I Dream of Goats

A double espresso at five a.m and I’m ready for my adventure. There are goats to be milked by sunrise.

I've pitched my tent at Los Portalles a farm situated in the foothills of the Sierra Morena, some fifty Km north of Sevilla.

The land of Rockrose and holm oak is populated by herds of deer and wild boar.
The scrubland serves as pasture for a herd of zany goats and as a source of firewood in winter. There are numerous fruit trees and olive groves where one can take shade during hot Andalucian summers.
The vegetable gardens are brimming with vegetables, fragrant strawberries, super herbs and medicinal plants.

They produce their own honey and olive oil here, and have a bakery where fresh croissants are baked each morning. I must warn of the intoxicating smell of these buttery morsels.

When I set off on my ‘wwoof’ adventure, I envisioned roaming picturesque countryside, living cheaply on farms, spending my days happily bathing in the sunshine with shiny happy people. My ‘wwoof’ experience kicked ass. I learned new skills, sampled tasty delights, and immersed myself in different cultures. I laughed with abandon like a seven year old child high on life. I surfed the wild beaches of Portugal. I rode Icelandic ponies in Sweden. I picked olives in colourful Morocco, helped build a chicken house at an Eco lodge on the west coast of Ireland. I’ve had the unique experience of removing slugs from plants and freeing them into the wild at a Tibetan Buddhist centre.

On this journey I have met legendary characters like crazy Colm, distinguished Desmond, the Tibetan monk Rimpoche, laid back bohemian Klaus, Meryl the beautiful goat girl, Matt the trumpet player, and the amourous Ninny and Life in Sweden.
My wwoof ideas began to take root at The Gyreum Eco Lodge in Ireland. I have now reached Andalucía, a rocky, sun-baked region on Spain’s southern coast.

Los Portalles translates as "many gates" – I travel through eight heavily locked gates, two or three km apart before reaching the spiritual commune of Los Portalles.

The community welcomes forty followers, and was conceived as a medium for creation and evolution. They take inspiration from Jungian Psychology and its conception that dreams are the direct, natural expression of the current condition of the dreamer's mental world.

As in the Senoi tribe, the group gather daily to recount their dreams around an open fire.

A couple at the farm have a wedding ritual and we dance and drink rioja.

I dream of Goats.