Cinco estrelas é pouco nun lugar onde a estrela brilha em todo o lugar. Lugar incrível, projeto sério comandando por pessoas sériae comprometidas com o ser humano e a natureza!

We loved our stay at Eco Caminhos. Really beautiful surroundings and gorgeous eco-lodge. Plus, the fresh produce from the farm was delightful. Great access to nearby trails too.

We stayed at Ecocaminhos in the EcoLodge for two months. It was a great experience for everyone in the family, including our 3, 6, and 9 year old kids. Real world sustainable farming, permaculture, agroforestry experience, and awesome community of local apprentices and local and international volunteers. Highly recommend!

O espaço Eco Caminhos é um paraíso em meio aos muitos desafios da vida moderna. Lá nos reconectamos com a natureza, com simplicidade, com pessoas muito especiais num ambiente de muita liberdade, cuidado genuíno e paz. E é um retorno ao viver coletivo, comunitário e amoroso numa atmosfera de afetos, sons, cheiros e imagens que alimentam a alma e nutrem nosso Ser. Além de tudo isso, é de fácil acesso e, mesmo estando na área rural, chegamos facilmente ao centro da cidade onde podemos acessar tudo que precisamos. Eu super recomendo uma vivência por lá. 🙂 The Eco Caminhos space is a paradise amid the many challenges of modern life. There we reconnect with nature, with simplicity, with very special people in an environment of great freedom, genuine care and peace. And it is a return to collective, community and loving living in an atmosphere of affections, sounds, smells and images that feed the soul and nourish our Being. In addition to all this, it is easily accessible and, even though it is in the rural area, we can easily reach the city center where we can access everything we need. I highly recommend living there.

We spent 5 days at Eco Caminhos as part of the “Eco Farm Experience” package. Our stay left us really inspired by everything we saw & learned, hearing Bart's story & vision, the interesting brainstorms about social entrepreneurship and just living & experiencing life on the farm. For us it was the perfect combination of theory about the sustainable farming practices and also getting in the ‘practice’ by getting our hands dirty and working with the volunteers on the land. It was (too) short but the memories and inspiration we will take with us for a lifetime. We hope we can come back one day!

Nous avons passé un excellent séjour chez Bart, chez qui nous sommes restés une petite semaine afin de découvrir le projet Eco Caminhos et de nous intéresser aux différents principes de la permaculture, à travers les pratiques de l'agroforesterie et de la bioconstruction. Nous n'aurions pas pu espérer recevoir meilleur accueil et passer un meilleur moment. Le cadre est magnifique, l'équipe de volontaires géniale et Bart a su nous préparer un super programme comprenant une présentation de la vision d'Eco Caminhos et de son fonctionnement, une introduction sur l'agroforesterie et la bioconstruction, et une participation aux differentes activités manuelles avec les volontaires. Bart a aussi pris le temps de nous partager ses expériences, notamment autour de l'entrepreneuriat social. Cette expérience fut très riche en enseignements, discussions et réflexions! Nous avons aussi pris part à une excursion dans les montagnes alentours avec de superbes vues sur Nova Friburgo! Enfin, quel bonheur de partager nos repas, préparés avec les produits de la ferme, autour d'une grande tablée avec tous les travailleurs. Nous avons hâte de continuer à suivre le développement du projet Eco Caminhos. Un grand merci à Bart et sa famille!

An experience at Eco Caminos is the kind of experience in which you don’t recognize what a big impact it’s had on you until you look back on it. I can’t express how influential my time on the farm. I spent three weeks with Eco Caminhos with the intention of learning about agroforestry and sustainable living generally. I came away from the experience with that—and so much more. The community here is the biggest strength of this organization. The people are amazing. Being in a multicultural environment with people from all over is an incredible experience. It’s a melting pot where you’re able to learn about different cultures all at once—along with improving your Portuguese, of course. (I recommend coming in with some knowledge of Portuguese. Though it’s not necessary, it will enrich and facilitate your experience. I did, and I am grateful because it helped me forge closer connections.) And despite there being a revolving door of volunteers coming and going, the staff make an effort to get to know everyone. You feel as though they appreciate the time you spend on the farm, limited as it may be. I also enjoyed working with the community members and the staff on the tasks. The tasks were also varied enough each day that I was always doing something different in agroforestry or by a construction. Whether you implement the tasks in your future endeavors after your experience on the farm is up to you. But at the very least, you’re learning about what it means to move sustainably, work hard and slowly toward something, and to promote development in your own community. Anything worth having or creating it’s going to take time and patience and sacrifice. I so appreciate the lessons I learned here because I know I’ll take them with me for the rest of my life.

Beautiful from beginning to end and a great all-round experience. Depending on the reason you want to come to Eco Caminhos, if you're able to let Bart know, Bart is very thoughtful of the volunteer's needs and able to personalize your experience to what you're looking to get out of this experience. Bart is very responsive and happy to answer any questions. I came to learn about permaculture and agroforrestry which was great because you will get the theoretical presentations and see it works in practice from working on the farm. For me this was a really good introduction to Permaculture as I had no prior knowledge and it's really inspired me with the possibility to live a more sustainable life. On top of that, the whole experience is enriched with being in nature as you will be working in the farm in the mountains, and Dutra/Bart will take you to various breathtaking hiking and waterfall tours. A real chance to deplug from the city life and reconnect with nature and yourself. The people at Eco Caminhos has found a very special place in my heart - everyone has been incredibly kind. Naturally the people who end up coming to Eco Caminhos have a mutual interest on spending more time with nature or looking to preserve nature - it's a really good way to meet people from around the world of all ages who are on a somewhat similar wavelength. I only stayed for just about 3 weeks and didn't notice the massive impact this experience had on me until I was back in London. If I had the choice, I'd definitely have opted for a longer stay! Maybe you have some doubts - I was a little doubtful in the beginning because of various reasons, but it turned out to be exactly what I was looking for and I'm very grateful the universe had led me there.