About O Fojo
We are deeply committed to experiment what is to live an ethical and meaningful life not just for ourselves but also by holistically helping other people to experience that. Our goal is to disseminate tools and experiences for the creative and searching minds like us, to actively and consciously transform our social, ecological and economical paradigm through personal transformation.
Since 2009 we are creating practical experience in Permaculture, natural building, natural and organic agriculture. At the same time we have experienced the whole community living background, by organizing and offering innovative and high quality education for a planetary citizenship, through carefully designed events and courses.
At this moment we are redirecting the project towards the arising of an intentional community that will support the implementation of the Integral Education Center for the next five years. As we move towards this goal, we are going to co-create the pathway, tweaking and refining our very next steps and our lives to keep on making our part of the history.
For more information access our About Us
With the help of hundreds of hours of work of ourselves, friends, participants, interns, volunteers and visitors we have build steps, accesses, showers, toilets, cabins, shelters, green houses, gardens, chicken place, cisterns, and the main build structure, our mother house with natural materials and building technics, with a green roof, that is still to be finished.
At the same time we have clear the land from bumbles and other heavy weeds, we have planted many fruit trees, we have seeded many types of lupins, flowers and plants, we have established ou main garden that is now being refurbished, we have cleaned the pathway to a stream and connected this with our ponds through a tube and we have learn a lot and we have shared many many hours of knowledge and experience.
It is a peaceful and quiet place integrated in a countryside neighborhood and inside a huge eucalyptus and pine plantations region. It is a challenging but, at the same time, simple task to live here. The sky is beautiful and the energy of more than 800 people that passed by here is still building the energy of the place.
The best way to understand this is to come here and live your own experience.
For more information access our Gallery
At this moment we have a camping area where you can mount your tent and we can facilitate good mattress for you better comfort.
We have a common dinning and living room with a fireplace and a nice kitchen where we make our meals and eat together. This is also the only education room we have at the moment. This is a natural building unfinished structure with a green roof.
We have a dry toilet and a hot shower available every day, if you need. We are building two more comfortable dry toilets and urine collector. We are also building three more showers and washing area.
We also have a washing machine available for long term volunteers with no additional cost (donation based) and to the other volunteers or visitors for a minimum donation of 3 euros the machine (a good way to be mindful on using it) because it is yet a gasoline generator powered.
We have already a chicken place, a caravan, a green house (that is going to be changed), a small house were we have our tools and where we have an independent lodging for three people and we have a small cabin shelter for a couple or one person. We also have a ruin to rebuild and car parking at the entrance of the land.
We have implemented accesses and steps all over the land, we have two wells, one micro pond, one small pond, one big pond, 2 ferrocement cisterns, we have started a sweat lodge ad a small seed back/shop building.
We have a 1000 square meter food forest in implementation in a sloped area with a very interesting water harvesting system.
And we are now implementing the garden in three big huggelkultur raised beds and lots of building stuff to finish!
We are located near the villages of Alvaiázere and Ansião, in Leiria Region, 65 km from the historical city of Coimbra. O Fojo is about 180 km from Lisbon and the same distance from Oporto, the main Portugal cities.
You can arrive in Portugal by planes in Lisbon Oporto or Faro. It is much better if you arrive in Lisbon or Oporto because Faro is really at the bottom of the country, quite far from here.
Coming from Lisbon or Oporto by train?
From Lisbon at Santa Apolónia Station or Oriente Station and, from Oporto, at the Porto Campanhã Station. There you take a train to Pombal. From Pombal – 28 km from O Fojo – you have to take the bus to Ansião, at the bus station near the library that is really near the train station. There is no much buses to Ansião in Pombal so the best way is to schedule with us to pick you up there. We ask 10 euro to do this (by taxi you will spend about 30 euro).
In Ansião – 8 km from O Fojo – you can take a taxi (they ask approximately 10 euro) or schedule with us. We dont charge any money to do that but donations are welcome.
The bus travel from Lisbon or Oporto is more difficult in terms of scheduling and they do not come to Ansião. They will arrive in Freixianda or Alvaiázere. We ask 10 euro to pick you up in this locations, please schedule with us first.
Coming from Lisbon or Oporto by car?
From Lisbon or Oporto you can come from highway or by national roads, withowt tolls. We recommend the second choice.
Go to Pombal and in Pombal, take the IC-8 to Ansião.
When you arrive in Ansião, at the fireman installations roundabout, turn right and pass through a Intermarché supermarket and after 600 meters turn at right in the roundabout, directing to Alvaiázere by the national road N-348.
After approximately 7 km you will pass through São João de Brito and you keep on the same road until finding and entrance at your right side saying O FOJO 1 Macieira.
Enter here and go by this paved road always by the right (don’t enter at left just after entering this road) and keep on this road by 900 meters and enter at your left (paved road) deviation (if you go for more than 900 meters in the previous road it is because you lost the deviation).
After about 100 meters you will find two houses: at your left, a white house and at your right a yellow house. Turn right at the end of this yellow house (Rua da Nossa Senhora da Penha de França) and go for another 100 meters until you arrive to some ruins. There turn at your left in a dirt road (Caminho do Fojo) an go for 100 more meters.
Here you are. You arrived at O Fojo.
Our direction
Caminho do Fojo, nº 17
Fojo – Almoster
Alvaiázere | Leiria
Portugal
Our GPS Coordinates
39.856279, -8.460285
Have a nice trip!
PLEASE do not come at O Fojo withowt scheduling your visit with us! We dont guarantee we are there to receive you.
PLEASE do not enter at the land without permission. The dog is quite persuasive on that!
We can not guarantee your reception after that time!
If you have special situation about that please let us know in advance, by the O Fojo Mail, so we can manage your reception outside this schedule.