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26 sept. 2024
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Trouvez votre hôte idéal
Séjour min. souhaité : Au moins trois semaines
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Description
Hello lovely potential volunteer!
Thanks for checking out our profile.
For short term and long term volunteer availability, kindly check the alinea below and our calendar.
Many thanks!
SHORT TERM VOLUNTEERS: SPACE AGAIN FROM THE 20TH OF OCTOBER 2024 -> WE ARE LOOKING FOR 1 MORE FEMALE VOLUNTEERS (in a team of a total of 3 female volunteers) who speak English fluently. THANK YOU SO MUCH! Looking very much forward to meet and host you!
B) Long term volunteers
For the long term position we are looking for 1 ASSISTANT FEMALE HOST who stays a minimum of 3 months (space 1st of NOVEMBER 2024 and space from 1st of FEBRUARY 2025). For the details: see below.
Our strong preference goes to females who are between 25-35 years old, who love to be totally in nature, can take lead as being humorous and flexible. During your stay there will be 1-2 other great female volunteers as well. Please, join us and feel very welcome!
Together we will create great vibes to welcome lovely visitors from all over the world.
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A) SHORT-TERM female volunteers (minimum stay of 3 weeks)
-Guiding visitors as a butterfly guide (we will train you happily for this ;-)
-Welcoming visitors at the reception (we are happy to explain you this and this involves handling cash properly)
-Handing out leaflet's to let people know the park is open again (max. 1 hour a day)
If you like to join us, please introduce yourself by writing us (Ineke and Olaf) a short personal, motivational email.
YOU ARE VERY WELCOME! THANK YOU VERY, VERY MUCH!
IN EXCHANGE FOR YOUR HELP:
We will cover your food costs, for three nice and healthy meals a day: we will give you full western/Asian meals and 2 beverages.
YOUR FOOD:*
Breakfast: Baguette with (fried/boiled) eggs or porridge (with coconut milk) with seasonal fruits in or on the side.
Lunch: Baguette/Sandwich or something nice local, prepared by our lovely local staff
Dinner: Alternating, the volunteers cook among themselves (all ingredients provided) one day and the other day, food is provided (prepared by our staff or dinner in a nearby local restaurant). This means, depending on the number of volunteers, you will cook for everyone about 2 times a week. (there will be recipes available)
* In case you have strong other food preferences, for sure we can think together and find solutions!
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B) LONG-TERM volunteer (individual or 2 people (minimum stay 3 months) (includes accommodation, possibility to (learn to drive and) borrow a scooter to go around, meals, beverages, reimbursement of visa cost & monthly pocket money)
**Enjoy working @ our place… **
Imagine waking up every morning straight next to hundreds of Lao butterflies surrounded by the turquoise waters of Kuang Si Falls, Laos. Is this a real job? … It’s our mission to ‘infotain’ visitors and local students about the importance of nature in our lives. The beauty and the vulnerability and most of all; the magic lives of Butterflies in our landscaped gardens.
Yes, join us for at least 3 months to help run our place as ‘The Assistant Butterfly Host.’
Your tasks will be:
Training, planning, taking care and communicate with our short-term volunteers.
Welcoming/guiding visitors and organize our reception desk.
Lend a helping hand with the daily tasks of the founding owners
Duration between 3-6 months (August-October-May (High season is between November and March)) 6 days a week starting from August 2024 again, because all long term positions are filled in until May 2024. On Thursday’s the park will be closed.
We like to welcome you when:
You speak fluently English and other languages are a surplus. Your age is between 25 years and 35 years old. You are flexible team player, emotionally stable and healthy (no drugs). You have an autonomic and reliable personality and love to be in nature all day.
Your reward for being a part of this great adventure:
- Free cost of living in a recently renovated private spacious room, with double bed and toilet.
- Or staying in a private bungalow, with toilet, sink and shower, located 300 meters from the park, owned and hosted by a lovely local Lao family.
- 3 nice and healthy meals a day and 2 beverages (in addition: free drinking water, coffee and tea).
- Use of natural swimming pool in the paradise forest next to our property.
- Use of washing machine and warm shower.
- Use of scooter when available (which you will share with the other long term volunteer)
- Reimbursement of visa on arrival and visa extension cost (in total you can stay 90 days in a row in Laos)
-> Pocket money: Equivalent to 100 US Dollars a month paid in local currency (LAK).
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Our place build up from scratch is looking very much forward to your enthusiasm “Hosts / Guiding”… active!
Outdoor active Persons, very social, between 25 - 35 years, MINIMUM STAY 3 weeks, preferably more, needs to have excellent verbal English communication skills! And is capable to articulate well and handling cash well and trustworthy.
Located: 27 km. from the city Luang Prabang, 300 meters located from the most famous nature attraction in Laos.
