Volunteer Experience at Finca Noah (Elli)

My dear Farah, Nadine and Juan,

I would like to begin my report by describing how I came to travel to Mallorca to volunteer at Finca Noah 2.0. All my life I have been accompanied by all kinds of animals and yes, I can say that many of them were more of a friend to me than quite a few human friends. In October my last animal died, my little ZZ-Top, who passed away at the age of 15. For the past 26 years I always had dogs by my side without interruption, and suddenly you are without one and have an awful lot of time to think about yourself and the world.

I had always wanted to work in animal welfare abroad. I think it was February 2026 when I got in touch with Farah. Soon afterwards we had a phone call and it just felt so damn right. We agreed that I would come from 3 to 17 September and that I would live with them. I chose this deliberately so that I could live with the animals as much and as long as possible during that time.

I have to admit that I did not read any reports beforehand, because I wanted to form my own impression. So I decided to book a one-week holiday in Mallorca with a friend at the end of May, rent a car and drive out to Finca Noah 2.0 – of course they knew at the finca that I was coming. Wow, it was incredible and simply beautiful. To be able to see how the most diverse animals (almost 300) live together so peacefully. That must be a rarity!

Farah warned me: hey, a very tough time is coming your way, with a lot of physical work. Of course I took her seriously, but I thought, I am used to physical work and I have good stamina too :) Well, reality looked a little different. Of the 14 days I spent around 12 with Farah at the large animals, and it was hard. Yes, I can say it was very hard. Not only the heat and the humidity that wear you down, but the work itself, the wheelbarrow that we emptied by hand at least 4 times every morning. I was grateful to have my gloves with me, so I could avoid blisters on my hands, and luckily I am physically fit and did not get sore muscles from the unfamiliar work.

I have to say, the three of them work so hard all day long – you have to have seen and experienced it. When I took my break in my room, they kept working. Even when I fell into bed dead tired, their work was not yet done. Carrying that load 365 days a year deserves my utmost respect. Every day I witnessed the many requests for which Farah always committed herself to finding the best possible solution.

But there were so many wonderful moments with the animals – okay, the roosters (42 of them) in the early morning were, how shall I put it, something you really have to get used to. :) But experiencing the animals, the roughly 82 cats, most of which are super tame, shows just how much heart and soul they put into every single animal. Be aware that a lot of work, yes even damn hard work, lies behind it all, but at the same time how enriching the time at Finca Noah 2.0 can be.

On the second-to-last day, on 9 September to be exact, at around 11 a.m. when we had managed to get quite a few things done, a storm came up, later accompanied by a lot of rain. Seeing how everything we had already accomplished with painstaking work now also had to be brought to safety, and how the large animals had to be housed in the stables, was hard to witness. But seeing how frightened the animals were – the cats, a few of which live in kennels, as well as the dogs that also live in kennels, again only a few, because they cannot be allowed to roam freely on the finca – was awful. Even worse that they got wet :( That night I had to cry and could hardly sleep. I was also sorry that the next day was my last day and that the storm had caused so much devastation.

I will never forget this time and thank you from the bottom of my heart for this experience. I wish Finca Noah 2.0, Farah, Nadine and Juan all the best and confidence for your project in the name of the animals.

Thank you and kind regards

Elli