They Don’t Do These Things in America – Part 1

Living here in Papua New Guinea gives our boys the chance to do some things that they’ve never done in America!

Luke and Titus, like lots of other boys the world around, like to climb trees.  Normally when you think of a good climbing tree, you think of one with lots of branches, right?  Well, the boys do like to climb trees like that.  But since we’ve been here in PNG, they’ve also learned to climb a different kind of tree.

Papaya trees (or popo as they are called here) can grow to be pretty tall and the branches, leaves, and fruit are all at the very top.  In order to enjoy the fruit, someone has to climb up to get it.  If you wait too long, the fruit bats will start helping themselves!  It is not an uncommon thing here to see people shimmying up a popo tree (or even taller coconut trees) to get some fruit.

So, here are a few photos of our boys honing their skills of climbing a popo tree.  By the time they get to the top, their arms and legs are usually pretty tired so sometimes they take turns climbing up and trying to twist off the papaya.

Often people here use a little help to make the climb easier.  They make a loop, often out of dried banana leaves, to go around their ankles and feet.  So one day the boys tried climbing that way.  It was a little awkward at first because they weren’t used to it, but they did say that they weren’t nearly as tired by the time they got to the top.

Thanks for reading.  Time to go enjoy a papaya/banana/yogurt smoothie!

Check back for Part 2 about banana trees, machetes and coconuts!