Frutas

People here are always offering us fruits and asking us how we like it. It's amazing. Some of our friends at the feira, or outdoor market, choose out the best of their fruits for us to try them for our first time.

It is incredible that there are so many fruits here that I have never heard of before. They've been sour and sweet, soft and slimy, juicy and that feeling that leaves your mouth feeling completely dry, and in some cases, it happens all at the same time.

Açaí

When I first tried açaí, I thought it had a slight taste of dirt, but after getting accustomed to it, I love it!

Acerola 

 

We collected these from the tree in our back yard.

 

Atá

"It's awesome! it tastes a lot like biribá, but it has a more grainy texture."'-Livia

It's pretty hard to describe most of these fruits, the only thing that they are similar to is other strange fruits here.

Bananas

This is a banana tree in our own backyard that is growing bananas!

There are so many different bananas here. Some of the ones that we have tried are banana maçã (apple banana), banana prata (plate-sized banana), banana vermelha (red banana), banana branca (white bananas) and banana da terra (plantains). Banana maçã tasted like a banana and an apple squished together. The others are pretty much just a banana.

Banana Vermelho as red as the girl's sunburns

 Banana Maçã. They're so tiny!

Banana Prata, they're not exactly plate sized...

Fried plantains are so yummy, by themselves, or  with beans and rice.

Biribá

"Biribá is so good!"-Brenna

And we all agree. It has a great flavor, the texture is  a little different, but we love it.

Caju

This is caju juice. Caju is the fruit that cashews grow on. 

Cupuaçu

This is by far my favorite fruit. It has a super hard shell that you have to crack open. Inside the pulp is around big seeds. The easiest way to access the fruit is by cutting the pulp of the seeds with scissors. Most people don't eat in plain, but we love to eat it fresh, it's quite tart and deliciously creamy. It is also really good in things like ice cream or popsicles.

Carambola

Star fruit

We got a lot of carambola from our neighbors who had a tree. We loved eating them like apples, they are super tart and fun to eat.

Castanha

This is the Brazil nut. Here they call it "castanha de Pará" or more commonly just "castanha." They grow in super hard shells on trees over 150 feet tall. When they are ready, they crash like bombs through the leaves and brushes. 

Coco

We got cold coconuts at the feira. They were amazing and very refreshing.

Luis helped us open the coconuts
with a machete.

After drinking the juice,
we ate the last of the inside of them.

Goiaba

Goiaba is a very common fruit to drink in juice, but its pretty good straight up too.

Graviloa

Soursop
This is quite similar to Biribá, but not quite as good.

Ingá

In English it is called the Ice cream Bean Fruit. And that definitely suits it. It is like a bean pod with soft, white "beans." To open it you have to twist it and then you can pull out the fruit. Inga tastes slightly like vanilla and is very sweet. The seeds in the inside are very hard and smooth to the tongue. It is delicious!

Jabuticaba

This is kind of like a cross between a grape and a cherry.

Jaca

Jack fruit! We had this fruit out for two meals because it is so big! It tastes really good, but it is also really filling. We didn't end up finishing it so we gave it to our friend Jorge, he then told us how to cook and eat the seed as well.

Mamão

Papaya

Maracujá

Passion Fruit is fantastic in juice...

it also has a beautiful flower.

Pintumba

When you first put it in your mouth it is juicy and then when all the juice is gone the texture is like a green banana that sucks all the water out of your mouth.

Rambutã

This fruit is also one of our favorites. It is super juicy and sweet, except when it is not fully ripe, and then is is sour and sweet. Yum 

Tucumã

Tucumã is a staple here. You carve off the peel and then the fruit. It is best when it is slightly fatty. Although it is a fruit, it's not sweet. It is eaten on bread and in egg sandwiches for breakfast. It is super yummy. 

Common fruits Amazonian style

Some fruit here we have had before, but never this good, or this big!

Melancia

Watermelon too heavy for the babies to carry.

Melão

After just one piece of the cantaloupe, you didn't need any more.

Abacate

Avacado as big Saebra's head

Abacaxí

Pineapples here are delicious! They are sweeter and less acidic than any others we have tasted.
Their cores are not very hard so you can eat the entire thing. Well, maybe not the outside:)

Manga

Our friends bring us so many mangoes and we are still not tired of them.

WE WILL MISS ALL OF THE YUMMY FRUITS IN BRAZIL!!!

Last adventure in Manaus

A few weeks before we left Brazil, we took another long drive down the beautiful estrada
for an overnight adventure in Manaus.

  

We were grateful that our friend Junior joined us. When our van broke down in the exact same spot it did the first time we drove to Manaus, Junior taught us how to play a fun game with sticks

  

We were glad to break down near a gas station and federal police check point. We loved that so many good people in Brazil praise the Lord unabashedly, like this banner at the girls were "flying" under at the gas station:
"All honor and glory given to the Lord Jesus"

The officers at the checkpoint were so kind, they let us use their restroom and gave the girls some rambutan (a favorite fruit) to eat, and one of them called his mechanic nephew for us, who drove all the way from Manaus to repair our battery

We were so grateful we could spend some time at the Temple that afternoon, we didn't know then that the temples would soon close for the pandemic and it would be our last opportunity at the beautiful Manaus temple.

We were also so grateful to spend some last time with our friends Brasil and Graça who were so generous to share a brunch with us and visit with us while Brasil drove David for another part to finish fixing the van

We stopped at CIGS, the military training center, where there is a zoo of regional animals.
They did a really nice job of collecting some of the creatures we had wanted to see.

There were many kinds of fish...

...we would have liked to catch some of these fishing!

There were a lot of great turtles.

And many kinds of monkeys.

They also had an anta (tapir) and capybara (large rodent).

We finally got to see some of the creatures we hadn't been able to find in the wild,
like the famous colorful birds of the Amazon....

and an onça! (jaguar)

It was fascinating to watch the toucan eat, having to turn its head to see its food around its big beak.

Some of the creatures we had seen...

...but you can never see too many Amazon sized bugs...

or beautiful Amazon butterflies!

A goodbye hug from the onça!

And a beautiful drive back along the estrada.
We didn't know then it was our last time seeing the lovely views along the estrada,
we were glad we could enjoy it in the daylight!

WE MISS THE BEAUTIFUL AMAZON!!