After two weeks living in this forested compound, I thought it was time to take a walk down the local high street. I’d only been out by car in the past. It felt amazing to walk, although it was incredibly hot and humid.

It really is a bit like a sauna. Almost every day I’ve been here there’s been heavy rain for about an hour or so, but yesterday there was more than usual. It went on for several hours.

I brought back some miniature bananas and a coconut. I didn’t need them, but people called out to me from their stalls asking me to buy their produce. The coconut was incredibly heavy.

This is the main Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) building. It is under renovation, so I am not working there, but in another building. In order to get on or off the site, it is necessary to go through the security check shown in the picture below. Cars are given a thorough inspection.

These are things I saw on my walk. It started out being peaceful, but there are so many motorbikes on the road that it gets very noisy and stinky. Next time I will try a different route.

Corn is growing in this field

It looks like new housing is being built.

The rest of the pictures are all from CIFOR.

When the lady in the CIFOR guest house made lunch, she transformed the coconut into a drink. It was amazing. We got about three 8 oz glasses of coconut milk from it. We scraped out some of the white coconut meat inside.