Quinta Encantada

We live on a Quinta (farm) at the foot of Monsanto, on an enchanting, beautiful and tranquil land of just under eight hectares, About half of it is wild, with lots of huge granite boulders and cork oak, also a lot of mature fruit and olive trees. We have started offering "Relational Presence" and other related retreats for couples and small groups. We invite volunteers who feel drawn to the idea of a retreat centre where being truly present with each other and the land is how we try to live. We are creating more infrastructure for guests and volunteers, and we would love to have some support with the building work and taking care of the land and making our place more beautiful. Preferably people who are both able to be self-responsible and interested in genuine connection and exploration.

We will shop and pay for your basic food needs, including home baked bread. We willl sometimes cook and eat together - perhaps once a day - and soend an evening together but we hope you also enjoy being on your own. As we mentioned, three to four working hours a day, weekends free, working hours not including time spent cooking and cleaning together. What you get is an opportunity to live in a place of outstanding natural beauty and tranquility for free - and participate in our daily inquiry and movement practices. What we also offer is the opportunity to be on a retreat with our support and (if you wish) guidance, and that you pay a much reduced price in exchange for working hours. Skills with building with wood and stone, olive picking, tree pruning are very welcome indeed.

We have a beautiful house and terrace and guest room, a large tent and even a cave to sleep in when the weather allows. We also have two barns, large and small, which we wish to turn into a group activity room for meditation, dance, movement and creativity - and a smaller one which we want to turn into a guest apartment with its own kitchen, and an outside compost toilet. We willl have a builder who takes responsibility for the main work but at present, it would be ideal if volunteers bring their own mobile home so we can have some independence from each other. It would be fantastic if some of you have building or gardening skills, but even more wonderful if you, in your own life's path, are interested in relational practices - through movement and meditation and, for instance, Circling. People who wish to connect volunteering with a kind of being on retreat with us. We have a bathroom and warm water shower outside, your help with creating a guest apartment with simple kitchen would also be great. That does not mean high expectations to meet - we are simply hoping to find people with similar interests - whose company we enjoy.

It's hard to describe the beauty of this place! Tranquil, green all year round, hot in the summer and sometimes wet in the winter, the land has an untamed wild beauty as well as being very gentle. There are some very small villages nearby and there is the spectacular village of Monsanto and many old footpaths and pilgrimage trails all reachable on foot.

There are just a few restaurants around in Monsanto and the city of Castelo Branco is about 50 km away. Also beautiful lakes to swim in at 14 and 25 km away.

We've already written a lot... one thing that makes it special is that we have these eight hectares of wild and beautiful land to steward - it's like a gigantic Zen garden. You can walk around here for hours and almost forget that we live in the 21st century.