Camos, Catalonia

In September, Brian and I began our wwoofing adventure in the north of Spain. The first place we stayed at was 7km outside of Camos, in a beautiful seventeenth century stone farmhouse set amongst forested mountains. These mountains were once terraced groves of trees grown to make coal and other products but about a hundred years ago this industry ceased and the terraces became overgrown. Now they are a fire hazard and filled with invasive species. At Cal Serano our work involved two main jobs that revolved around thinning out the forested slopes of one of these mountainsides. Brian spent most of his time cutting back the trees and pulling down the vines that grew thick over everything, while I grazed the small flock of sheep and goats on the terraces to keep the unwanted plants at bay. We also spent time tending two indigenous species of oak, which were being encouraged to grow in the area. When we weren’t working we had a great time eating paella and patisserie by the Estany de Banyoles, playing with the endless number kittens on the farm and visiting the nearby town of Girona where we ate lots of amazing tapas! We both really enjoyed the Catalonian cuisine and were fortunate to stay with two good cooks. For lunches we enjoyed goat meat and home made paellas and for dinners we looked forward to toast with tomatoes and olive oil, wild mushrooms grilled on the fire and locally cured meats. We loved trying the local cheeses and every few days a couple of new kinds would show up in the cheese tray and we would discover a new favourite. Another thing we enjoyed was the fresh goats milk and home made farmer’s cheese which was like a dense creamy yoghurt that we ate mixed with wild honey.

Nave of Santa Maria dels Turers

Banyoles delights

Girona Cathedral

Facade of Girona Cathedral

Girona Bridge by Eiffel

Cal Sereno

Wayward goats at Cal Sereno

Farm cats

The lonely Goatherd

Considering our time at Cal Sereno as a whole, we would say that we're glad we came, but we'd hesitate to either come back or recommend the place to anyone. Living conditions were very good for wwoofers. We had a clean, spacious room with a nice bathroom. The food was generally of good quality and we had the chance to sample many Catalonian delights. However, we didn't get the feeling that Josep the host really likes having wwoofers (or anybody else) staying here with him. For him the wwoof exchange is primarily something necessary for the work to continue, and not something that provides much in the way of personal or cultural exchange. Of course, this could have just been our own particular mix of personalities with each other, and we're sure other wwoofers will have had other impressions.