Eco Caminhos
About the retreat 🌴
Nestled in the mountains of Rio de Janeiro's interior and bordering the lush Atlantic Rainforest, Eco Caminhos stands as one of the region's most renowned self-sustaining farms. Where ancient technology and modern tools meet to create thriving natural ecosystems.
Join us for a transformative retreat that blends community living with hands-on learning, tailored for conscious nomads seeking to deepen their understanding of sustainable living. This immersive experience focuses on the principles of permaculture including agroforestry and natural building, providing practical knowledge for designing a self-sufficient lifestyle.
Bring your work, projects, or studies—this retreat is thoughtfully structured around a 9-to-5 coworking schedule, allowing you to seamlessly integrate your work with this enriching experience.
What's included? 🌱
🍳 Breakfast on weekdays*
🥘 Lunch on weekdays*
☕ Daily coffee
🧘🏽♀️ Wellness classes
💻 Coworking space & wifi
♻️ Permaculture Presentation workshop
🪵 Bioconstruction Presentation and workshop
🌱 Future Ecolibrium project Presentation
🥭 Agroforestry workshop
🧀 Making cheese workshop
🧼 Making Soap workshop
🐄 Milking cows workshop
👩🌾 3 Hands on farm days per week (optional)
⛰️ 4 guided hikes in the mountains
👙 1 Visit to Waterfall
💌 Daily community gatherings & activities
🍴 Access to shared kitchen
🧺 Access to laundry facility
🚴 Access to mountain bikes
🫧 Weekly room & house cleaning
*Have dietary restrictions? Let us know and we'll make sure to prepare your meals accordingly!
Nomad Farm Experience
Natural building & Bio-construction
Experience hands on bioconstruction. With close to 10 years of natural building experience, Eco Caminhos has built among the best bioconstructions in South America
Coworking
Access a dedicated work space equipped with fast internet. Bring your remote job, project, studies or job application with you - 9 to 5 on weekdays is for focus time!
Agroforesty & Sintropic Agriculture
Learn to plant, maintain and harvest your own food forests. Eco Caminhos has systems from 1 – 6 years old and over 1.5 hectares planted with approximately 8000 trees.
Community Living
Share the journey with 15 like-minded dreamers, knowledge seekers, nomad farmers through co-learning, co-sharing, co-living
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Permaculture
Apply Permaculture in various disciplines such as agroforestry, water management, sustainable energy, natural building, animal systems, economics, and waste management.
Lifestyle immersion
Get a real taste or what the regenerative self-sustainable lifestyle. You're not learning it from a screen, you're living it!
Eco-tourism
Explore the region through hikes, mountain biking and waterfall swims. Enjoy the abundant surrounding nature and peace!
Organic Food
Relish in delicious breakfast & lunch meals served daily from their own organic production (vegetables, fruits, eggs, milk and meat)
About Eco-Caminhos 🐮
The farm is fully self-sustaining in energy, produces 60% of its own food including vegetables, fruits, meat, milk, eggs and has planted over 8000 trees.
Eco Caminhos is a 29 hectares Eco Farm situated in the mountains of Rio de Janeiro. Located approximately 15,2 km from the center of Nova Friburgo, a safe and friendly town with approximately 180.000 inhabitants.
The founders of the farm are a group of idealists who share a vision of living in harmony with nature and each other. They practice permaculture, bioconstruction, agroforestry and offer various opportunities for volunteers, tourists, and apprentices to join them.
They built three houses, a multifunctional tool shed and a cow corral following the bioconstruction method. Further the Eco Caminhos team has implemented a 1 hectare of coffee in agroforestry systems as a pilot to proof profitability, technical, and feasibility.
They believe that the world needs to embrace self-sufficient and sustainable forms of living, where we produce an abundance of food, energy, and live in harmony with nature. This belief is widely shared across the world; however, they feel there is too little action.
At Eco Caminhos they take action and have been gathering knowledge to contribute to achieving this self-sustaining way of living. They now want to share this knowledge with the community by offering high-quality training both in theory as well as in practice to those who can and cannot afford it.
Eco Caminhos aims to become the top school for Permaculture, Agroforestry, and Bioconstruction in Brazil. They teach these techniques to children, teenagers, students, builders, farmers, and international apprentices through both theoretical and practical means.
Starting locally, they plan to expand their activities regionally, nationally, and internationally by training other organizations around the world. Their experience in implementing these techniques successfully over the past nine years has helped them build the necessary knowledge. Through their educational center, they see a transformation in the region towards more sustainable agriculture and construction, thanks to efforts aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Getting there 🚌
1. Flying to Rio de Janeiro
International Flights: If you're coming from outside Brazil, you will likely fly into Rio de Janeiro's international airport, Galeão – Antônio Carlos Jobim International Airport (GIG).
Domestic Flights: If you're already in Brazil, you might fly into Santos Dumont Airport (SDU), which is closer to the city center but primarily serves domestic routes.
2. Getting from Rio de Janeiro to Nova Friburgo
By Bus
Once you arrive in Rio de Janeiro, you can take a bus from the Novo Rio Bus Station (Rodoviária Novo Rio), which is the main bus terminal in Rio. Several companies operate regular bus services to Nova Friburgo.
Bus Company: The primary company operating this route is 1001 (Auto Viação 1001).
Travel Time: The bus ride takes approximately 2.5 to 3.5 hours, depending on traffic and the specific route.
Tickets: You can buy tickets at the station or online in advance. Prices vary, but it typically costs around BRL 50-100 (USD 10-20).
By Car
Driving: If you prefer to drive, you can rent a car at the airport. The drive to Nova Friburgo takes about 2.5 hours.
Route: The most common route is via the BR-116 highway and then the RJ-116 road, which is well-maintained and offers scenic views of the mountains.
By Transfer or Taxi
If you prefer a more direct and comfortable option, you can arrange for a private transfer or taxi with us from the airport directly to Nova Friburgo. This option is more expensive but convenient, especially if you're traveling with a group or a lot of luggage. You can also share a transfer with another person joining the retreat!
3. Arrival in Nova Friburgo
Once you arrive in Nova Friburgo, we can pick you up and take you to your new home at Eco Caminhos for a short 35-min drive.
Payment options 💳
In the registration form, you can choose your preferred payment option
2 instalments
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$300 deposit on the day of booking
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50% of the price (minus deposit) 1 month after the booking date
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50% of the price (minus deposit) 2 months after the booking date
4 intalments
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$300 deposit on the day of booking
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25% of the price (minus deposit) 15 days after the booking date
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25% of the price (minus deposit) 30 days after the booking date
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25% of the price (minute deposit) 45 days after the booking date
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25% of the price (minute deposit) 60 days after the booking date
pay in full
The full price of the retreat in your chosen room type is paid on the day of booking