Workaway reviews, feedback and ratings - page 7

We spent a lovely month in Gillian’s beautiful garden. Our daily task was to look after the hens, the 38 chicks we watched grow up, and Bruce the rabbit. Gill taught us how to look after the garden and her polytunnel, which requires a great deal of precision and quite a bit of energy. Beyond the work, Gillian is a very active woman with a keen artistic sense and remarkable cooking skills. If you enjoy art and/or cooking, she’ll be delighted to chat with you about these topics! The house is a one-hour walk from the nearest village and a two-hour walk from local amenities. If you don’t have a car, as was the case for us, trips into town are rather limited and depend on Gill’s schedule. The surrounding countryside and towns offer some lovely walks to enjoy in your free time and on days off. A big thank you to Gillian, who gave us such a warm welcome and taught us so much about garden maintenance. Despite a few communication issues at the start of our stay, we had a wonderful March surrounded by animals, art and, above all, chicks.

It was so wonderful to stay with you and your amazing (and extended) family for the time I did. Although I can’t guarantee you guys got out as much of the experience as I did, I hope you enjoyed the extra company. You guys went above and beyond to make it super special and I learnt and did things I never expected to - ie butchering a chicken (thank you Melita for being a good teacher and for all the food too!), milking a cow, making cheese….! And I will definitely be storing so many memories away. I loved working on the farm and picking coffee berries, despite not being a coffee drinker myself I’ll definitely appreciate the time and effort that goes into producing coffee more than I did before. The animals were so cute and I loved seeing how free range and happy the chickens are - to many more chicks making it even busier soon! I felt very lucky to be able to see and hold the bunny babies and Silkie chicks and turkeys. Of course I couldn’t leave out Callie and Rocky who I absolutely had soft spots for. I had such a fun time with Alan and we made a good team working on the farm and doing our various jobs. Thank you Alan for keeping me entertained with playing games and including me with your cousins which was so fun, as well as being a very useful translator and telling me lots of facts about Guatemala and the area and nature. Leslie, I know we had a lot more to say to each other (or at least I did) but I really enjoyed spending time working together and I hope one day I can return and have worked on my Spanish so more of my personality comes out and we can communicate in more than grunts 🤣 Such a power woman! Keith I loved working on the farm with you and although we weren’t physically together, it was so peaceful out there doing our jobs and coming together to chat about random things or religion or being back home. It was super nice to learn all about you and things you had to say. (Also nice to bond over not understanding most of the conversation around us 🙈). And Maria you have such a big, kind and generous heart which I can see why so many people call you mum. (And dad to you Keith too). Thank you for being so open with showing me your passion and including me with all of your family, I felt very privileged to be able to share that. Please tell all the kids that they were so kind and fun, I’m keeping my necklaces safe and that hopefully I’ll be back one day to play again. And Maria your mums cooking that I tried really was so so delicious :) But this was such an authentic experience that I’m so grateful to have had as it feels so important to me to experience more than just tourist stops when I’m travelling. Being able to contribute in my small way was so rewarding and I thoroughly enjoyed myself with your family being so generous to me. And of course trying so much delicious traditional Guatemalan food that I otherwise probably wouldn’t have. Thank you so much and I hope that everything continues to grow and develop on the farm and with your mission.

From the very beginning until the end, we always feeled like at home. The whole family warm welcomed us and we could exchange a lot about the peruvian culture. The work with Dionny in the field was also a really nice experience. Sometimes we went for an ice cream in Carhuaz after the field ✌🏻Dionny teached us aswell how to cook the amazing ceviche 😋 and other traditional dishes. The whole family is very openmind and love to share stories/cultural topics. We also had enough time to discover the Cordillera Blanca and to do some hikes. Alan really knows his region perfectly and organized us different hikes. He also helped us to be ready for the Santa Cruz. Dionny, Alan, Mafi, Margarita, Valentina, los cuyos y los niños - muchas gracias a todos 🫶🏻

Mattia & Maria Alejandra were a great addition to our team and a pleasure to host. They are positive, responsible, and easy to work with. They adapted quickly to our environment, showed great initiative, and were always willing to help with a good attitude. Communication with them was smooth, and they connected very well with both the team and our guests. We truly appreciated their energy, reliability, and teamwork, and it was a really nice experience having them with us. We would gladly recommend them to any host and would be happy to welcome them back anytime. Thank you again for everything and all the best in your future travels! 😊

One of the best experiences I've had during my two years in Brazil! Tomaz and Ty are absolute sweethearts, and the two weeks flew by. There was always something to do on the farm, and it was a real learning experience, harvesting the shitake or building a bio construction project. We also had great adventures, hiking, going to a breathtaking waterfall and capoiera! Tomaz is a real kind, good person. He's quiet, but when you get him talking about his adventures biking across europe and the middle east or about bees and the farm, he has tons of great stories. I had the best time and made a lifetime memory. Highly recommended!

