Uxa Paraiso, Penela

Today a week ago we arrived at Uxa Paraiso, an open air hotel, created by Julien. It’s such a beautiful place! So green, so peaceful and the scenery is wonderful.

At Uxa Paraiso you can sleep in a bell tent or in a vintage caravan. Two of them are big folding caravans. Great invention, some clever minds who came up with these constructions.

Every accommodation is placed on a platform, so you have a great view while you sit there and have a drink. The caravans also have their own private shower and toilet. 

Breakfast is included in the price. It is served in the bar, a fairly new building with big glass opening doors towards the valley. And.... with a pool in front of it! Well, the pool is still being built, and will be finished in about 2 weeks.

We are with 3 volunteers. There’s Corné, me and another Dutch woman who is my age. She also arrived last Saturday. We are the oldest volunteers Julien has had at his place haha. Most of the times volunteers are much younger, around 20 years old. 

Moos has the time of his life here. He is free to run and walk around on the property. It’s good to see him this happy... it makes me happy and it’s one of the reasons that I feel so comfortabel here, that I can relax. The other reasons are the beautiful nature, the great host and my nice co-volunteer workers :-)

My plan was to stay (workaway) here for 2 weeks, but I have already decided to stay here longer. I really enjoy being here, the work we’re doing and will get to do the next couple of weeks. Also there is so much to explore in this region. I’m looking forward to stay in one place for a little while and sort of settle a bit.

So what is it we do? Well, the first few days we helped to set up the bell tents. They’re great tents, very spacious and the interior looks super cosy. We also planted some herbs and vegetable plants and got the caravans ready for guests. Today we started on finishing stairs/steps which were already prepared by other volunteers and digging new stairs out of a grass slope, so guests can easily walk from their tent or caravan to the bar and pool area and back. Oh, and in between we prepare lunch and dinner, keep the bar clean, go for walks, do some shopping, have a day off and relax :-)

In case you’re curious about this place, check http://www.uxaparaiso.com!