Mango Madness
Friday, March 14th, 2008Hi, my name is Rick and I am a mango addict. My friend Mike claimed mangoes to be his favorite fruit to me more than 25 years ago. I did not get it. I had never had a real mango. I’m not sure Mike had either. You certainly don’t get the real thing in the north although expensive shipping from Mexico and south or even a more expensive trip to Hawaii at the right time can make that a reality. My favorite fruits of the past were peaches and apples, but now mango is my favorite. I started to really fall for the mango in Africa and then I knew I had a problem in Cartagena, Colombia where I ate them for all three meals and maybe in between. I have to admit that I would make changes to my trip plans in order to catch a good mango season.
Recently, my addiction has been more than satisfied especially compared to the cold turkey drought between Colombia and this latest trip to Africa. First, Northern Cameroon mangoes were everywhere and they were very good ones. The mangoes in the south were still ripening in the trees so I was cut off as soon as we left the north. In Nairobi we were able to but mangoes of different varieties at the stands and that was good. Anticipation was for Meru since its mango season is in full swing. Pamela’s parents’ property has an older mango tree and some new ones. The old one is a traditional local variety with smaller fruit that is fibrous, but very sweet. The new ones are newer hybrids that taste incredible and are nice and fleshy. Beckham is a fellow addict and I worry about him since he is only five. We went down to the older mango tree and picked up the fruit that had fallen. I taught him to use his shirt as a bucket so now I guess he will be making larger deliveries. The mangoes were different than those in Cameroon, but maybe Meru’s were better because they were coming straight off the trees.
However, neither of these mangoes prepared us for the best mangoes of my life – those of Lamu. I wish I could compare the Lamu and Cartagena mangoes. Lamu had multiple seasons for mangoes. Currently, they have two varieties – one that is yellow with a lot of red blush with a very delicate, flowery taste and the other with pure yellow flesh and very sweet bursting of flavor. I missed their mangoes before I was on the plane. I can get my fix in Nairobi although not as good as Lamu, but what am I going to do in Dubai?
vagabondrick