in the beginning
it was just a dream
about
us
we are
janina&Markus
HOW IT CAME
In the beginning it was a Dream
Since many Years we dreamed of having our own place somewhere on this beautiful planet. A place where the climate is good and the atmosphere relaxed. Somewhere near the sea, far away from big cities. Somewhere in the middle of nature. A place where we can create something different. A place where we can combine two of our biggest passions, welcoming our Guests and do something for Nature at the same time. A place where we can change something.
After years of work in the hotel and restaurant business, we pulled the leash in the system in beginning of 2017 and went on a tour trough Europe with our van to find the perfect place to realize our project.
Sense of home
And so we set off. The two of us and the Gipsy in our small comfy van. In search of that feeling of home. And to experience adventure. It only took a small diversion via the North Cape to find our heartland: Portugal.
When we arrived here, we felt immediately at home. It was clear, this is it. Especially the wild west coast with its many rock formations and extensive beaches embedded between steep cliffs are a sight that you can’t get enough of.
We dont need much to live
On our journey we learned to get along with little and to live in a small space and to see nature through different eyes.
Finally out of the everyday stress and the system of the consumer society, where everything has to work faster and faster and regardless of the consequential damage animal and nature are exploited to get food and not even more food on the table. We could no longer deal with this approach. The plan of how everything should look like and the concept matured and became more and more concrete. But we had to go back again, back to Switzerland and refill our postage.
In Spring 2019 we found our little Paradise
A 6 hectare piece of land in the western Algarve, protected by hills and not far from what we consider to be the most beautiful beaches in Europe.
The most important thing for us was a protected place. Somewhere protected by hills and mountains in a small valley. And of course water. Water is such an important issue, especially here in southern Portugal. With this property we found everything. Although it had not been farmed for years or decades, and everything was overgrown and barely visible, we immediately saw the potential. The potential to be able to create a microclimate here. A small paradise, between the whole monoculture madness.
The HABITAT creation
Our Vision is to build a farm by considering the permaculture and regenerative agriculture principles. An project inspired by nature.
We may have to say that at the beginning we had no idea where to start and abolutely no clue what we were actually doing. And so it came that we began to experiment with different ways of growing food, work with the biodiversity of plants and animals and design the farm in order to first recultivate the landscape and secondly make it fertile again.
We started trying, experimenting, reading, despairing, observing, planning, building, rethinking and then remodeling again.
The most important thing, however, was that we began to gain experience and thereby grow.
Nature shows you the way
It is normal to make mistakes. Especially at the beginning when you plant your first trees or you don’t know exactly why a tree is not rooting properly.
However, you learn from and with nature and get a feel for how to behave.
So we start our Plan
It is our intention to set up and maintain a permanent system as a food forest in the center of our property. This newly created living space is intended to inspire people. We want to share our experience and help to understand how the living space of nature works and how we do not deal with it and its resources wastefully as before, but how we can manage to live in harmony with it.
The Habitat Algarve is a great relaxing vacation spot for those who want to get away from the crowds and be in touch with nature.
We offer exceptional accommodation close to nature.
Never stop learning
Therefore, our guests can also take part in agricultural activities and retreats, as well as workshops for all age groups. In the future we will also host groups to exchange practices, knowledge and inspiring moments
IN BEGINNING IT WAS A DREAM
2 Souls 1 Plan
Have we ever thought of settling down? – maybe.
But we have always been travellers. We met eachother and fell in love in the Canary Islands. Have seen a lot of the world together. We were always travelling and on the road. Never staying too long in the same place. Felt a bit like beeing on the run for years. On the run for whom what?
Maybe because there was always something missing.
Our dream was to turn our passion into a profession one day. The passion of welcoming guests and showing them another perspective of life. And create something unique together. Only the place was always missing in our plan.
And then it was love at first sight. Whilst travelling in the Algarve, a feeling quickly crept in.
A feeling of arriving. Coming home.
Behind the Project
WE ARE
Janina
Janina comes from a small village in Germany. After her training in the hotel business, however, she was immediately drawn to other cities and countries around the world. So she perfectly combined two of her passions: The job and travelling. Janina dares to do everything, she is carefree and teaches herself and other people new things every day with incredible ease. She always had the ambition to make the world at least a little bit a better place and to give something back. But it is only since we have lived here that she has been fully absorbed in it. She loves to learn new things and to pass on what she has learned. She is not afraid of any kind of work and spins around all day full of energy. She spends a lot of time with the animals and looks after the garden and the freshly planted trees. She loves the animals and cares lovingly for our small farm.
Markus
He comes originally from Austria, from beautiful Carinthia. Many have not understood why he left his beautiful home town. But not everyone always has to understand everything. Markus has a really big interest in acquire different kind of things hisself. If he wants something, it happens. Markus has an incredible stamina and does every thing he starts with a lot of passion and energy. He originally comes from the field of network technology, but has spent many years in the hotel and gastronomy in quite high positions.
Markus has acquired every skill himself since we have lived here. Meanwhile he is an absolute pro in construction, building and agriculture.
He is an optimist through and through and sometimes you have to bring him back down to earth. However, it takes dreamers to achieve big goals.
