Soboroong in the early days was infested with Tohipoi. No matter how you would want to avoid it, somehow you would get in contact with it. Luckily, in one round of clearing the land, we were able to eradicate the Tohipoi.

What happen if you get in contact with the Tohipoi? We called it “The Forbidden Tree” because if you get in contact with it, you will suffer extreme itchiness – the more you scratch, the itchiness become more intense. While tohipoi will not harm you to death but if you do not do anything ‘the itchiness’ could last for as long as one week. 
 
We have this Tohipoi as a remembrance for the challenges and difficulties we had to face in the initial development of Soboroong in the late 50s. Not only literally we faced the Tohipoi toxic, but more important to remind us the difficulty our parents had to endure in developing Soboroong in efforts to search for better life. They had to walk for about 2 hours, first under secondary jungle and then into primary forest to get here. 

What about amenities and facilities then? Just enjoyed whatever “natural facilities” available in the jungle. The “care free” living style of the late 50s…