South Africa
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What we do and need help with:
- training and exercising our horses
- working in our orchard and vegetable tunnel
- helping with fencing, making compost and other small farm activities
- help making goat milk cheese (and soon our cow can be milked as well)
- making goat milk soap
- help making stuffed animals for charity
It is better if you stay longer and get into the rhythm of things, especially with the horseriding. Our best experiences have been with people who came as long as they said they would, and did the things they said they were interested in.
This is a complete overhaul of our profile! We have had 11 workawayers in 3 months by now, and our experience has been very positive. However, we need to point out the following for prospective workawayers:
- we mostly need help with schooling and exercising our horses. If that is not in your area of interest, you'll probably not fit here. You would also be expected to help with fencing and other normal farm activities, but we're always there right next to you and would rarely expect you to work when we don't!
- you must love animals and be prepared to engage with our own farm and house animals, learn their names and personalities
- we prefer to keep a smoke-free zone, We have had great smoker volunteers, and they are still welcome here. But if we find cigarette butts in our plant pots or thrown into the environment, a whole lot of goodwill dissipates
- we expect, and have normally but not always received, common courtesy such as greeting people. If you're going to act like a surly post-adolescent, you will not be remembered kindly
- you need a robust and well-developed sense of humour around here! We laugh at ourselves, at the foibles of South African society, and there are no sacred cows. At the same time we are resolutely non-racist and do not discriminate on any grounds except the points above.
- workawayers are expected to keep their own living and communal areas clean. This is not a serviced hotel!
We have recently moved from asmall farm in the Western Cape, to a larger farm in the Free State. We run a guest house and working farm on the banks of the Vaal River. We are an hour away from Johannesburg, so we are not entirely cut off from civilisation.
We are a family of 3 humans, 10 dogs, 7 cats, 8 horses and a growing number of sheep, goats and cows. We are trying to run our guesthouse as 'green'-ly as possible and would appreciate help in this area.
Gardening
DIY and building projects
General Maintenance
Farmstay help
Help with Eco Projects
Animal Care
Charity Work
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
We are ex-tourist guide trainers and know a LOT about South Africa and its cultures. We also have experience in teaching English as a foreign language, and can teach professional cooking at a basic level, as well as share our skills in cheese-making and video production and editing. What we have in mind is providing board and lodging to the usual Workaway standard for the usual 4-5 hours per day, and if you need English teaching to a certain level (exam preparation etc) we can make additional arrangements. You will learn about the real South Africa, with definite exposure to more than one culture!
We would welcome reliable and experienced help in all the above, with specific needs in the area of exercising our horses (even schooling them if you can), looking after them and the other animals, including feeding, cleaning out holding areas. Also welcome is knowledge of fencing, re-purposing existing areas, eco-building, anything that you might find relevant.
Afrikaans: Fluent
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
Comfortable tents and compost toilets. Sometimes we have more comfortable accommodation available, but don't count on it! You will have to rough it out a little.
Johannesburg is an hour away from the farm. There is a variety of activities in the nearest town, Deneysville, which is right on the shore of the Vaal Dam. We have kayaks available for people to take out during their downtime.
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Two
As needed (max 25 hours)
