ABOUT
Mega & Toine
During the pandemic we decided to leave the south of Bali and find ourselves a new place to live, away from the crowds and immerse ourselves in nature and authentic Bali. We fell in love with the area around Pupuan and eventually bought ourselves a little productive plantation in Sanda, a small village on the slopes of Mount Batukaru. We love our new lifestyle; slowly learning to develop and manage the plantation and blending into the local traditional Balinese community.
We decided to open our home to those seeking an escape from the crowds, or those who want to experience authentic rural Bali.
We hope to welcome you soon!
Toine & Mega
Mega
I was born and raised in Jakarta, while my parents are from Pekalongan, in Central Java, famous for its batik and textile industry. After finishing high school I worked 8 years for a film production agency and mining company, before joining a luxury lifestyle magazine. After meeting Toine I joint his digital marketing agency, taking care of administration, finance and legal matters. In 2019 we got married and moved to Bali. We initially lived in Legian, focusing on our digital marketing agency. During the pandemic we decided to change our lifestyle and bought a plantation here in Sanda. Initially we spent every weekend here in the mountains, but soon did not really feel home anymore in he busy south and decided to move here permanently.
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Toine
I was born in The Netherlands and have a Masters degree in Biology. As part of my study I spent a year in the rainforests of Sumatra, during which I fell in love with the country. After graduating I joint a Dutch tour operator developing expeditions and nature-oriented tours to southeast Asia, before moving into the hospitality industry. I worked in different sales and marketing roles in hotel chains, and eventually in online travel. At the end of 2016 I left the corporate world and established my own digital marketing agency. Nowadays I still do some freelance work in this space, but mostly enjoy our life in the plantation. I love photography, particularly wildlife and culture. Here is my photography website:
OUR PLANTATION
Our plantation is located on the southern slope of the Balian river valley, west f Mount Batukaru and the small village of Sanda, in Pupuan. The plantation slopes down from the top of the ridge of the valley, all the way down to the Balian river, a very clean river. Due to its geography we enjoy spectacular views over the valley, neighboring plantations and rice fields.
Until about 10 years ago our plantation looked very different, as the upper part was actually rice fields and only the lower part was a plantation. After a couple of minor land slides the owner decided to convert the rice fields into a coffee plantation, but you can still see the terraces of the former rice fields.
We now grow about 30 different fruit trees and other crops, and we love to add more! Here are some of the main fruit trees and crops.
OUR DOGS
We hope you love dogs, or at least don’t mind them. We currently have 4 Bali dogs and 1 mixed Bali dog / German Sheperd, from 11 a while ago..! We love them all. At least most of them, most of the time… It wasn’t really our choice to get dogs though, at least not completely…!
Here is the story, and the dogs.
ECO-FRIENDLY
Eco-friendly. What does that actually mean…? It’s today’s buzz-word. Used a lot and… abused. What does it actually really mean…? “Eco” means “Home”; it comes from the Greek word “Oikos“, meaning “Home”. Eco-friendly therefore means “home-friendly”. For us it means OUR Home. To start with…
Are we perfect? No! We have a long way to go… And we will. We always do our best to protect our environment and be an example for our community. It’s a journey for us; we learn. And improve. Step by step. Our way. We hope our community follows. We are driven, but not obsessed. We also want to be practical. Here is where we are.
OUR CLIMATE
We are at an altitude of 650 meters above sea-level and there is no need for air-conditioning. During the day temperatures rarely get above 30 degrees Celsius and at night the temperature drops to around 18-22 degrees.
Being at higher altitude and close to the mountains means a much higher humidity. Rain showers are fairly common, even during the dry season (which is not very dry anymore anyway in Bali, due to climate change). They generally do not last very long though, and normally won’t spoil your stay in this area.
Some times during the year, often around March, strong winds pick up and if it then rains the weather becomes less pleasant. This is not very common though and only the really unlucky ones may then have a less pleasant stay.
For those unlucky (or lucky..?) ones we are happy to either extend your stay or welcome you back another time, free of charge!
INSECTS
Don't like insects and other critters?
We are an active plantation and care about nature and animals, big and small. We do not use any chemical pesticides to control insects and other critters. We do take precautions to keep accommodation and surroundings clean, but the Wani Tent and Wooden House have an open design and bugs and insects are a common sight.
If you get easily scared with insects, bugs and the likes, perhaps this is not the right place for you.
Mosquitoes
There are actually fewer mosquitoes in our area compared to many other parts of Bali, due to the cooler climate and because all water in the area is flowing and comes fresh from the mountain springs. Mosquitoes do not like to breed in this water. We do provide natural mosquito repellant. Inside the Wani Tent and in the bedroom of our Wooden House you’ll rarely see any mosquito.
During the rainy season there are sometimes mosquitoes where vegetation is thick, particularly early morning and late afternoon, but usually less than almost anywhere else in Bali.