Wwoofing at Marcelo's

From the center of Santiago, we go to Marcelo's farm in Colina, about 40km away, our chosen Wwoofing host. Wwoofing means 'Worldwide work on organic farms' and works as follows: There is a provider who maintains a list of all Wwoofing hosts in a country, which can be purchased for about €40, including detailed descriptions of the farms and various work activities, as well as the contact details of the farmer. The principle of Wwoofing is that you get free accommodation and food for about 4 hours of work per day, which is perfect for low-budget world travelers like us.

So far so good, the first challenge was explaining to the bus driver where we wanted to go, which we more or less managed (we needed two trips to reach our destination...). Then we were greeted by the opposite of the city: huge green areas, few houses and few people. However, it felt pretty good after city life. When we arrived at Marcelo's, it felt even better because he has a huge beautiful 'farm' and he built it all himself in just 7 years. Since we are only here for a few days (we will then go with him to his property on Isla Mocha), the program is more about relaxing and enjoying than working a lot. Good food, fun evenings with guitar and wine, playing with his two lovely dogs, and also taking care of a few fruit trees and helping him with preparations for the island.

Marcelo is 36 years old and comes from French Switzerland. He has also lived in Canada and travels extensively in general. But now he wants to settle down on Isla Mocha, and a few days later we were able to find out for ourselves why he chose Isla Mocha. He is an extremely positive guy who lives in the present and enjoys life, but he also manages to realize his projects. Also with us is a French couple who are also Wwoofing. Like all the people we have met so far, they are also super nice and we get along well with them. All in all, it was a super relaxing and fun few days on a beautiful small farm. Now the multicultural group is heading off to the real adventure: Isla Mocha.