Amanda Holzgang's Page

Hey sorry for the late reply!

We spent months in Nicaragua and just arrived in Guatemala last week. Nicaragua doesnt have many good opportunities on WWOOF (stay away from Totoco), but it is such a big, wonderful and diverse country. We volunteered at 2 places alone just from talking with local people who needed help. Both times we were accomodated with housing. One of the times we were provided food. The work we did was mostly English teaching and farm maintanance. Go to the remote and unvisited but highly recommended Rio San Juan in the south of Nicaragua. There are 2 places we volunteered (full accomodation) 1. Grand River Lodge and Montecristo. They are both well known in the region and easily accessible by Lancha (river boat). For Montecristo, you need to contact the owner (Augustino) in advance. For Grand River Lodge talk to Gilbert Marvin and say you know Gabriel and Andrea! Hope this helps. (and definitely avoid Totoco on wwoof, it was the worst of all our volunteering experiences, and it doesnt serve the community whatsoever, just his high end tourist resort)

Can you share some of your experiences in Guatemala?

Thanks!

Ok, Better in Belize is right on the Guatemalan border in a fairly remote location. When I was there we only went into town once a week for groceries, and other than that there wasn't much opportunity to leave the farm. We did get to visit some Mayans ruins and hang out in San Ignacio while I was there, but I wouldn't plan to do a lot of sight-seeing while you're at the farm. All the food is provided while you work at the farm, but everyone prepares it as a group. We focused on making foods that could be grown on the farm, and so I got to try a lot of new and interesting foods while I was there. Accommodations were in a loft where everyone slept, and to be honest I didn't get the best sleep there. But tents are welcomed and there is plenty of room. We worked around 7 hours a day, a half day on Saturday, and Sunday was off. When I was working there there was between four to one other person working with me. The days varied from using shovels and wheelbarrows to terrace the land to planting seedlings. The work was really variable though.

Well I think that rounds it out for your specific questions. I should go, but let me know if you want to know anything else!

Hey Amanda

Thanks for the connection. We are not arriving to Central America until September. We are so excited. Our first stop is going to be Guatemala. It would be great if you were able to tell us about your experience there and give advice or recommendations about the area. Maybe we can all link up when we're there. We're planning on wwoofing and traveling for an extensive amount of time in many countries. Im sure we'll cross paths!

Write back

PEACE

Hi Amanda!

Collecting quite a few post here I see, well done!

As for me, I signed up for this site out of general interest but never got round to using it. I did however spend over half a year volunteering in Ecuador for a few proyects. I have been in Ecuador for 11 months and am now traveling ' up' through Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica and who knows what next.

Anyone who wants to know anything about mainly Ecuador can ask me anytime. And if you are willing to pay a reasonable amount for a great experience I know a few nice adresses for you around.

Check  www.AmaZOOnico.org  or better still  www.Merazonia.org  (and there is more)

Let me know and enjoy your travels!

Lukas

Hi Amanda, 

I haven't made it to Guatemala yet.. I was was planning on doing it in late summer. I see you are from Eugene. I just arrived here last night.. I was born and raised there but currently I'm studying in CA. Have a great time 

helllo,

I as well may not be that much help since this will be my first time wwoofing in Belize and then exploring the jungle of honduras and coral reefs off the coast. I have heard great things from people who have visited and wwoofed belize but after my trip this summer i can definitely give you more of a description about the farm i am staying at called the Spanish Creek Rainforest Reserve. The farms seems to work in itself as a community with wwoofers rotating the cooking and living off mostly what the farm produces but you can check more about it out at www.belizeability.com. hope this helps.

-Sophia

Hi Amanda, I only WWOOF'd at two farms, one in Mexico and one in Belize. I enjoyed my time at the farm in Belize, and it would probably qualify as communal, but when I left they were talking about pausing the WWOOF program because of the stage they were at in their work. But I would definitely try contacting them anyways. They are called Better in Belize and are listed under the WWOOF Belize directory. I talked to some other WWOOFers at the farms who had also done work through this website www.helpx.net and they said they had a great experience, so I'd recommend checking it out too.

In Belize I would recommend spending at least a few days at Caye Caulker -- it's a popular island for backpackers off the coast of Belize City. I stayed at Yuma House and thought it had an awesome atmosphere. From other backpackers I also heard that the ATM (Actun Tunichil Muknal) caves were really incredible and worth seeing. You said you've already been to Guatemala, but in case you haven't done it I would really recommend doing the moonlight hike to Vulcan Santa Maria with Quetzaltrekers to watch the sunrise. I camped up there and it was one of the highlights of my trip.

I didn't go there but I heard lots of great things about Colombia! Good luck on your trip! Let me know if you have other questions.

-Andrew

Hi Amanda~ Thanks for sayin hello and being social...i am new to this as well and havnt been any farther south than Mexico yet..im planning a trip for costa rica for this winter though. I am planning on working with energia verde, and i also know an organization by the name of 'long way home' that may be worth lookin into..im not sure what countries they are in, but they build cob houses with recycled materials. may or may not be what your looking for....I wish i could be of more help to you, but keep asking around, i know theres lots of members on here that have traveled more than both of us :) i hope you and your boy have an amazing time and enlighten me on experiences worth passing on!

mucho suerte~Liz

Hi Amanda!

I just joined the other day, so I haven't gotten any experience yet. Sorry I can't be of help!