There is more fruit per square foot in Hiva Oa than any place we’ve ever seen. But it is not for sale and requires a significant investment in time and energy. This was not unexpected and we set off into the jungle full of gear and cunning plans, stopping along the way to look at flowers…
And feed horses
The highest expenditure of effort for food was tied between coconuts and bananas. We started with a heaving line and monkey’s fist. This eventually worked, but not nearly as well as the 20 ft 1×1 that someone had thoughtfully left by the side of the path for us to use.
Getting them down is really just half the fun
Opening them up is the really dangerous part
We tied our machete to a long stick and eventually cut down a fine brace of bananas.
S shook all the papaya trees she could find and also collected a bunch of limes. She learned the hard way that lime trees have some nasty thorns. We snagged a breadfuit from a parking lot.
Mangoes are the holy grail because they are incredibly good. There are huge mango trees all over the village and the primary recipients are 1,000’s of feral chickens that roam the island, continually crossing all the roads (really!).
K was indignant that he was out-foraged by these chickens and it only got worse when a golden 3 lb mango fell out of a tree a smacked onto the sidewalk 5 feet in front of him. We almost cried when we saw it.
We did find a slightly less damaged street mango that turned out to be most delicious. For as we all know, there is no mango sweeter than a free street mango.
We’ll be working hard for this fruit in the weeks ahead in spite of our cafe-lifestyle background, mostly because we can’t afford the insanely priced local cafe lifestyle, however relaxing it might be. Here’s what $13 (U.S.) worth of Schmidt’s-like beer looks like.