Who we are
We are Sue, Peter,
Michelle, Vonetta, Andrew, Joshua and Eloise (and Moses the dog and Angel, Blue and Hari the cats). Friends who have
only known each other for a few short years after meeting through the world of yoga, and for reasons we’ll explain on
this site, have collectively bought a few charming abandoned stone homes and storehouses sprinkled along a small gorgeous
forested valley under the hilltop village of Amieira in central Portugal. You can find out more about us and see loads of
pictures in the links to our blogs below.
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| Joshua - The Photographer |
When are we open?
We expect to be open for people stay with us from Spring 2009. You should be able to book specific places and spaces
in the new year 2008 via this site or by simply giving us a call. As we build
Zion together we’ll do our best to write up what we are doing in an honest ‘warts and all’ blog style
approach. Cos we think if you’re interested in staying with us you might like to know a little of the “us”
before you make the decision to come. Send us your email and contact details now and we will send you further details when
we have worked them out.
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| Meet the workers |
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| From the left: Peter, Sue, Vonetta. Eloise Michelle, Andrew and Moses at the front. |
What are we doing
Together,
over the next year and a half, we will be combining our various skills and experiences to explore how to create a new life
of self sufficiency here in Portugal. We will renovate the houses we’ve just
bought, repair the ancient stone terrace walls, sow crops in the land, open up the old water mines, streams and irrigation
channels and plant out the most luxuriant blossoming and fruitful gardens we can imagine. In this Portuguese idyll we want
to nurture and shape a truly beautiful place, where people, children, families, animals and wildlife are welcome to stay a
while, to live, to learn, to grow into all the possibilities that the universe has to offer them.
In
the midst of this space we want to offer people the opportunity of practicing yoga. Or the chance to meditate while fishing
by the side of the River Zezere over the nearby hill. Or to ride horses or bikes through the surrounding scented pine, eucalyptus
and cork forests. Or simply just to stay in one of the lovely Japanese styled African huts we’ll construct out of materials
from the land. Whatever the reason for coming, we hope that people find the same deep stillness and nourishment for the soul
that we have already begun to experience here for ourselves.
Why zion?
We have chosen the name Zion, because for us it encapsulates so much of what we are seeking to do with our lives. Zion has many meanings but for us 2 are the most significant. Firstly,
Zion is the Caribbean Rastafarian
embodiment of the journey to freedom. A spiritual cultural and musical land where all God’s people are free from the
chains of their oppressors. It is a multi racial, multi diverse, multi layered existence where healing flows like a river
to soothe the wounds of our shared history. Secondly, in the film the Matrix, Zion is the name given to describe the place where the remnant of humanity live in an earthy underground utopia, freed
from the systems of control devised by the exploitative machine world above. As we jump out of our own Matrix of life in the
UK, we hope
to share this journey with others along the way and be a part of a similar community of freed lives. (We recognise that for
some the word Zion may have other more religious connotations associated with exclusive
possession of land, but that is not the desire of our hearts.)
Link The magical journey to find Zion: The Winters Poop in Europe Tour blog, Read more...
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