Snakefruit and Seaweed
Tuesday, April 24th, 2007 by Gin SimpsonBali’s new Village Ecotourism Network provides an alternative to mass tourism.
Ibu Soma balances precariously on a small wooden stepladder. It wobbles a little, but she is practised at this. Rolling up her sleeves, she reaches into the tree and claims her tiny prizes one by one. They are sunset-coloured capsules, which she will sun-dry and husk, revealing the perfect coffee beans within. Her daughter picks some of the lower beans and slowly they begin to fill their basket. The work is methodical, and made even more meditative by the peacefulness of the forest-gardens around them.
The silence is interrupted only by birdsong. From far off, however, come the sounds of footsteps. Eventually a small group of visitors round a bend, pattering quietly in damp undergrowth and murmuring softly. They are headed by Gede, one of Bu Soma’s fellow coffee farmers, and a local eco-guide. They stop to admire Bu Soma’s harvest, and soon the little patch of garden is filled with chatter and laughter.
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