A Complete Introduction to Earthen Building Techniques (Cob, Earthbag, Wattle and Daub)

Come and experience a “cob community” in the cloud forests of El Salvador´s highest mountain.

This workshop is being hosted by the Clouds of El Pital Eco-Tourism Cooperative. Our cooperative of five rural families from El Salvador has collectively built eight separate cob houses and cabins to host tourists in the beautiful El Trifinio Biosphere on the slopes of El Salvador´s highest mountain. The nearby cloud forest offers a beautiful site to learn about natural building techniques and sustainable living.

During this workshop, we will be building a small cob cabin for our eco-tourism cooperative. Participants will have the opportunity to experience all aspects of the building process, from rubble trenches and rock foundations, building cob and wattle and daub walls, installing doors and windows, plastering, and roof anchoring.

If time (and energy) allows, we will also be re-plastering a finished cob cabin and installing a rocket mass heater into a finished cob house. This workshop offers you the opportunity to see several different cob and wattle and daub structures in different phases of construction. Besides staying in beautifully furnished cob cabins with fantastic views of the El Pital Mountain, you will also have plenty of hands-on experience to learn a wide variety of natural building techniques. You can see pictures and videos of the cabins we have built on our website: http://nubesdelpital.com/our-cabins/

The workshop costs $500 USD and includes lodging in private cob cabins (check out the links to AirBnb to see where you´ll be staying), three meals a day served in our recently finished wattle and daub restaurant, all the coffee or tea you can drink, the workshop learning experience, several free e-books on cob and natural building, and a hiking trip to the El Pital cloud forest. We will also be visiting all of the cob structures that have been built in our community (over 10 homes/cabins built by 5 families) to see how natural building positively impacts local communities.

If you require transportation to and from the Salvadoran airport (about a three and a half hour drive), we can arrange that for you (in pickup) for an additional $50 per person (round trip).

While El Salvador receives lots of negative media attention due to violence, we are located in one of the safest parts of the country that receives a large influx of tourists. Furthermore, we are a tight knit community of small farmers that enjoy having people come and visit as guests.

For more information or to sign up, you can send us a message on Facebook (www.facebook.com/nubesdelpital) or send us an email at: tobiasroberts20@hotmail.com

AirBnb links for cabins where you will be lodged during the workshop:

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/21239316

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/21276181