Welcome to Finca Del Soul

Welcome to the Finca! We are so glad that you decided to spend some time here. Here are just a few other things to know before you come. 🙂

Vegan Ethics: We respect the rights of other beings to live freely. Do not bring any captive animals or anything produced through the exploitation of animals or the violation of their rights. This includes anything made from animals (leather, wool, sponges, vitamin D3, pharmaceuticals…), anything tested on animals (shampoo, toothpaste, makeup, pharmaceuticals…), or anything else that involves the exploitation of animals in its production.

Food: When you first arrive, you should pick up whatever food you would like at the market in Loreto, at least enough to last until the next food truck comes (any time between 3-5pm) the next Tuesday afternoon. Most people bring things like fruit, vegetables, oats, rice, beans, lentils, pasta, et cetera. We usually have bananas, plantains, limes, sugar cane, ají, greens, herbs, and sometimes other produce from the land, but plan to bring 100% of your own food, and we will show you what else is available when you arrive. Please don’t eat food that you didn’t bring until you’ve had the full kitchen orientation in American English (approximately 2 minutes).

We usually share ingredients for dinner, and everyone eats the food that they brought or the communal food from the land during the day. We work pretty hard, so we’re usually all hungry and eat quite a bit for dinner to refuel. Please do not feed Wolfy any oil or salt or chocolate, even if he begs.

If we need more food, it’s fairly simple to make a trip to Loreto, but it’s an all-day ordeal, and the difficulty of the return trip is directly proportional to the quantity of food that you buy. It’s a 15-20 minute walk to catch the bus that comes sometime between 7:30 and 9:30 in the morning. There are returning buses at 2:30 and 3:30 in the afternoon, followed by a walk of 1 km +, mostly uphill, carrying all of your food, or a taxi is $10.

There are a few stores on the main road a little over 1 km away that sell potatoes, onions, tomatoes, garlic, peanut butter, beans, and a few other things. There are also people who sell food on the weekends on the paved road a few kilometers away, usually papayas, yuca, and local fruit if they have any in season.

Garden: Please ask before harvesting any fruit or cutting any plants. We are happy to share what is growing here, but we want to make sure that the food is harvested at the right time and that plants are cut correctly so that they will be happy and keep living to their fullest potential. 🙂

The most important plant on this land is the pinto peanut. Please read about it and learn to identify it so that you can recognise it when you are here (and not kill it).

Kitchen: We all try to keep the kitchen clean and organised so that it’s ready for anyone to use when they want to eat. There are compost buckets under the kitchen sink where we put all our natural extras. One is for general compost, one is for water, and the other is for bananas and banana peels - to make banana tea fertiliser for the plants. We only put natural materials like extras from fruit, vegetables, water from cooking, et cetera in the compost bucket. Any paper, plastic, or non-plant materials (including tea bags) go with you when you leave so that they don’t contaminate this land or go into a landfill and contaminate land elsewhere in the Amazon. We also try to cut the kitchen scraps a bit before putting them in the compost, that way they will decompose faster and be ready to feed to the plants sooner.

Bathroom: Please don’t use the flush toilet, as it wastes water and can clog the pipe which is very difficult and messy to fix. If you can, collect your rinse water in the basin when you shower and use it to water the plants.

Electricity/Internet: The grid electricity in Ecuador comes from hydroelectric dams, and it is often turned off due to drought, so sometimes we have no electricity here. The internet service provider often does not have electricity either, and even when they do, the internet service is still not reliable, but when it works, it works (40+ Mbps down). We have a small bodega near the main house where people can use Wi-Fi to make audio/video calls without disturbing others. The bodega doesn’t have electricity, but we have a solar battery that one can use during longer conferences if needed.

What to Bring: You don’t need to bring much, as life here is very simple. There are kitchen and garden tools, work gloves, work boots, et cetera, but you should bring clothes that you can get filthy or torn, and you may want to have some cleaner light pants or sweatshirts for when it gets a little bit cooler, some kind of light to see in the dark, and earphones. If you plan to menstruate while you’re here, you may want to bring a menstrual cup (or a few, just in case), as they can be very difficult to find in Ecuador.

Please don’t use any cosmetics or (non-native) toxic products here. This means soap, toothpaste, shampoo, body wash, moisturiser, insect repellent, anti-itch cream, sunblock, perfume, makeup, nail polish, pharmaceuticals, et cetera, including products labelled “non-toxic” or “ecological”. Any toxic substances used here go into the soil and air, contaminate the plants and water, and poison the land and food that we’re growing. Coconut oil makes good toothpaste, and there are wood ashes and lots of limes, lemongrass, and other plants here for the other uses listed above.

Please do not bring non-compostable trash.

We don’t ask anyone to leave anything here, but if you happen to have any extra books, old clothes (can be dirty or unusable), sauces, spices, or any interesting fruit tree seeds, cuttings, or small plants (ask first because we have many already) those would probably be useful. There are also tools and other supplies that are difficult or impossible to find in Ecuador, so if you’d be willing to have something shipped to you to bring here when you come, please let us know. If you enjoy plant medicines and have any way to bring cannabis (preferably with seeds) or psychedelics, we would compensate you for anything you share as long as the amount is reasonable (you can check first before bringing anything). 🙂

Other: We have some knowledge and experience about government, law, and the legal and financial system. If you are interested in learning how to protect yourself from government agents or to live more freely, especially with regards to taxes, non-violent crimes, travel, debts, or people of government trying to force you to do anything that you don’t want to do, please feel free to ask and we will be happy to share.

You don’t need to fake any proof of vaccinations in order to come to Ecuador.

Please use earphones when listening to videos, podcasts, et cetera, and make your phone calls away from the house so that you do not disturb other people.

Please do not touch Wolfy’s two-metre measuring sticks in the drying area. (In this world of grass, a suitable stick is hard to find.)

Getting here: We will send you a separate link with directions to the land.

Survival Spanish: Click here for helpful words and phrases for this part of the world.

If you have any questions let us know. Otherwise we look forward to seeing you soon. 🙂