PPLH Seloliman Environmental Education Centre

After Yogyakarta, it was off to PPLH Seloliman Environmental Education Centre, this time by local bus, rather than our usual minivans.  Actually, at the bus station, we did transfer to a minivan for the last of the ride to the Centre.

PPLH was Indonesia's first environmental education centre established in 1990.  It is a non-profit  NGO, and receives support from donors, organizations and governments around the world.  Current programs include promoting organic farming, gender and community empowerment programs, soil conservation and reforestation, to name a few.

It is in a perfect setting on the edge of a tropical forest on the slopes of Mt Penanggungan in East Java.  There were wonderful little chalets to stay in, complete with cozy mosquito nets.  We were also pleased to discover that each chalet had an outdoor bathroom.... cool.  After disposing of a couple of gigantic spiders in our room (yup, more giant spiders, Laurie), we settled in.

All meals were included at the Centre, as it was fairly isolated from larger towns.  The food was mostly vegetarian and organic (with one meat dish), sort of like Kalani in Hawaii, but done much better.  We were also pleasantly surprised to find out they served Bintang beer, so we had a couple of cold ones with dinner.

After dinner there was a short lecture from one of the Centre's staff, then we watched a BBC show about the wildlife of Indonesia.  It really made you want to explore further off the beaten path in this fascinating and diverse country.

Later that night, we got into our comfy mosquito netted beds, falling asleep to the chorus of insects in the rain-forest.