Exotic animals, trees and fauna

/

Being in Bali allows you to get acquainted with various exotic animals, trees and fauna. Here, at Jiwa Damai we do have some incredible inhabitants. Today I would like to introduce you to the sacred Temple snake.

According to Balinese beliefs she lives in the temples and blesses them and is sacred. She lives in between the roof and the ceiling in one of our houses and is early seen. The last sign was a snake skin hanging in a tree close to the area, which meant she has grown and was shedding. Usually she goes out to hunt every 10 days or so, to catch a frog or mouse meal. She then returns to her quarters to digest and is not seen for another week or more. She does hunt at night and that is when we can catch a glimpse of her. She is shiny black and has beautiful yellow rings around her slim body. usually she is curious and will look at you for a while before moving on. According to the general information about her kind, she is lightly poisonous and her bite can cause some swelling. We have never heard of anyone being bitten.

Here at Jiwa Damai we respect all beings, and as it is we are taking the living space away from these beings. Therefore a respect and honoring of these creatures is appropriate.

The temple snake

/
snake.JPG

This beautiful snake  with its yellow rings is considered sacred by the Balinese. it lives mainly in the the,plus and is called the temple snake. Having this snake in your house under the roof is considered a blessing. It show itself on the average once a week coming down from the roof to go hunting for food. Its main food are the frogs it finds around the ponds.It nourishes itself from mice as well.

We have a special approach to the snakes here. Since we are the ones taking the living space away from them, we are respecting and honoring them. The Balinese do make offering for the snakes at the house temples. This way a peaceful co-existence is initiated.

Gardening equipment

/

This is our storage shed for the gardening equipment. The hats are needed to protect form the strong sun as well as from the heavy rains. They are made out of Bamboo and they keep our staff nice and cool and protected.

hats
hats

The boots are for working in the river or in the mud.

shoes
shoes

Volunteers and Woofers are welcome year-round to help us on our organic farm ! Please inquire to> contact@jiwadamai.net

Garden visit

/

Another lovely visit form an International School in Bali to our permaculture gardens.

These young ones, ranging form 7-11 years were extremely interested in our gardens and especially all the animals they encountered during the garden walk. Butterflies, Tokes, all kinds of lizards and some of our beautiful birds, like the kingfisher, which resides here.

Opening a coconut, trying the meat of the coconut, cacao fruit, tasting basil and mint and then enjoying for lunch a banana pancake with cinnamon and honey. This was topped with a dip in our pool. Everyone left joyful and very happy. We really enjoy having young people discovering our garden.

Galungan, a time of celebration

/

Galungan is for the Balinese like Christmas for the West. A time of celebration and meeting with friends and relatives, traveling everywhere.

The preparations for the festivities takes place 2 days before, with the man preparing the sate, chicken and tuna. Well mixed version with coconut flakes and cream stuck on a wooden small spear to be seared over and open charcoal. Every family produced masses of these.

The next step is to find the right bamboo branch, very long and flexible on the top. It involves very intricate decoration work. Ours, at Jiwa Damai, is about 9 meters high and the tip is supposed to be flowing in the wind. 

Discovering the Balinese nature

/

"At Jiwa Damai I felt as part of the nature, not apart from nature", says Bernardo, our volunteer.

Bernardo is a yoga teacher but he also had the chance to work closely on our mushroom project, taking care of them and planting them. He also worked with the coconuts and prepared the natural coconut oil. For Bernardo, Jiwa Damai was the place where he had his first woofing experience. 

"Jiwa Damai starts from the idea of a retreat. I felt that I could work on my emotional part, even having people around. It offered me the time to reflect on my own life. I visited Bali, I went to the south, the east, the west, but Jiwa Damai is the only place where I managed to reconnect with the Balinese nature. It is the nature that really creates the uniqueness of this place", says Bernardo. 

While Bernardo was a volunteer at Jiwa Damai, a yoga teacher training course was also taking place. "As a yoga teacher myself, I can see why doing the course here is more interesting. This place enhances the experience of the training. You get more connected to the environment", says Bernardo.   

Originally from Brazil, Bernardo has traveled before to India and Thailand. His next stop is Malaysia. We wish him all the best and we are very grateful to having him as a volunteer at Jiwa Damai. 

Celebrating Barong in Bali

/

The Barong festival, where barons from 120 villages come together in a large temple is held only once every 10 years. Our volunteers, Dave, from USA, Juliana from Brazil and Hussein form Spain where invited and enjoyed the honor very much.

They are all dressed up in Balinese garb and are following  the villagers who are carrying the Barongs for miles to the temple. 

Learn more about being a volunteer at Jiwa Damai here. 

Jiwa Damai on the rain

/

Did you know that in Bali there are two seasons: the Dry Season and the Rainy Season. The Rainy Season ends usually in April. But this year it lasted until May.  The nature is all green and beautiful! Here are some photos from a rainy day at Jiwa Damai.

Eggplants at Jiwa Damai

/

Our gardens are offering us the veggies we need for our table and all guests, volunteer as well as interns are benefiting form the wonderful organic choices we can cook in our cuisine. Here is a sample of our varieties of eggplants we are growing.

Backpacker accommodation with recycled material

/

Our new backpacker accommodation, made with recycled bottles is nearly finished. It just looks wonderful from the inside and outside. It is called the Beehive House and has two rooms, two beds each. Simple and clean. We also added a few steps away an additional Balinese and western shower and toilet with a biological septic tank. We use the bottles as well to give a colorful dimension to the shower.

You can see how we gathered and used the recycled material of the new backpacker accommodation at Jiwa Damai on an earlier blog post, here.