Jungle Fruit

One of the highlights for me of being in the jungle is the exotic fruit.  This time the zapotes and caymitos were in season.  Zapotes are a brown fruit that are just a little larger than a softball.   Inside they have about 5 large seeds and are bright orange.  They taste a little like a mango, but are not quite as juicy.  Zapotes are fairly common in the markets, but I had never harvested them before.  What fun to climb up the tree to look for ripe ones.  It was loaded!

 

The caymitos are even more exotic.  I've hardly ever seen them even here in Cuenca.  They are the size of a small orange, and yellow/green.  Inside they have one black seed with white flesh that has a mellow, very sweet flavor.  The best part of this fruit is 10 minutes after you finish eating it.  Your lips start to stick together.  It's a very strong glue that sticks to your lips and will not wash off with water.  You can either wait it out or rub it off with oil/lard.  We brought home a whole bag of caymitos and I took some to the youth Bible study today.  Hardly any of the youth had ever tasted one before.  It was so much fun to watch their expressions as they began to notice their lips stick together.  We all had a good laugh.  What amazing creativity our Lord has!