TRUE NATURE LOVERS:
Our place can be very suitable for outdoor focused people who are active/initiative taking persons and really, deeply in love with nature. Our park and its surroundings are a true paradise! Uphill, attached to the small Khmu tribe village, beautiful (turquoise) water flowing down next to the premises.
CHARACTERISTICS:
We are looking for emotional stable, grounded people, having an open minded personality and are in a very good state of health (mentally & physically). If you are a true nature lover who really wants to be and connect with nature, you are incredibly welcome to help here! Preferably with (loads of) hospitality experience!
YOU CAN REALLY HELP and what we do OUR CHARITY
You can really make a difference with your help on the front, and we organize loads on the background!
Visitors means money to be able to maintain and develop the park and to keep on organizing our charity on the background. Our charity 'provides the possibility to continue education for the children of the poorest families in our village.
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT THE PARK:
Our project has opened since January 2014 for visitors and has welcomed many international volunteers and we know one thing for sure: It takes special kind of people to gear up with us. So let’s be totally clear with one another! We are kind, loving, people, social, welcoming, playful, clean and direct in communication … and most of all; dedicated to what we do.
We have a variety of flower gardens, a newly created jungle walk AND a 900m2 netted butterfly garden, lots of surrounding waterfalls and a coffee café where we serve homemade apple pie and chocolate cake. The total premises is about 0,9 hectare.
We love to explain the magical life of butterflies to visitors and hopefully to numbers of Lao students in all age groups…. We are getting better and more organized… and STEP BY STEP we get more appreciated by people in Luang Prabang, who are/were totally unfamiliar with this concept.
Foreign biologists, botanist and entomologists are offering help because we are the first place like this in Laos with a clear mission… to share the enthusiasm and necessity of keeping nature and butterflies .
Our mission is still to create a playful nature study centre about Laos nature with and for LAO children and teachers; to show the relation from insects (butterflies) to plants/trees and food for all kind of creatures on earth.
GOOGLE REVIEWS
We have good online reviews, due of the beauty and the energy we daily give to our visitors, our 6 Lao staff members and wonderful volunteers. In this order we operate…… after a few days of training we will love you like our staff, or even as friends ;-)
In Laos we have only 5 months of high season (November-March) with many visitors visiting the park; then we have to earn it for the whole year; to be able to maintain and develop the park in Juny and July, when it's low season and the park is closed for public. In that period we do a lot of maintenance and possibly development.
YOUR ACCOMODATION
Due to legal & financial restraints, you will have to pay for the accommodation (private bungalow, with balcony) in the nearby guesthouse (Lao owned and managed) yourself ($5,5 a day, see details below)*
REALITY OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT:
The falls area after 5.00 P.M. (when the crowds are gone) is still beautiful, but an average rural Lao village with NOTHING TO DO/HANG OUT. Nothing here for you but the sounds of the falls and jungle. If you like to listen music (from your phone, laptop, etc), read books, write, play guitar, listen to all the sounds of nature, YOU WILL BE COMPLETELY IN YOUR ELEMENT.
After 8.00 PM you’ll be out there, at your basic bungalow, hopefully having chats with other volunteers…… consider this….
Are you a strong person who also loves to spend time alone… than you respond… if not, as attractive our story sounds, please respond to someone else who also needs your kindly help.
And if you LOVE NATURE; loads to see, hear, feel and smell! AND, bring your (e-)book and write about your experiences.
-> NO ATM - bring enough cash from Luang Prabang!
-> NO WIFI - you can bring a LAO SIM-Card from Luang Prabang if you want to have mobile internet on your phone.
YOUR DAYS OFF:
2 NIGHTS IN LUANG PRABANG (the park is closed on Thurday's)
*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️ You will be 2 nights off per week. Which practically means: leaving at 16.00 o'clock on Wednesday to Luang Prabang (there is only 'day transportation' since the falls area is a day attraction), stay 2 nights in Luang Prabang and after two nights you will take a shared minivan at 11.30 o'clock (arranged from your guesthouse) and be back at the Park on Friday around 12.30/13.00 o'clock.
SPENDING YOUR FREE DAY(S) IN THIS BEAUTIFUL AREA
If you wish to stay on your free day(s) in the environment to hike around.
NOTE: On your free nights and day, you will arrange your food yourself that day.
WE ONLY ACCEPT BEAUTIFULLY CLEAN AND WELL TRIMMED BEARDS ;-)! LAO Customs are: Lao people dislike man/guys with a long, untrimmed beard. They think it's unclean! They are very clean on themselves and expect this from another person as well!
- You will experience a great time if you are honest and really want to connect to this place and are deeply in love with nature. We expect happily you are authentic, active and like taking initiative.
- If you are afraid of spiders, geckos, or other things which are here in nature, please, apply for another volunteering job. THIS IS NATURE IN ALL IT'S PURITY!
