impression of the life of a small mountain village in the Alpujarra. We know already many people so contacts are easy made. People will like it very much if you (try to) speak some Spanish!
Besides: the Alpujarra is astonishing! You can do hiking, drive your mountainbike or racing bike (be aware it's quite steep!), but it is also easy to visit other beautiful typical mountain villages or go to the very beautiful city of Granada or to the beaches near Motril or Salobreña.
Help
Where are we looking for (m/f/x):
We have been very active in restoring the buildings and the garden but still a lot has to be done. Of course we don't have all skills necessary to make our complex more beautiful. For bigger jobs we hire local tradespeople. They already constructed a new kitchen and bathroom, and renewed some floors and part of the roof. But for more easy tasks we would like to share skills with Workawayers. If its to hot outside we can do some tasks inside. We will do tasks together so we can exchange experiences, but of coarse it's no problem if you like sometimes to do tasks alone.
Languages spoken
Dutch: Fluent
English: Intermediate
Spanish: Intermediate
German: Beginner
Accommodation
Next door to our own house we have a complete house available which consists of three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a kitchen. You can do your own cooking. In the village there is a small supermarket. However, most of the times we do our shopping in the city of Orgiva (20 km). Of coarse we can do shopping for you. In the village there are no restaurants but 3 bars (with tapas!).
For our Workawayers we will provide in the morning (at 9 am) a Spanish breakfast; at noon (around 2 pm = Spanish siesta time) we will provide sandwiches with cheese, ham, marmelade etcetera and in the evening (at about 7 or 8 pm) a warm dinner which will be cooked by Sylvia. She is an experienced cook. The dinner will be coordinated with our guests.
What else ...
* You can do good hiking and biking (if you bring your own...). The area is very quiet and safe.
* Good to know is that you can reach Torvizcón by bus from Granada.
* We live without plan or planning, are very flexible and try to enjoy life as much as possible!
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
You can stay in our second house. It's very quiet, comfortable place with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The house has an excellent internet connection (Starlink).
Can possibly accept pets
We expect the pet to be well behaved. Maximum two pets.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Photos
