Continuing on with episodes from my jungle visit.

①Next, I was most surprised by a vanilla farm where we applied a ‘leech-repelling cream’. It’s located deep in the central region. While other parts of the jungle had narrow roads that just about allowed a single car to pass, here we had to leave the car towards the end and walk a few hundred meters to reach the destination. When told about the ‘leech-repelling cream’, I was so taken aback that I forgot to take a crucial photo. We applied a cream, similar in color and consistency to mentholatum, all around our shoe midsoles. Still, the brave soul (?) who accompanied me in shorts had several leeches climbing up his calves. The logistics issues here were even more serious. By the way, the leader of the work here was also a woman. (First four pictures from top left to right)

②The last jungle visit was to a cashew nut place. This location had vast cleared lands with several factories, each dedicated to a different stage of production. They even produce their own brand of products. After the tour, a male sales representative dropped a fruit from a coconut tree and served us fresh coconut juice. My main concern here was the working environment, especially the tremendous noise. I became genuinely worried about the health of the employees working there. My perspective on cashew nuts has forever changed. From the employees to the top level, it was mostly women. (From fifth picture from the middle)

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