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🔨 Love building, gardening and working outdoors?
Join us at our peaceful mountain retreat in Andalucía! We're looking for practical volunteers who enjoy DIY projects, landscaping, gardening and maintenance.
Every week is different... you might build a pergola, repair stone walls, paint, prune trees, install irrigation or help improve our beautiful off-grid cortijo while enjoying life surrounded by nature.
25 hours of help per week
Farming: Plant crops, sow seeds and help in outside tasks.
Painting & Decorating: Help with painting or decorating the property facilities.
Building & Repairing: Help with a wide range of repairs or building.
Gardening: Help grow plants and cultivate gardens
2 days off per week
Private Room: You will have a bed in a private room. In other words, a room just for you.
Free Laundry: You can use our laundry room freely.
Free Hiking Tours: We’ll take you on excursions and hikes 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.
Fast Internet Access: High-speed internet for you to work remotely
Beginner English or Beginner Spanish
Welcomes solo volunteers, couples, and partners of volunteers
Flights, Travel Insurance, Internal Transportation and Visa
About us
We are Marijn and Femke, retreat facilitators and owners of Cortijo Jamaica.
Starting this September our family will divide our time between the cortijo and our home near our daughter's school. Because of this, we'd love someone who can be a reliable presence whenever we're away.
You'll never be expected to manage everything alone, but having someone we trust on the property gives everyone peace of mind.
About the project
Cortijo Jamaica is a peaceful retreat center where we host small wellness retreats and operate a Bed & Breakfast.
Between retreats we're constantly improving the property and would love enthusiastic people who enjoy seeing tangible results from their work.
What you'll help with
Projects vary depending on the season and may include:
- Gardening
- Landscaping
- Tree pruning
- Irrigation
- Painting
- General maintenance
- Small construction projects
- Carpentry
- Stone work
- Creating outdoor spaces
- Helping keep the property beautiful
- No two weeks are the same.
Who we're looking for
You'll probably enjoy this experience if you:
- Like working with your hands
- Aren't afraid of getting dirty
- Enjoy solving practical problems
- Have experience with DIY or construction (a plus, but not essential)
enjoy physical outdoor work
- Are positive and self-motivated
- Appreciate nature
Schedule
You'll normally volunteer during the weeks between our retreats.
Our retreat weekends are reserved for guests, so you'll usually have those days free or will finish your stay before a retreat begins.
Expect approximately 20–25 hours per week, leaving plenty of time to explore the area.
Accommodation
You'll stay in our volunteer apartment together with our long-term caretaker.
You'll have:
- Your own bed in a shared volunteer apartment
- Shared kitchen
- Shared bathroom
- High-speed Starlink internet
- Laundry facilities
- Incredible mountain views
- A peaceful environment surrounded by nature
What makes this place special
This isn't a commercial volunteer project. We're creating a place where people reconnect with nature, themselves and each other. Many volunteers tell us the peaceful atmosphere is just as valuable as the work itself.
If you enjoy learning practical skills, working outdoors and contributing to a meaningful place, we'd love to welcome you.
Please note: We live off-grid, so we produce our own solar electricity and manage our own water systems. Life here is peaceful and simple, and we ask volunteers to be mindful of resources and respectful of the quiet atmosphere. We are looking for mature, reliable people who enjoy taking initiative and treating the cortijo as if it were their own home.
Many worldpackers have been applying to this position recently. The host will probably not be able to respond to all of the applications, so we recommend that you also apply to other hosts in our community and not just this one :)
