Animal care, gardening and island living in Oyster Pond, Saint Maarten

Infos

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  Description

  ***Long term***
  Cozy, private, furnished one bedroom apartment in Oyster Pond, St Maarten provided in exchange for part-time property and animal care. Approximately 20 hours of help per week. Seeking kind, reliable, animal-loving individual(s) who value simple supportive living. Can be a couple, but one person must be home most of the day, especially in the morning, to keep our joyful pack of rescue dogs company.
  
  Must be physically fit, no cigarette smokers. We speak French, but should be able to communicate and read English.
  
  My husband and I are retired, we do not run a business. Responsibilities include caring for the dogs and maintaining the garden/greenhouse. Assistance also needed with periodic photography projects focusing on dance, movement, and nature.

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  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Projets artistiques

  Jardinage d'entretien

  S’occuper des animaux

  Accueil / tourisme

  Garde de maison et d'animaux
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  Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

  We enjoy sharing our knowledge of island life, local culture, tropical gardening, and sustainable food growing. Workawayers will have the opportunity to discover both the French and Dutch sides of the island, explore local beaches and nature spots, and experience the unique blend of Caribbean and European influences that makes Saint Martin / Sint Maarten such a special place to live.

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  Aide

  Mon, Wed and Fri my husband Juny takes 2 dogs for a 30 min walk close to Orient Bay, a 20 min drive. I would like 2 more dogs to also go for a walk 3 days a week. You would accompany him; you could take one dog at first until you're comfortable taking two.
  
  You would need to clean the relatively small yard in the morning, 5 days a week. We have 6 dogs in all. The dogs are fenced in and it is forbidden for them to leave the yard unless they’re on a leash on the way to the car, since I have 2 cats out there and there are chickens running wild. You would keep them company part of the day, especially in the morning, give them hugs and talk to them by saying their names, occasionally clapping your hands to acknowledge them, the kind of things for people who love animals do naturally. This would be at your place, and on one of the 2 porches. They like to hang out on the shaded porch to enjoy the view. Juny feeds them, and when he comes home more or less early in the afternoon, they go running to him.
  
  The gardening would be intermittent. First you would help us plant seeds and young flowers plants. Once that's done, you would only need to water, occasionally snip them, and collect the veggies. There is a 20' x 15' greenhouse, four 10' by 5' areas around the house where we can put flowers, as well as a 3' wide plant basin upstairs along the whole 80' length of the house. Upstairs has self irrigation, so you would only to help plant initially and snip once in a while to keep it looking neat.
  
  Photography wise, that's the fun part. We go to resorts, restaurants, night clubs, nature spots, for photo sessions. I pay for your entrance fee and/or drink. This would happen once every couple weeks. There's also the possibility I will resume making videos, around once a month. In this case, I would need your help to set up the shot at my place, including test lighting. Once we're satisfied with the look and the phone is setup on the tripod, I would take it from there, and shoot the video by myself. This is not a business.
  
  Finally, when Juny and I go away up 4 times a year for up to 10 days each time, you would stay in my one of my apts where the 2 cats are, and keep them company, esp. at night, since they sleep on the bed, and use their cat door to go in and out. You would feed them and the dogs too, as well as a few strays at the bottom of the hill where I live. We would supply the car to drive down the hill.
  
  As you can imagine, dogs and cats are very clean. I keep my place clean and looking good, you would be responsible likewise for your place.

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  Langues parlées

  Anglais: Courant
  Français: Intermédiaire

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  Hébergement

  It is situated in an exclusive gated community on the Dutch side, with a view of the French side Natural Reserve, one of the best views on the island.
  
  The accommodation is a cozy, private, furnished one bedroom apartment on the premises of our villa
  
  The apt has a kitchen to cook one's own food. We go to a French side supermarket named Super U, with organic selections.

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  Autres infos...

  We speak fluent English and French. You would be able to speak and read English.

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  Informations complémentaires

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    Accès Internet

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    Accès Internet limité

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    Nous avons des animaux

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    Nous sommes fumeurs

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    Familles bienvenues

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  Possibilité d’accueillir les digital nomads

  Starlink high-speed internet is ideal for a digital nomad, remote worker.

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  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Deux

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  Mes animaux

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