Live and work in community Everyone works for 5 hours per day on projects or maintenance plus helps cook one meal which takes about another 2 hours. We use shared facilities: kitchen; bathroom; laundry area, and we take turns in daily chores such as cleaning,
Enjoy spiritual practice Nicky Works full-time in alternative therapies and disciplines such as Healing energy sessions, massage, the Journey, and yoga, offering individual sessions and short two-day courses. She also organizes sweat lodges and full moon ceremonies, San Pedro and Ayahuasca ceremonies (with a local shaman) and other gatherings such as heart circles.
Click here for brief descriptions of some of the therapies and disciplines offered at Rhiannon.
Practice organic farming At Rhiannon we practice Permaculture as a sustainable form of agriculture. It’s a very arid area with poor soil quality so we have not yet managed to be sustainable in our production, but using permaculture we believe we are heading in the right direction. We also try to plant at least 1000 trees per year, for windbreak, forest for future firewood, orchard and ornamentals.
Be close to nature From Rhiannon you can see Cotopaxi, Cayambe, Cotacachi and various other volcanoes, and at night you can enjoy listening to the frogs. Sometimes you are lucky enough to see eagles or owls. You can walk to Cochasqui or Mojanda, or visit Parque Jerusalem which is a nearby protected forest. We appreciate the healing qualities of living close to nature.
Live simply We believe that it’s possible to live simply and walk lightly on the earth. We hope that staying at Rhiannon is a chance to experience the beauty of alternative living.
At Rhiannon we enjoy the fact that our children can be free and enjoy playing outside.
Eat healthy vegetarian/vegan food We eat as much organic produce as possible and harvest as much of our food from the garden as we can. All our meals are vegan, or with a vegan option, and we can accommodate food allergies such as gluten free.
Learn about sustainability We produce our own solar electricity, and have solar showers. We cook predominantly using firewood and are planting a forest for future firewood. We also use a Haybox cooker, and a solar dehydrator. All our waste water goes into two ponds, one for food production and one as a natural habitat for water plants and wildlife. We have composting toilets and use the waste in the garden. We also make various different composts and organic fertilisers and have wormeries. We try to be an education centre where many people can learn about all these techniques and how they can apply them in their own homes and communities.