A huge thank you to Lucie and Bruno for hosting me for a wonderful three weeks in Chiloé. They are a lovely family and made me feel very welcome, sharing with me their life philosophies as well as their know how for how to run a farm. Their children were also very friendly and always willing to play some board or card games! The work is varied and can be quite tiring but we were never made to go over 5 hours and you can always be sure to have a tasty homemade meal afterwards. The location is divine, 5 minutes away from the beach and with views of the Andes on a clear day. Merci encore Lucie et Bruno, c'était une expérience incroyable!

I want to share my incredible experience volunteering at this place! The most valuable thing here is definitely the people. A special shout-out to Kevin — he’s an absolutely amazing guy, a natural leader, and the heart of this community. He makes you feel at home from the very first moment. I was involved in building a house for one of the volunteers, which was a great hands-on experience. But the highlight for me was the evenings: Kevin organized communal dinners for everyone every single night. It was such a warm atmosphere and a fantastic way to practice English naturally while hanging out. The surrounding nature is breathtaking — the perfect environment to recharge. Huge thanks to Kevin and the whole community for this opportunity. Highly recommended!

He realizado mi primer workaway con Ana y sus adorables animales, y aunque ha sido una estancia muy corta, no descarto volver a ponerme en contacto con ella para volver por su bonito hogar. Es un lugar precioso y con mucho que aprender y Ana te explica todo con cariño, el mismo que tiene a todos sus animales y lo que ha construido. Sus perros y gatos te acogen como si fueras parte de la familia. Me acompañó mi perra Dana y con ella genial, sentí que la incluyeron desde el principio, era una más ❤️🫶

Pasamos dos semanas con Anita y Chamo en este lugar muy especial. Ellos eran muy flexibles con nosotros, en relación con las planes de viaje, el trabajo de casa, proyectos, horas, todo! Ellos compartieron mucha comida y bebidos con nosotros, y nos mostraron mucho respeto. Tienen un gran sentido de humor nos reímos juntos mucho! Chamo es un profesor de español ( pues, como un profesor!) nos ayuda mucho con la idioma. La ubicación es muy bueno, cerca a un mercado bueno y parada de autobús, y el centro viejo. Nos encanta Arequipa,la comiday cultura es muy bien!

I had a very positive experience here with Véro and Theresa and everybody else, I feel I have learned a lot from this experience, We were given a lot of independence in the work and you could go at your own pace there was always two or more people to share tasks with so it was always a manageable amount, The days felt pretty full and time flew and I most certainly have new muscles I never had before but I grateful that we always had warm food, endless amounts of porridge, fresh cooked bread and coffeeee, I felt super welcome and well cared for everyone was super open and real and to find such a queer place in the middle of nowhere made me feel very lucky, If you like long walks a bit of forest or just some peace and quite with a few horses this is the ideal place, Thanks guys ♡♡♡

I was reached out to by this Workaway to volunteer at an English teaching institute in Quito and I’m really glad i chose to volunteer there! I was staying with the lovely host family whom help run the institute. On my first day I became quite ill and they were so helpful with their energy and time making sure I was looked after and checked into a hospital alright. Thanks to them I got over my illness with a lot less stress! I will forever be grateful! I had a private room to sleep in in the home. The teachers at the institute are super lovely and the volunteering was mostly assisting the teachers with making conversations with the students, giving hints, tips or suggestions, marking some tests and doing speaking assessments. It’s mostly in person but there are some online sessions. I didn’t have to lead the class but simply assist. It was also lovely to meet with the students and really nice way to also share a little bit of each others lives and get to know a little or Ecuador in this way. We had a little field trip day out to the historic centre with the students and an afternoon out in Quito with the teachers too and everyone was great company! In terms of the schedule, I left the house with the family to go to the institute between 7:00 and 7:20 each morning, once at the institute I did 5 hours of volunteering and could have lunch there, it was usually between 3 and 4 hours in the morning between 1 and 2 hours after lunch, the family would return home around 5 so I could either do something nearby the institute like walk in the park or go to the mall until 5 and get a lift home or make my own way by taxi at some other time. Thank you everyone for making my stay there so lovely and my first 2 weeks in Quito so memorable! 🙏🏼🌞

