Morning broke in the rain-forest, and the chorus of insects was replaced by a chorus of birds. As the air warmed up, we showered outside in our very private bathrooms. Another perfect meal awaited us, this time hot coffee, fresh tropical organic fruit, pancakes and toast.
After breakfast, it was out to the Centre’s gardens, learning about medicinal plants and herbs that they grow here. We also checked out the organic vegetable gardens, as well as the giant trees that were only planted 12 years ago.
We then walked in to a nearby village, using the new greetings we had learned in the local language (not Bahasa Indonesian, which we have also been working on). We were to have yet another cup of coffee, this time served to us by a local institution, Sophina, a feisty 92 year old who sends all the villagers out to work in the rice paddies with her famous Java coffee. What a character… she was hilarious!
She pounded the coffee with a huge mortar and pestle combination, before putting it in cups, and pouring the boiling water. This is similar to how coffee is made all over Indonesia, with kind of a dark fine “sand” of coffee in the bottom of the cup. I have gotten to really like it. I bought a small bag of it to give to my friend Chris who works at Starbucks (hello darling, if you are reading this).
We then headed out walking over some absolutely beautiful rice terraces, taking in the lush green beauty of the countryside.
It was back to the Centre for another mostly vegetarian meal, then off to a special room to learn about a medicinal tea made from local roots and spices. Among other things, there was lemongrass and cloves in the tea, so it smelled heavenly, and really soothed the throat.
We then piled into minivans, and headed across Java again, heading high into the mountains for our next adventure, climbing Mt. Bromo at sunrise.
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