It was a moment many days, weeks and months in the making. The culmination of a nine-year project, the sum of collaboration and commitment, and the realisation of dreams. On Wednesday, October 18^th, the morning after International Real Vanilla Day, the LittlePod team travelled to our orchard in Indonesia. It was the undoubted highlight of our time in Bali.

The experience was everything that we expected it to be, and everything we’d ever imagined. Yet at the same time, it was more. So much more.

Immersed. Enthralled. Made’s Bali

Heading there that morning had been hectic. Urban Bali can be so breathless – the traffic bumper-to-bumper as the car inched snail-like through Ubud, scooters buzzing all around and our progress so slow as to be imperceptible.

The change, when it came, was marked, 45 minutes or so from our destination, the air clearing as the roads narrowed, towns becoming villages becoming scattered homes as our climb began, winding, winding, winding, higher, higher into the hills.

The roads became rough tracks that our driver negotiated expertly, whilst from his cramped position in the back, Made pointed out the tropical plants and the trees that lined our route, summoning us to the plantation ahead.

There’s cacao. There’s coffee. Mangosteen. Durian…

That’s where Made 2 and I went hunting for vanilla vines, all those years ago.

Looking everywhere. Hunting, hunting. Saving what we could.

This was an altogether different Bali – Made’s Bali.

We were immersed, we were enthralled, and then we were there…

Handshakes. Hugs. Goodwill all around

The village – Made 2’s house. Modest, yet marvellous, with tropical trees and forest life teeming all around us. The colours were vivid, the skies so blue, the place peaceful and perfect. Everything we’d ever imagined and more…

There is more than one Made in this story. During our visit, we counted five: Made, Made, Made, Made and Made. Our Made – Dr Made Setiawan, LittlePod’s original vanilla farmer, who we first met in Oxford, many miles from Indonesia – is Made 1 (or just plain Made). But Made 2 (pictured below) is a special man also, the main man on the ground, living in quiet contentment high in the hills. Uniting, inspiring and guiding all the others. Making this all such a success. Making it look so simple.

Never before had we met, yet in Made’s sun-kissed garden, there were hugs and handshakes, smiles and joy, as the leaves in the trees rustled in the tropical breeze. There was sweet tea and there were treats, and despite the obvious language barrier, there was much laughter. Made’s little dog sniffed cautiously at our feet – wary, yet curious. We were all soon comfortable together. It had taken no time at all.

It soon transpired that we were earlier than expected – the morning traffic in Ubud hadn’t been so bad after all – and the other farmers were still at their homes, oblivious to our arrival in their tranquil village, having been told not to turn up until 1pm. Made 2 shattered the silence, zipping off on his scooter to round them all up. It didn’t take long. One after another, the farmers began to arrive, wandering in, joining our conversation, taking a perch on the porch, flip flops kicked off. Introduction after introduction, more handshakes and more hugs, and so much goodwill all around.

There was Made and Putu. Komang and Kadek. Made, Wayan, Wayan and (another) Made. There was Pan Moyo, who we recognised from the film that Made (1) made for us last October, another Putu and others besides. There were LittlePod caps for all – some farmers replaced their existing headwear, others chose to don two hats, one atop the other. There were smiles all round, and an obvious, abundant joy. We’d just met, yet already, our bond felt deep, our connection strong and significant.

We are a family, we work together…

LittlePod vanilla farmer, Putu

‘We are a family, we work together,’ one Putu told us from his place on the porch and it was undeniable. We felt an obvious affinity, a sense of belonging, of kinship and commonality. The constant reminder of what it is we are doing and why. ‘If we weren’t doing this, there would be no vanilla here,’ Made 2 said, a beaming Made 1 translating for both sides as we sat together in companionship, relaxed and comfortable in each other’s company, what little ice there had been long since broken beneath the Balinese sun. ‘We can grow vanilla but as farmers, we need a strong bridge to the market,’ Komang said at one point. It was music to our ears.

Vanilla thriving. Lives changing. Perfect harmony

Refreshments taken and tea finished, we ventured into the forest and down to the farm. The best bit. The highlight. The culmination of it all. One or two walked, others drove in cars – as far as the thinning tracks and trails allowed, before complicated manoeuvres were required – whilst those opting for scooters got there in no time at all. Puttering through the villages, passing homes that were becoming ever more remote, greetings called out and horns pipping cheerfully as we zipped past all the people, peering out in wonder, their heads appearing over garden fences and walls.

Down steep hills, around sharp bends, the track becoming narrower and narrower and then we came to a stop, amazed to see lush green vanilla growing all around us, snaking around the tropical tree trunks, these the original vines grown from the first saplings that LittlePod helped to provide the farmers all those years ago, and the plants that Made and Made managed to salvage from the surrounding countryside.

Hunting, hunting, saving what they could. Everything we’d expected. So much more.

Growing vanilla is something I love to do…

LittlePod farmer, Made

To see it there, in that place and with our own eyes. To breathe that Balinese air and to spend that precious time together. To listen to the farmers, to hear their stories and to share their infectious enthusiasm. ‘I’ve been growing vanilla since the 1980s, but never like this before,’ said one Made, who thanks to this project – this great collaboration so long in the making – is at last reaping the rewards for his efforts in the forest. ‘It’s something I love to do, it’s like a hobby, but one that is paying us well after all this time’. Made’s pioneering polyculture system is working. Vanilla is thriving and lives are changing. In this close village community, everyone is taking notice and all stand to benefit. Biodiversity. The forest. The air. Everything is better.

‘I’m planning to start growing vanilla in the next few weeks,’ explained the other Putu – a younger villager who, for the first time in his adult life, can imagine a sustainable and rewarding future in farming and forest regeneration. Until now, work has meant long shifts below decks on the cruise ships that sail far beyond Bali’s shores, an arduous existence and one that – at long last – Putu can see past.

‘I’ve learnt so much from Made and the other farmers and I want to start planting and spending my time out here in the forest,’ added a young man who has realised that he can find everything he needs in his home in the hills. Tending the forest, reaping the rewards. It was heartening to hear. It made all our efforts so worthwhile.

There was so much more to savour that day: Made 2 hand-pollinated a vanilla orchid – such a delicate operation – before fresh coconuts were shaken from the trees, their thick shells hacked with violent machete strokes, and the sweet water inside enjoyed beneath the dense forest canopy. We strolled through the picturesque rice fields, whilst all around us, coffee, cacao and vanilla, mangosteen and more could be seen entwined together, prevailing in perfect harmony. This – perfect harmony – would be the theme for our entire trip. It was all encapsulated in these most magical moments.

That these symbiotic relationships – these relationships both human and environmental – possess the power to make such an impact and to improve lives so diverse and different, both in Bali and beyond, was underlined during an experience that is certain to live with us all forever, farmers and visitors alike, LittlePodders all.

The culmination, the highlight, the realisation of dreams…

This was everything we’d ever expected and imagined. This was so much more. 

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