THERE was an intriguing title to the talk given by Keith Davies at the March meeting of Morchard Bishop Gardening Club: “Bali, Fauna and toothbrushes”.

Keith took us on an illustrated journey through Bali, a vibrant, largely Hindu island of temples, statues, gentle people, abundant flowers and wonderful wildlife.

Keith showed us photographs of a landscape strewn with flamboyant flowers. Statues by the roadside are adorned with symbolic offerings to Gods and the Balinese throng to temples which are decked with flowers such as Tropical Giant (a white spider lily), frangipani and Thunbergia Orchids are everywhere, even in outdoor showers!

Each house has its own statues and flowers are offered daily to such Gods as Ganesh, the elephant God. The God of iron is venerated by adorning anything metal with flowers: cars, motorbikes and even knives and forks.

Banyan trees are considered as sacred and are wrapped in cloth during religious ceremonies as a sign of respect.

The Mangosheen tree is also revered. This tree can take 15 years to bear fruits which are purported to be an aphrodisiac.

The animal kingdom is no less represented. In the paddy fields, egrets compete with the sacred kingfisher for grubs in the freshly ploughed earth and the Olive-backed sunbird feeds on dried nectar.

There are also wild and domestic boars which end up on restaurant menus as suckling pig. Babi Guling is a specialist dish which translates as “pig roast”.

However, beware the wild monkeys which abound in the markets and temples. Keith said they will nick your food and possibly give you a nasty bite.

Now to the toothbrushes. The North East coast was once an area of fishermen. Unfortunately due to the influence of tourism, land prices started to escalate, forcing the indigenous people to migrate to the hills to eke out an existence as subsistence farmers.

Healthcare was very poor, especially dental care. Noticing this, an Australian couple, Ray and Sue Bishop, were moved to set up a free clinic called “Rumah Sehat” (Healthy House) with money donated by the Rotary Club.

Keith was inspired by this idea and raised money in the UK to fund his own project. With the help of his family, Keith lugged a suitcase containing 700 toothbrushes to give to the clinic.

Previously the population had either never seen a toothbrush or had to share one with other members of the family.

Nowadays, they have a “teaching monkey” which shows the children how to clean their teeth properly.

In his varied and entertaining talk, Keith took us from a dreary Devon evening to an exotic island abounding with colour and mystery.

Karen Moffett