Newsletter December 2024

Highlights Monte Maravilhas

New teammember

We have welcomed a new teammember Karishma from Denmark. The season for Maia and Michaela was over, and we will definitely see them again at Maravilhas.

Pond

The Maravilhas pond has really blossomed this year as a peaceful area for contemplation.
The beautiful Lilly’s are flowering and frogs can be seen jumping across the Lilly pads, with the huge elephant ear plants providing a bit of shade for the pond life.
It’s located down at the lower part of the Maravilhas garden in the shade of the fruit trees and oleander bushes which makes it a good place to cool down on a hot day. It’s also near to the swimming pool in case you feel to take a refreshing dip.

Vegetable Garden

The vegetable garden this summer has been quite miraculous.
We started out in the spring by planting a few summer vegetables, tomatoes , cucumber , lettuce, beans ,leeks , kale , cabbage, courgette. Using the drip irrigation system they got off to a good start.
The beds were prepared by mixing in the compost , made from the raw vegetable waste from the houses and caravans. It was full of the seeds thrown away with the waste. The seeds from the compost started to germinate and sprout seedlings here and there. So there came the appearance of honey melon, water melon, pumpkin, butternut squash, spinach all shooting up their young leaves in the various beds.
“It’s really as if the garden is choosing for itself what it wants to grow ,” said Arupa, “all that’s
needed is to facilitate this by guiding the direction of their growth a little to make best use of the space . And a little experience when weeding to know which plants can be pulled out.
This way of letting the garden itself take the lead in producing its crop has proved to be very
effective as we’ve never had such an abundant harvest. It has become a space of real beauty and admiration for all who pass by. “

Buddha- Herbgarden

This year the Buddha herb garden was created. With a rainbow-colored background of lantanas and the beginning of a jasmine sun shade, the Buddha sits surrounded by a circle of stones as he looks out over the herbs growing in front of him: rosemary, thyme, sage, basil, chives, chili. pepper. By the way, it’s also the smoking spot, so a nice place to sit and a good meeting point for a friendly conversation!

Mooji visit at Maravilhas

In 2010 Mooji came to Monte Maravilhas for the first time and he liked the area so much that he bought a large piece of land nearby. He is a spiritual teacher and started an ashram called Monte Sahaja. In recent years, a beautiful place has emerged where people can meditate. We are very happy to have him and his students as our neighbors. He came to visit in July. We drank tea and cake together and walked around to our pond. Afterwards he gave a lecture on the terrace. Arupa treated us to singing a beautiful song. It was a beautiful get-together.

Retreat at Monte Maravilhas

We offer several retreats per year, such as a hiking, painting and yoga week. The next one is our hiking week in April. For more information, take a look at the agenda for all dates in 2025. Check our agenda :https://www.montemaravilhas.com/activities/agenda/. If you would also like to hold your own retreat with us, check our website for the options or email us if you have any questions. We are happy to assist you and help out with the arrangements.

Watertank Cleaning

The annual cleaning of the water tank is always a job! This time together with Karishma from Denmark.

Cork oakes at Maravilhas

Our cork oaks are uncorked once every 10 years. This year it happened again, and a special team came to Maravilhas for this purpose. No other country produces as much cork as Portugal. It is then taken to a factory and made into various products, many of which can be found in souvenir shops throughout Portugal.

Activities Yurt

The activities in the Yurt can be seen on our website, feel free to take a look:  https://www.montemaravilhas.com/activities/daily-activities/. The singing circle takes place every Thursday and is a lasting success.

Agenda 

Hikes
05 -12 april 2025

07-14 june 2025

13-20 september 2025

20-27 december 2025

Yoga
31 may – 07 june 2025

13- 20 september 2025

Painting
07 – 14 june 2025

View the full agenda here: www.montemaravilhas.com

Contact

Monte Maravilhas
São Martinho das Amoreiras
7630-527 Odemira
Portugal

Mobile phone: +351 964 235 864
Email: info@montemaravilhas.com

We hope you enjoyed reading the newsletter. We wish you, your family and friends a Merry Christmas and a splendid and loving New Year! 🌲❤️​​​​​​​
We hope to see you again in 2025!