In September 2014, while traveling alone & in need of some good company and a place to rest my head I stumbled upon the lovely community of Vivante EcoVillage. For those unaware of the term "ecovillage" - it is a community in which a group of people living on one property work together towards a more ecologically and economically sustainable life. This particular community had approximately 12 members sharing 4 acres of land and living in 1 main house, 2 yurts and 3 tiny homes. On the property were numerous gardens where much of the food consumed by the community was grown. There were chickens to provide eggs, as well as alpacas and emus to provide manure for composting {and cute things to watch!}
During my stay I mostly worked in Shankari's garden {pictured in the 2 panoramas above} cleaning, planting a tree, transplanting succulents {pictured right}, fixing the path running through the garden, watering & weeding. Much of this work was done, to my amusement, with Rumi, {Shankari's multipoo} right in my lap! My other daily duties included feeding the alpacas {pictured below} & helping to prepare lunch for all the workers. There were 5 other volunteers also staying in the community - for a total of about 20 people living together. A couple from Istanbul Turkey, 2 brothers from southern France and a student from Tokyo Japan made up the other 5 wwoofers/helxers. It was certainly constant entertainment having so many people around and I had many opportunities to learn new things about different cultures, as well as discovering new recipes, films, and even massage techniques! |