Sight For Sore Eyes

The last day in Bali I took off like Superman. I wasn't anxious to leave, I was just dirt-biking Mt. Batur (Inactive Volcano) and flipped over my bike with two full seconds of flight. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to speed downhill into a volcanic fishbowl that's near impossible to get out of? It's all okay, I waved the white flag and Pak Kadex (Dirt-biking Guide, who happens to be the champion Enduro-Racer of Indonesia) helped me get out. I was shocked to see he wasn't mad about damaging the clutch on one of his prized Husqvarna motorcycles. In the moment he was dying of laughter. He captured a photo of me crashing, and the potential worry was non-existent. 

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​Luckily, the only thing broken was my daredevil spirit. But let's just say "sore" is the basic term for what I felt the next morning, the day of my flight to Sumba. 

I arrived in Tambolaka Airport and the first person I met was Dr. Claus Bogh, who has been associated with Nihiwatu for 12 years and is an expert on Malaria. He is the Health Director of the Sumba Foundation, and has multiple Malaria training centers for doctors and students, dedicated to educating and raising the quality of treatment in which is currently among the best in the world. 

The car ride to the resort was magical, I felt as if I stepped in a time machine. There is so much land and so little establishments that are stripped to the rudimental necessities of life. Cars, motorcycles, mini markets, stores, schools, Sumbanese style homes (usually clustered within a village), livestock, beautiful mountainous landscape, and flourishing wild flora.

 
​On arrival I was greeted by the ​Activities Director, Sean, who introduced me to almost everyone the first day. I suddenly became a mastermind with memorizing names. The rest of my day continued as Sean introduced me to Carla, the General Manager, as well as Chris, who is in charge of Business Development. Business Development encompasses a lot of aspects to the resort, including government relations, acquiring permits for construction, expansion, sustainability, and agricultural growth for the kitchen to provide organic foods for the guests. That's where I come in. During the meeting with Carla and Chris I was assigned to manage the growth and expansion of all four organic gardens on-site. That means I'll be planting, picking, pulling, and navigating the staff that speak only Bahasa Indonesian to do the same. For those of you who think this isn't business, reduction of costs is very much part of Business Development! Call me the Sustainability Manager, in charge of managing the exotic gardens and composting in order to create more output with less input, cost-effective! I'll be working hard on this for the next two months and will hopefully make every garden a sanctuary for Vegans... and other guests that are interested where their fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices come from.