So this is going to be a short little entry on one of the most amazing aspects of Nicaragua that I have encountered so far: the coconuts. There are obviously a lot of palm trees around here, and most of them have coconuts chilling in their upermost areas.
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| The forbidden fruits in all of there glory...with Adam taking the initiative and harvesting from above |
As you might have spotted right off the bat, yes, there is also a man up in the tree with the coconuts. That is how they are harvested. Someone climbs up the palm tree, no ropes or anything, and works around up top cutting loose the coconuts. The rope that you do see in the picture is not for the safety of the man, but for the safety of the coconuts. He cuts loose a whole bunch of the fruits, ties their main stalk to the end of the rope, and then they are slowly lowered down over the other side of a branch. This is what the bunch looks like:
Obviously, the process could be a lot less dangerous with a shorter palm tree or if you decided to try to find a remarkably long stick/pole to break them down with. However, no one was complaining and everyone enjoys a nice cool bit of coconut water and some fresh coconut meat...
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| Abbie and I |
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| Sergio |
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| Cecilia |
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| Andrés somehow got his hands on two |
So basically a machete is used to hack the peel/hide away from the correct end of the coconut and then (correct end because there is a weak spot on this end) you are able to make a hole in the actual coconut fruit and drink the water. After this the machete is used to hack the coconut in half and the meat is able to be consumed. Quite a process, but easily worth it in the end! ...especially if you are not the one ever in danger throughout the whole ordeal!
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| The coconut halved |