- We will smile in an understanding way if you complain about a hard mattress, slow internet or the size of your balcony….….. We expect you to understand that you are in LAOS! ;-)
WHY DO WE WORK WITH VOLUNTEERS:
It’s not a cheap solution to request for volunteers. Our staff is wonderful and skilled. Since we only prefer local Lao people from this and surrounding villages, most of them don't speak (any) English, but 'only' LAO, KHMU (tribe language) and THAI (which they have learned from Thai broadcasting).
WHY DO VOLUNTEERS PAY THEIR OWN ACCOMMODATION of $5 (single) or $6 (couple) per night
Due LAO legislation we are not allowed to have anybody else then ourselves sleeping at the premises.
Otherwise volunteers could have stayed for free, but that's not reality. Since we don't get any external funding, we are capable to pay your lovely food, see below:
SUMMARY OF NATURE EXPERT VOLUNTEERING JOBS:
- (hobby) Entomologists, horticulturists and botanists (stay a minimum of 3-5 months FROM July until November (max).
We strongly prefer a person who is really 'hands on,' (quite) handy and a combination of these 3 occupations. You will work together with our local gardener(s).
DAILY ROUTINE EXPLANATION FOR SHORT TERM VOLUNTEERS:
We will give you an idea of the situation when you come here, the day routine and how free days work a bit for volunteers:
DAY ROUTINE
10.00 breakfast (our lovely Lao staff will prepare this for you)
10.45 reception set up (START)
11.00 park open
11.00 (usually) the first visitors will start to come
16.00 park closes (STOP)
You will start from 10.45/11.00 until 16.00 o'clock (11 am until 4 pm)
17.00/18.00 start cooking (we have a tiny, written book with nice and simple recipes for you ;-)
(We will make a schedule together when you will cook (2-3 times a week) and when somebody else will cook for you ;-)
18.00/19.00 start dinner
ROTATION:
-> You will rotate between reception, guiding visitors and handing out leaflets*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️ (*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️1 hour a day MAXIMUM.)
We simply do love it – “the Lao life”… … we are the butterfly-people, as the Lao people joke, when we visit the city of Luang Prabang… actually we live surrounded by the blue waters of the famous turquiouse waterfalls, 27 km away from town, and we experience the magic and beauty to live in this way.
Regards and looking forward to meet you! Write to us… your age, your picture, your motivation… your absolute skills…
THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH lovely you!
With warm, happy, playful and colourful butterfly greetings,
Olaf, Ineke and our 5 year old Dion
Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre
Bénévolat
Projets artistiques
Aide avec des éco-projets
Jardinage
S’occuper des animaux
Baby-sitting et jeux créatifs
Cuisine/repas pour la famille
Accueil / tourisme
Aide informatique/internet
Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre
We are an example to show how an Eco tourism oriented company can work in a development country.
To learn how different cultures see and experience nature and volunteers can learn how to inspire different cultures about nature.
Projets impliquant des enfants
Ce projet peut impliquer des enfants. Pour en savoir plus, consultez nos directives et conseils ici.
Aide
What is your benefit of coming here:
Volunteering in a beautiful environment. Learning and taking care of butterflies with and in nature. Staying in Laos and helping with local and/or people from other cultures.
Langues parlées
Anglais: Courant
Lao: Courant
Hollandais: Courant
Allemand: Intermédiaire
Espagnol: Débutant
Français: Débutant
Hébergement
This will be in a private bedroom with private bathroom, 300 meters located from the project. This will be a basic wooden bungalow with very basic bathroom, sink, bucket shower and western toilet. BUT you can use our private bathroom at the park, for a warm shower and using our washing machine.
Autres infos...
When you face the post office In Luang Prabang, you can find tuktuks/minivans left from it. The driver will ask FROM 600.000 LAK per tuktuk, depending on the amount of people. Or you can take a shared minivan (leaving at 11.30 o'clock, ticket arranged by your guesthouse or a ticket office) and pay 80.000 LAK for one ride up to our place. (Before the pandemic period) everyday day at 9.30/11.30 AND 13.30 there will be a minivan coming up to the falls. A drive of about 45/60 minutes.
To see:
- Kuang Si Falls, swimming,
- Springs, hiking
- Cave, hiking
- 27km up North, the French colonial city Luang Prabang
Informations complémentaires
Accès Internet
Accès Internet limité
Nous avons des animaux
Nous sommes fumeurs
Familles bienvenues
Possibilité d’accueillir les digital nomads
It would be great if you would like to support us with maintaining/updating Facebook, Instagram and creative/pro-active thinking and being active in ways to generate cash flows.
Espace pour garer des vans
Workawayers with campervan can park freely at our parking lot and don't have to pay accommodation fee, because they will stay in their own van instead of the local guesthouse 300 meters from the park.
Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?
Plus de 2
Nombre d'heures attendues
25 hours max (4-5 hours, 5 days a week)
Feedback (53)
I am grateful for my time here and people I have met. I really enjoyed the work and conversations with Ineke and Olaf. They both are open, knowledgeable and inspiring people. I have learned here a lot and not only about… read more
Photos
Feedback
Ce sont des évaluations supplémentaires en option lorsque les membres laissent un feedback. La note moyenne pour chaque option est affichée.
Exactitude du profil:
(5.0)
Échange culturel:
(4.6)
Communication:
(5.0)
I am grateful for my time here and people I have met. I really enjoyed the work and conversations with Ineke and Olaf. They both are open, knowledgeable and inspiring people. I have learned here a lot and not only about… read more
Ineke and Olaf are good hosts and everything is like written on the page.
They are open-minded and clear in the Communication.
I am happy that I stayed there. After the work you have enough… read more
Swathi, thank you so much for joining… read more
Vicky, we wish you a lovely continuation in… read more
I really liked the jungle feel, loved the village and began to feel at ease in the environment and routine.
Olaf and Ineke provide a detailed description on the site and in the early messages which helps to helps with your own expectations and their expectations of you.
The workday… read more
Eoin will explore his skills and… read more
Leila! Thanks a lot for your wonderful help and your lovely personality/presence.
Olaf and Ineke accepted my request on a really short notice after my workaway host canceled on me a few days prior to meeting him.
Working there was not a hard job. I sold tickets, took care of the butterflies, guided guests around the park, etc. But this experience is not… read more
Ineke and Olaf were really welcoming and the Laos women, who are working in the kitchen, are lovely.
The work is enjoyable, you have different tasks to do, I really loved guiding the visitors and telling them more about the lifecycle of the butterflies.… read more
Thank you for such a lovely time :)
However, for us this was much more than just a regular Workaway-Experience. We got completely immersed into the work here, helped Olaf… read more
The… read more
Tasks vary - reception guiding and flyering sometimes waitresseing. Flexibility is important that's what makes it more interesting in my eyes.
The last week Olaf and Ineke were back from the Netherlands and I'm glad that I had the chance to get to know… read more
The place is paradise: jungle, mountains, beautiful sunset and swimming in the waterfalls!
Also, getting to see people’s enthusiasm in the butterfly house made my day every day plus I got to learn so much… read more
Anne is flexible, grounded, has a very nice sense of dry humor and she learns very quickly. She was great to have around for a month: as a good butterfly guide, welcoming receptionist and as a warm person. Anne, thank you very, very much for your commitment and thank you very much for all your… read more
I learnt so much in my time there thanks to Olaf and Ineke and their books!
The accommodation is… read more
As a team member it’s a challenge to understand his personality. He seems to show himself differently then he… read more
I must also say that if… read more
Dogs, cats, ducks, waterfalls & butterfly... I loved.
With Ineke & Olaf, meals and afterworks outsides are perfects.
We are happy you came here and wish you all the best and beauty during your travels and in life!
Olaf and Ineke were great hosts. They are welcoming, super nice, fun and have a great sense of humour.
The work is in reception and guiding people around and you are encouraged to find your own style and way of guiding, which I really liked. So if you love nature, are curious, want to… read more
I had a great time all in all. Olaf and Ineke work really hard and are passionate about what they do.
I loved the accommodation and the views from it. I was really pleased that I had a travel kettle because I need coffee when I wake up and I woke up really early there.
We did… read more
The 3 main tasks are:… read more
I was a bit nervous at first about tour guiding as it is something I have not done before, but I genuinely enjoyed speaking to people and giving out the information on the butterflies. It… read more
You will learn a lot about butterflies very quickly, as well as getting to know the Laos culture. Thapene, the village… read more
I loved guiding people around and learn even more about our beautiful scale-winged friends! The park is beautiful and really peaceful, loved to work there!
Would really recommend the place to other nature-loving people.
I totally enjoyed. working on reception, guiding and telling people visitors about the park and about butterflies.
This was a wonderful workaway experience and recommended to anyone who lives nature.
Of course i learned a lot abut butterflies and i truly enjoyed the guiding, loved to do something practical like gardening as well. But it is the joy with whom you are welcomed by everyone and quickly accepted as part of the big family that makes it… read more
The place is beautiful and really peacefull, with the Kuang Si waterfall running in the park.
Thanks for having me and teaching me about butterflies.
And Ineke makes the best… read more
Ineke and Olaf are really passionate about their project. It was great to participate in it. The park is really amazing, surrounded with gorgeous nature on a remote rural territory! And the purpose of it - nature preservation - is honorable indeed. I would so recommend to volunteer there.
Ineke… read more
