There is a lot to offer in the jungle, the experiences are vast and Mother Nature is our greatest teacher. Come live and work at Punta Mona to explore your ingenuous self, use your skills and gain ones you never knew you had!
Punta Mona is one of the more beautiful places to work, take your break in the warm Caribbean and watch the days float by...
Tuition: $1500
Prerequisite: Permaculture Design Certificate (from Punta Mona or other institution)
Immersed in the day-to-day life of an off-the-grid permaculture farm, students become a part of the Punta Mona community, locally and globally! Interns will participate in all aspects of Punta Mona, daily and weekly projects are encouraged and expected.
Daily Activities:
Farm to Table Meal Preparation
Garden Maintenance & Grounds Keeping: weeding, planting, general landscaping and beach clean up
Wild Food Foraging
Green House care: planting, propagating, harvesting
Trail Maintenance
Animal Care: feeding and watering chickens, maintaining their coop and keeping it clean
Hospitality: helping to care for guests and groups
Marketing & Signage: helping with social and local marketing campaigns
Herbal Medicine Basics: learning about the many medicinal species at Punta Mona that can be found through out the tropics to maintain health
Food Fermentation
Sustainable Building: assisting master builders on the farm
Aqua-ponics
Earth and Water Works
Personal Projects:
Students are expected to create and complete a project of their interest. This can range from cataloging plant species, engaging local community efforts, cultivating their own personal garden, various artistic creations, writing blogs, making products, website development & business plans, permaculture designs or construction initiatives, exploration of local ecosystems or fauna and MUCH more.
The personal development project is to be done independently by the student, with their own self-evaluation at the end of their stay at Punta Mona.
Spanish: Not all of the mentors at Punta Mona speak English, though most do. Students will be expected to proactive and engage themselves in the Spanish language, it is recommended each student take the time to tutor themselves each day and practice with native and non-native Spanish speakers on the farm.
During the two months at Punta Mona, students will work 8 hours per day, divided between the farm duties and personal projects. Once a week, students will have a check in with various staff members of Punta Mona to go over their projects, to check in regarding the needs of the farm and to touch base on any personal matters
Lodging, Organic Vegetarian Meals, Partial Workshop Participation
$500 for the first month, depending on your time frame and experience, the tuition ranges from $250-$500 per month, or a worktrade (dependant again on your level of experience)
Volunteers at Punta Mona enjoy the gift of living close to the land, working with a skilled and life long learning husband and wife team. We are open to your creativity as well as having you work with in our ever evolving vision as we further cultivate Punta Mona into a world class education center, botanical collection, permaculture farm and eco-lodge.
You will enjoy seeing the fruits of your labor, the serene and sometimes intense ecosystem, beach front, jungle clad living, close to the elements and connecting with your Gaia rhythm. You can kayak, fish, snorkel, hike into Puerto Viejo to enjoy the night life, cool people, evolved services (bodywork, yoga, dance, art and more) and the weekly farmers market.
Please apply ONLY if you meet the following criteria:
~ you are able to commit for 3-six months up to 1 year
~ you have agricultural/gardening/landscaping/practical permaculture knowledge/kitchen/hospitality/grounds &/or house keeping experiences,
not necessarily tropical, not necassarily all....
~ you are committed to work 6 days per week, about 8 hours per day
~ you are clean, organized, intelligent, creative, fun, multi-skilled, a problem solver, adaptive, not afraid to get down and dirty, drama free, independent, loving, open minded, communicative, professional and able to work on a team.
~ helping to maintain the infrastructure: building cleanliness & organization, general handy work, trails and beach
~ kitchen participation: shared cooking duties, kitchen cleanliness & organization, slow food and field to the plate cuisine, harvesting and propagating food
~ feeding the animals: we currently have 2 cats, 2 ducks and 15 chickens, we will soon be adding two goats
~ hospitality: helping with groups, guests and workshops
~ gardens: chopping brush, composting, weeding, planting, propagation (seed, cutting, airlayering, grafting), harvesting, creating new gardens, turning old ones
At Punta Mona we are dedicated to the principals of Slow Food, field to the plate, creative cuisine that is nutritious, filled with love and as sustainably raised, grown and collected as possible.
You will be a part of a 4-5 person team that will be feeding up to 35 people, 3 meals per day. Our food is primarily vegetarian, though we indulge in sustainably raised and prepared chicken, beef and fish as well as eggs and various forms of dairy. We explore raw, vegan and various ethnic cuisines as well as our own style of Caribbean cooking...