I have just finished my first work away experience here and it was amazing, so much more than I ever was hoping for. Wim, Anaïs and Marc are all so lovely and easy to get along with. The work was really varied and so it never felt boring. The food was amazing, we ate delicious food every single day. The yurts and all the facilities were great and really cosy when it was cold in the evening with the wood burning stove. The whole experience just couldn’t have been better, very quickly it felt so comfortable, their warm energy really made us feel so welcome and we quickly all felt like a little community. The place itself is so beautiful and peaceful. I really got so much from my whole experience there, I definitely want to go back and couldn’t recommend it enough. Thanks so much all three of you!! Hopefully I’ll be back as soon as I can 🌝

My time with Lynda and Lulu was one of the best parts of my trip. The three weeks were wonderful. Lynda is a truly wonderful host and a fantastic cook. Clarence has incredibly beautiful natural surroundings, so I loved going for walks with Lulu. All in all, it was a just positive: working in the garden and the house, the time spent with Lynda and Lulu, and the trips to Kaikoura 🌟

This place is really super. Manee is a very nice person involved in many projects. And I had a great time with the team of volunteers!

I had a memorable experience, an immersion in the massaï community. I was warmly welcomed to stay for more than 2 weeks at Salome's nice house. I felt part of the family, having meals together , going out together. Salome and her husband were so nice with me, and little David was so cute ! I had the opportunity to teach French in a school, to spend time with the children, to attend to a wedding and to a solidarity gathering, and to sleep in a traditional massaï mud house. I enjoyed a lot this experience and recommend this workaway!

I had a lovely work away experience here for 2 weeks. It felt difficult for me at the beginning because my Spanish is quite basic and so had a little trouble understanding everything, but of course that was also a good way to learn! The accommodation was rustic with cold running shower. Everyone lends a hand preparing the meals and then after breakfast we did 3 hours volunteering which mostly consisted of gardening, cleaning or renovating. The garden is a lovely space to hang out in and the natural pool really refreshing. There’s not so many places to walk around to in the area (such as rivers or waterfall) but it's just a half an hour walk to the cute little town of Nocaima (I found it quite charming 🙂). The place isn’t a public hostel in the usual sense in that it isn’t a place where guests are staying regularly but a place for volunteers to stay. Nazareth and Rodrigo were wonderful hosts, Rodrigo speak fluent English although was away most of the time I was there. Nazareth is an incredibly warm and open hearted soul so interested in others and interesting in herself. She was always there to share coffee and stories and is just a wonderfully kind human. Having her as a host along with Santiago who stays and helps organise the volunteering made the place feel like a home and we made trips as a group to town about once a week just to have a nice time together. There is space to practice yoga or study, occasionally the internet takes a break from working but for the most part worked well. We all ate really well too. If you want a relaxed time with lots of gardening and kind souls near Nocaima i would recommend. Also Nazareth is so knowledgeable about plants and the garden is filled with all kinds of different ones to get to know. We also all sat by the fire one night and the place cultivates a nice atmosphere between the volunteers. The cats and dogs (and Betty the hen) are also great company! Thank you so much Nazareth, Santiago and Rodrigo for everything! 🫶🏼

Joel was a pleasure to have stay with us. It was a short stay on his way through to Queensland unexpected but absolutely destiny. As a chef he cooked up some amazing delicious meals which was such a blessing after long days of work for us. He is eager to learn new tasks, a great worker very easy to get along with, great sense of humour (we had some laughs and shared many stories of adventures ) We didn't want him to leave and will definitely stay in touch. An all round great guy!

This was such a wonderful place!! We stayed for one week, during which we helped with weeding and collecting trash. (It would be helpful to have gloves.) Every Tuesday, there is a trip to Chala for shopping, so you’ll need to buy things like water and toilet paper then. Going to the beach every day after work with the adorable dogs was such a great memory ☺️ And Betty’s food was absolutely delicious!! Muchas gracias.

Lara is such an enthousiast and easy-going person! It was amazing to have her in our little community for a few weeks. She made us all laugh many many times, and her spontaneity lightens everything up! We could count on her for any job, including the heavier ones. Thank you so much for that!! She would always ask if we needed help with anything and would give an extra hand, even though her work time was over for the day. Lara is always very grateful for everything. She is a communicative and a group-spirit person, and is also very caring towards people's needs and thoughtfull of that at all times. Thanks so much Lara for sharing your spark and your energy with us all! We wish you all the best in your future community projects and hopefully see you back soon! :-)

I will never forget my stay in this community!! So much warmth! I had an amazing experience. I was encouraged and supported by the staff of the NGO when I launched completely new projects in the women empowerement program : a professional massage training and jewelry workshops. I built a strong link with the mamas' and I am still in touch with them 5 months after. It was a meaningful, emorable adventure, so enriching. I highly recommand this workaway .