Coffee from the Neighbours
Do you ever wonder, where’s my coffee from? For most of us its a mystery.
With Timor Mountain your coffee’s from your neighbours, smallholders family farmers in the mountains of Timor-Leste.
Now why would you buy coffee from Colombia, Brazil or wherever when 500 km north of Darwin our neighbours are growing coffee that’s even better!
Facts about Timor-Leste (East Timor)
Christo Rei, Dili.
Overlooking Dili across the bay is the statue of christo Rei (Christ the King). A tribute to the countries Catholics made by a soon to depart Indonesia occupiers on the 1989 visit of Pope John Paul II to Timor- Leste.
Timor is 98.7% catholic - a fact you are left in no doubt of when observing the population attending Mass in their best clothes on Sunday mornings.
Mount Ramelau 2,986 m
Mount Ramelau or Tatamailau (grandfather of all) is Timor’s highest mountain at 2,986 metres. While the capital of Dili is on a narrow plain on the north coast nearly all of Timor-Leste is mountainous.
Narrow winding roads make their way over rugged ranges typically filled with giant albizia shade trees with coffee trees growing in the understorey. From the highest point of Ramelau you can view both the North and south coasts of the island and to the sea the coastal island of Atauro.
Language & Culture
While Portuguese is one of the national languages, the everyday language is ‘Tetum’ - a creole unique to Timor-leste drawing together indigenous languages (tetum terik), Portuguese and many loan words from Bahasa Indonesia and English. In the district, everyone will also have their mother tongue (for instance in much of Ermera district ‘Mambae’ is spoken.
Evident through rural areas are Uma Lulik or the spirit house which serves as a traditional centre of culture for every family. The importance of the Uma Lulik is an example of how underneath its Catholic faith re many traditional cultural practices and indigenous beliefs which make Timor culturally unique.