EXISTING communites in South America? Ready to pull the trigger on some land

Hello all.

I'm currently in South America ACTIVLY searching for land. Im fed up with reading all of these great ideas while not finding any existing communties. It seems like a lot of people are talking the talk without, well, you know.

Im not looking for a hyper interactive community where every single person and farm and element is directly connected. It seems like some of us are stuck on this "lets all do this together" idea. No. I'm going to be on my farm, practicing permaculture & biodynamics while youre away on youre farm doing the same. Sure, we can plan water flow / swales / collection ponds so our farms interact like that, but I dont want to have to dive in to a giant master business plan with you like some of these "start up" plans are seeming like. Like my friend Rene's post earlier, I want to be in an autonomous community. Im doing my thing youre doing yours. We'll help eachother when its needed like a good neighbor should. But i dont want to be your blood brother.

I WWOOFED last year on two farms in a community just like this. Mallin Ahogado. Its up in the Andes mountains outside of El Bolson, Argentina. Which is in the southern part of the country. Its tottally autonomous. Check out the preview host farm list for Argentina and youll see plenty of farm there. There was even a big water canal running through the entire area feeding water to everyone which came from a glacier. There was a few community projects going on but nothing like some of you keep dreaming and only dreaming about.

Two reasons why I dont already live there: 1. All the land was in USD and was not much cheaper than the states. 2. The government is similar to the United States in terms of being in bed with Monsanto and other large entities.

So. With my semi heated rant over....

Does anyone know of an EXISTING AUTONOMOUS homestead community somewhere in south america where the land is cheap???!!! Right now I feel like either going to join Rene in Colombia or suck it up and go to Argentina! Ahhh

-Cheers everyone

Paititi Institute. Pretty far out, near the Manu National Reserve. They may be open to an arrangement. They want to have around 200 people living there (4000 acres) soon.

Hi Dave,

Santiago from Colombia here. I've been talking with Rene lately and have notice the interest in creating a community, the distance between our farms is about 65km (2 hours away or a little bit less), although I haven't met Rene I think it's cool that we can support each other, I know they are more permaculture people in Colombia and maybe in our region (I have some neighbors that have an incredible farm 60km form Rene and 30km from me).

If what you want is like minded people you can certainly find them here; the other advantage is the versatility Colombia has, I don't know if people are aware of the altitude differences in Colombia, for example Renes farm is about 1000 meters higher, we are 350 mt from sea level, and Bogota 2600 mt from sea level is 3 hours away, so basically you can choose the type of climate you want, from hot to cold (all year round) since you are in the tropics.

I've lived in Argentina so I can confidently tell you labor here is cheaper if you want to hire some one for a hand.

If you want to buy now is the time since the dolar is quite high right now.

I't can sound as over selling Colombia, in my defense I love my country and I believe it needs as many permies as posible jejejeje

If you have questions let me know

Cheers for Colombia!!!

Hi Dave,
there is a lot out there, all over Mexico, Central America, and South America. We are working on mapping the projects that stand out on a new permaclture communities network - http://www.numundo.org/

Lake Atitlan, Guatemala you will find lots of little homestead farms. In Southern Mexico (Oaxaca, Chiapas), likewise, as well as Tepoztlan in Central Mexico. There is a ton out there - ultimate it's up to you who you choose to be neighbors with, and which country you decide to land in! There aren't really many good options in terms of responsible governments that aren't in bed with Monsanto. But there are places where the local people have essentially rejected government control in some areas (southern Mexico, Guatemala), which gives a very autonomous vibe!

Well, as for me, I am at a point where I feel that working in community is more comfortable than trying to go it alone. When we are each others' safety net, that reduces our dependency on the outside. I have been involved with a startup group in Brazil, who are right now in the searching for land stage. We already have our bylaws, we are already raising funds for the land purchase. But we are still up for taking in new members; for now, our main portal is our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fazendaorganica/

Our model isn't for everyone, but we have chosen the collective structure for carefully thought out reasons, spelled out in our bylaws -- essentially, we recognize that when people invest as individuals, the desire to get a return on their investment leads to speculation, which in turn leads to exploitation of the land, not working with it. Also, when each person is involved in his or her own little project, that tends to interfere with the kind of community network necessary for long term security. If you care to learn more, all our documents are posted to the aforementioned Facebook page.

Jason:  Howz it goin with your project?
I'm an elder American who fled the impending collapse of America,  currently teaching english in China. Looking about for community...saw your 2016 posting. Thought I'd invoke a "follow up." Can't get Facebook here...