Both the Mango and the Tamarind trees are great for climbing. They will grow to 50 feet.Wow, what a bird's eye view of the world you can see from up there. Sammy Ho was maybe 30 feet tall and still growing. I had a favorite spot I would climb which was level with the tin roof of our tropical quarters. Of course Sammy had a lot pf pesky bugs crawling all over it. And soon they were also on your little body. Then the nasty bites. But my mother had some Chinese balm "El Tigre" that she would pick up at Casa Miller on her weekly visits to La Central. The stuff burned and smelled something awful but it worked. My Mango tree also provided lots of dense shade. At high noon everybody in Panama is looking for some cool shade to capture some breeze... Yes, Mon.
Sammy Ho had lots of visitors. The first to arrive each morning were a flock of chattering parakeets that sounded like a small VW barreling down the Chorrera Auto-pista sounding its horn. Sammy Ho was not any Mango Tree. It was a tree that produced those large mangos with red shoulders. Teddy Roosevelt would have said, "...these mangos are bullish on the Canal Zone. Kid get me a sack full for eating later in my room at the Tivoli Guest House."
Sammy Ho had some really strong limbs. I use to climb it with a little red-haired girl who lived up the street. I would study my tree all year long. I would even talk to it. Then when the small yellowish flowers would appear, I knew that soon we would have those little mangos. Now those flowers produced a volatile susbstance, which in some little kids it would cause an allergic reaction and respiratory problems. Gorgas Hospital ER had a few cases each year. A couple of teaspoons of Benadryal and you would be okay... as long as you stayed away from the Mango tree blossoms. I was lucky I never had that problem. Then the day would come when boo-koo small green mangos would appear. Mangos are a hardy fruit. Sammy Ho like other mango trees has to put up with pesky black birds, bugs, insects, bees, wasp and they are suspectible to getting mildew.
Yes, that is what all that black stuff all over the trunk, leaves and fruit. That is why one must wash mangos before eating. Also wash your hands... you don't want to leave mildew marks on everything you touch.
But when Sammy Ho was laden with fruit I would pick and pick all the good ones that were just right. After I had a sack full, I would pick another one for my mother. She could really do wonders using Mangos in salads, sauces and deserts.
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