To start the day off, we took a hike around the 200acre Kanbile estate. This is absolutely stunning, a beautiful, shade grown coffee plantation, bordered by ancient deciduous jungle. A lot of the estate managers come from an ethnic group called the Clansmen, they’re a tight knit society and it’s believed they originated from the Afghanistan/Kazakhstan region. They’re generally taller and bigger boned than the general population of India and although they claim to be Hindu, their beliefs don’t really tie into any religion. They pray to their ancestors and they believe in the spirituality of nature and they keep areas of the jungle pristine and wild. They believe this will take care of them and their crop. There are elephants in this area, the closest we got however, was spotting some elephant dung!
We then went down to the wet mill to assess how the anaerobic fermentation was coming along, unfortunately some air somehow got in, and it’s turned to vinegar, the experiment will have to be started again.
Back for lunch, and off for a long drive up into the highland area for some spectacular views. Another drive another adventure, it’s too crazy to describe but imagine if the Gods were gamblers, and they were after more souls, they would place their bets on the corners, EVERYONE'S A WINNER! It seems corners, are the best place to overtake.
Our host wanted to show us another coffee growing area that they are interested in potentially growing in, as it’s at slightly higher altitude. It’s incredibly remote, we almost collided with a water buffalo in the middle of the road, he wasn’t for moving and we saw our first snake, two of them actually!