What to Bring

Every person that arrives at Peaceful understands that this is a completely raw vegan place and that in people’s private areas (private rooms or cabins) they can eat vegan, and there are no chemical products allowed like soaps, shampoos/conditioners, deodorants, perfumes, creams or lotions, laundry detergent, etc.

Lights
There are no lights here, as we currently don’t have electricity at the moment. Bring your own flashlight or headlamp and extra rechargeable batteries.

Electricity
We currently don’t have electricity here, so if you want to charge your phone or other devices, you either need to do it in town or bring a small portable battery/solar charger.

Footware
We usually walk barefoot on the small part of the land we are currently on. However, if you wish to explore the deeper jungles, please bring rubber calf-high “wellington”-style boots. Boots can be purchased in town for around $10 a pair. However, some people find the boots too narrow in front part of their feet and prefer to even walk barefoot even in the thick jungle. Sizes larger than 44 European are hard to find, and you may need to get larger sizes in cities like Quito or Guayaquil.

Clothing
Even though here it is sunny and warm for the most part, and there are not too many biting insects, we walk naked on our land. Sometimes during rain it gets a bit cool and also exploring the deep jungle forests, long clothes are helpful to have. Bring rain gear if you have them, but it is not necessary if you don’t care to get wet. Also, please do bring only vegan clothing, no down (feathers), fur, silk, leather or suede, or other materials that come from nonhuman animals, if you can.

Washing clothes
Use baking soda and/or vinegar. We prefer baking soda as vinegar sometimes contains chemicals and may not be vegan. Please wash your clothes and body, as no one likes to be living with people who have a bad odour. We walk naked for the most part, so we don’t wear clothes too often.

Accomodations
We provide everyone with comfortable loging. Normally, volunteers receive a spacious tent with all bedding materials, and guests can stay in a tent, room or cabin (when available). Long-term volunteers can stay in a more spacious room or cabin if they wish. However, if it is feasible, and you wish to tent in a private area of your choice, you can bring your own tent. Volunteers receive one tent per person or couple, otherwise, we require a minimum donation contribution if you would like an additional tent.

Soaps and Shampoos
At Peaceful Village, we don’t support or use chemical products like soaps or shampoos, deodorants, perfumes, lotions/creams, etc. Instead, we use the power of fruits to help with that. We use lemon in our hair rubbed into our scalp and hair as shampoo and on our skin also as soap. We utilize avocado on our hair and skin as a conditioner and as a lotion. We leave the lemon or avocado on the body for 5 to 10 minutes to soak in and then we wash it off with pure water from the rain or rivers. If one smells a bit on under the armpits, use fresh lemon or one can also add baking soda.

Baking Soda
We recommend using baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) instead of using more toxic chemical products. However, we know that baking soda is made in a laboratory and is not a completely natural product. Baking soda is also very pricey in Ecuador compared to other places and often adds in other ingredients like salt. So be aware! if possible, try substituting fruits like fresh lemon juice for cleaning.

Water
All the water here is pristine and drinkable and the rivers are also swimable and drinkable, but we don’t recommend swimming or dinking it when it is brown from much rain. This is just due to soil runoff from the mountains when it rains and other factors. We recommend bringing at least 1 L metallic bottle for drinking. Also maybe to use the same or another one, if you’d like to sometimes get a juice in town.

Also, if you know for sure that you are coming to our community and have a more specific date of your arrival, if you could bring along any of the following donation items found on this page, we would appreciate it very much.

If you have additional questions or feedback, don’t hesitate to contact us through our contact page.