Mango mania

We are well and truely into the mango season now. It started about a month ago and probably will continue until January. Did I tell you that mangos are my favorite fruit? I am in heaven right now. When the mango season is finished it will be time for ... you guessed it ... the avocado season! Which is also a big favorite.

Mangos being in season is one thing, getting at them is another. Sometimes on my way to work I pick up a couple that have fallen on the ground overnight. How wonderful is that?! Imagine cycling to the station in the morning and casually being able to collect your favorite fruit that has fallen down overnight - it's like manna from heaven. (You can tell that have kept up with reading that Baebol, can't you?).

However, the ones that are on the ground sometimes tend to be a little bit over-ripe. So it is better to get them out of the tree. There are several ways to do this. The most popular is to use a very long bamboo stick and try to hit the mango of your choice softly until it falls to the ground. This works with mangos that are ripe. Mangos that are ripe however are also a big favorite with the fruitbats, or flying foxes, that come out during the night and gorge themselves. You can't blame them!

So it is best to collect them before the fruitbats get at them. Here is my next door neigbour Marie (15) in the mango tree in front of my house:


Or you can just stand on a friend's roof and pick a mango for a Dutch volunteer passing by on her way home from work:

You can't tell from this picture, but some people have put some fishing lines nearby the tree with some ten hooks or so attached to it at regular intervals. There are quite a few trees in Lakatoro with similar contraptions around them. People put them up there in trying to catch... flying fox. I haven't had a chance to try them yet, but I have been told they taste quite nice. It will let you know.