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Get dirty in the Spanish mountains!πŸ‡ͺπŸ‡ΈπŸŒ„

The experience

Ideally we are looking for young people that are not afraid of getting their hands dirty since much of the work is heavy work, so any worldpacker will need to be quite fit and enjoy physical labour.
Besides moving soil and rocks we can use help with all kinds of work to restore the property, like repairs and reconstruction of old terraces and drystone walls that have collapsed, pruning the almond and olive trees and much more.

What you offer

25 hours of help per week

Painting & Decorating: Help with painting or decorating the property facilities.

Building & Repairing: Help with a wide range of repairs or building.

Animal Care: Help look after and take care of animals.

Farming: Plant crops, sow seeds and help in outside tasks.

What you get

2 days off per week

Shared Dorm: You will have a bed in a shared room, which means you will share the same room with other travelers.

Breakfast: You are entitled to a free breakfast, every day of your stay.

Lunch: You are entitled to a free lunch, every day of your stay.

Dinner: You are entitled to a free dinner, every day of your stay.

Free Laundry: You can use our laundry room freely.

Free Tours: We’ll take you on tours and rides around town. For free!

Bikes at your disposal: You can use our bikes any time you want.

Pick Up: We will pick you up when you arrive, and take you to our property.

Use our equipped kitchen: Feel free to use our kitchen and make your own delicious food.

Basic Internet Access: Basic speed internet for you to work remotely

Requirements

Beginner English

Over 18 years old

Only hosts solo volunteers (doesn’t accept couples or partners)

What's not included

Flights, Travel Insurance, Internal Transportation and Visa

Program Details

Our finca, bordering a natural reserve, belonged to one family for almost 200 years. Though after the death of Juan el Pastor (as known by the locals), the family patriarch in 2003, it had been abandoned. Fifteen years later, we found this property during our visit to Spain. We immediately fell in love with the magnificent views, the natural park, Sierra de La Pila, and the surroundings. It's secluded yet not isolated. Our dogs Biscotti and Lilly love to run in the mountains, when allowed, and our cats, Yoshi and Kitty, love to come on walks too. Over the years we added goats, chickens and guinea fowl to the property so it feels like a proper farm now.

Our dream is to restore the old finca to an ecological refuge and to build a new house to compliment the old one.
We chose to first make the old house liveable, which mainly consisted of cleaning it out and fixing the many leaks in the roof, then adding some home furnishings. It is simple but quite cozy. With the pot belly stove, it is toasty warm in winter and being a traditional stone building, cool in the summer. We are currently preparing the site of our new living quarters. Once the new build is complete we will fully restore the original farmhouse.

The house is totally off grid, our electricity supply is generated through a solar system and we collect all our water from a local fuente, a mountain spring. So water conservation is something we take very seriously. This water we use for drinking, cooking, washing and showering. We do have a pump connected to our water storage so we do have water on tap which enables us to operate the gas hot shower. Living off grid does not mean we have neglected having some modern conveniences. They come in the form of a refrigerator, freezer, washing machine and stable wifi.

Activities & Shift

There is enough work on the farm to be able to mix it up a bit to relieve the monotony of doing the same thing every day. Some require skill and experience, others not. Besides moving soil and rocks we can use help with all kinds of work to restore the property, like repairs and reconstruction of old terraces and drystone walls that have collapsed, pruning the almond and olive trees including the yearly harvests, soil regeneration, collecting and chipping wood, simple painting maintenance, creating garden boxes with recycled wood, some gardening or just cutting grass to name a few examples.

Worldpackerrs will work and live like family members, sharing the house and taking part in the cooking and cleaning. We all eat the same meals essentially. As a former chef and hotel school student we usually cook nutritious meals for dinner, for lunches we mostly have dressed baguettes or sandwiches and the breakfast is generally very easy, depending on what you like. You are not required to be the best cook but please have a love of and adventurous spirit towards food.

With all the pets and farm animals as well, there is something to do every day and we don't have a 9 to 5 mentality here .Having that said, when you would like your day(s) off to go hiking or exploring that's never an issue, just tell us, no problem! In summer we don't work during the hottest hours of the day, instead we go swimming in the pool nearby which is fed by natural spring water.
We are open minded and we like good conversation during work or when we share a meal together. We also like to take our volunteers, who stay longer with us, on little road trips to Alicante or Murcia, for instance.

Rules

Worldpackers will work and live like family members, sharing the house and taking part in the cooking and cleaning. We all eat the same meals essentially. As a former chef and hotel school student we usually cook nutritious meals for dinner, for lunches we mostly have dressed baguettes or sandwiches and the breakfast is generally very easy, depending on what you like. You are not required to be the best cook but please have a love of and adventurous spirit towards food.

In our house we speak English and Dutch and even some Arabic. We don't mind learning more Spanish from our volunteers. However we do find clear communication important, so having at least beginner English speaking skills is a must.

potential volunteers are required to have an open mind on and for all topics of conversation as we often spend the evenings talking and getting to know more about each other. This is a safe space for organic, natural people. People who embrace the natural world are most welcome. We like to share our knowledge about natural medicine and what we have learnt over the years regarding many topics.