We consider our food jungle gourmet and spend a great deal of time planning and preparing each meal. We harvest minutes prior to preparation and cook many dishes over the fire.
Expect to work at least 2 meals per day, planning, preparing, cooking and cleaning. This duty will be shared with other staff and occasionally you will be putting more hours in to support larger groups and workshops.
To apply for this position please send a letter of intent to contact@puntamona.org with 3 practical applications in the kitchen as well as 3 references. Experience, team playing, cleanliness, organizational skills, great attitude is all a must!! Proficiency in the Spanish language is also required.
At Punta Mona we are dedicated to the providing a living experience that is close to the land, connecting our inner rhythms with that of Mother Nature. Our homes are built from fallen native hard woods, bamboo, cana brava, coral and other found and cultivated materials. Living in the jungle is never static and we are daily trying to improve the infrastructure through cleaning, constructing, deconstructing, repurposing and reconfiguring our living and work space.
You will be a part of a 4-5 person team of volunteers and local laborers, friends and family working to keep Punta Mona flowing.
~ Working the gardens and in the greater farm by propagating, planting, harvesting, pruning, cleaning, reforesting, etc...
~ Connecting with the kitchen daily to assess needs
~ Working within educational programming schedule to make sure food is planted for larger groups
~ Maintaining trails & esthetics, general landscaping
~ Maintaing and guiding Green House management
~ To learn the infrastructure systems such as rain catchment, well and solar systems.
~ Working hand in hand with local laborers
~ Occasional farm tours for guests and educational groups
Expect to work at least 8 hours per day in your respective zone, as well as doing shared shifts in the kitchen.
To apply for this position please send a letter of intent to contact@puntamona.org with 3 practical applications in the above areas, as well as 3 references.
Experience, team playing, cleanliness, organizational skills, great attitude is all a must!! Proficiency in the Spanish language is also required.
Application Process:
please send to contact@puntamona.org
Name:
Age:
Male/Female:
Time Frame for Participation:
Hometown & Current Location:
Languages:
Experience:
Tropical Exposure (please comment on your travel experiences, length of stays, etc... in tropical zones)
References:
Why do you want to be a part of Punta Mona:
Best Personal Qualities:
Challenging Personal Qualities:
Do you consider yourself an introvert or extrovert?:
Existing Medical Conditions:
20 acres of fertile hot springs located 40 minutes of San Jose in the mountains of San Cristobal de Amparados. We offer creative opportunities for volunteers to participate in community life, creative and conscious living based on permaculture principals and indigenous wisdom.
Volunteer Opportunities available for $10 per day with an exchange of 5 hours of work, 6 days per week
Job Duties: Bio-Intensive Gardening, Drying and Preparing Superfoods, Housekeeping, Garden Maintanance, Selling and Representing us in organic markets around San Jose and more!
Included: hot springs, camping, organic vegetarian meals, body work, yoga, meditation, martial arts
Please contact Silvio for more information
Internship program duration: one month
Mornings start with an hour yoga class
Working and learning: As we are a permaculture farm you will continuously be expose to farming permaculture techniques. We will work side by side .
The farm is a great place for bird watching and to learn about plants, fruit trees and spices.
We are as well surrounded by very intresting neighbors like Don Candido, an indigenous medicine man, that will gladly shared his knowledge of plants and beliefs inviting you into his personal medicinal garden. Or our friend Doña Petronilla who has been supporting her family with cacao, she process the bean the way her mother taught her, traditional indigenous chocolate ways and stories are what she knows, like she says "only if the spirit of the bean likes you will it surrender the precious cacao butter."
At Finca Inti you can expect to eat delicious organic meals, mostly harvested the farm, if we dont grow it we will get it organic, supporting organic growers is most important to us.
Accomodations: a beautiful wood bungalow with thatch roof , sleeps 3 .shower and water conscious toilet.
Work Hours: 4 hours in the morning, evenings off. Two days off a week .
Cost $400
Includes:
Yoga class 4 days a week .
3 meals a day, on working days
One professional massage
One visit to Don Candido and one visit to Doña Petronilla.
For couples wishing to have the bunglalow for themselves prices is $700
You can check us for additional programs on www.fincainti.com or check us at "finca inti talamanca" on Facebook
email to intitalamanca@hotmail.com, please let us know if you found us through the Punta Mona website...
Thank you!
-Alejandra & Tristan