Nature yields, in full, her bounty and beauty all year long in the deep valleys, fertile grasslands, tropical rain forests and rolling plains shadowed by 3000 foot plus range of Andes peaks that divide Colombia lengthwise into thirds. Hundreds of varieties of flowers unfurl into bloom, perfuming the air even in winter, although winter in this northwestern corner of the South American continent is a subjective term. Hummingbirds and multi-colored finches dot even the urban scenery in such numbers that you'll undoubtedly think, "Surely there's a machine around the corner manufacturing them." The fauna is impressive, but the quantities of new and unusual tropical fruits are astounding.

Tropical Fruits Galore

Markets abound with ripe, fresh tropical fruits in myriads of colors and flavors like the grapefruit-sized Borojo which is said to have aphrodisiac properties in its chocolate brown, thick, creamy pulp. Most often it's blended with milk for a creamy, flavorful drink. Chontaduro, the plum sized bright red and yellow fruit of a palm tree, is sold on street corners everywhere in Cali, Colombia's third largest city, as a high-calorie snack eaten with salt or covered with honey. Okay, so it's high in cholesterol, but who thinks about that as they're wolfing them down? The Carambolo, also called star fruit for its five pointed shape, has a haunting, light, bittersweet flavor you'll find refreshing due to its ultra-high water content.

Why not try a two-and-a-half foot long Guama? Reminiscent of a giant string bean, with a cottony, sweet pulp and thumb-sized, shiny black seeds. There's the Zapote with its burnt orange colored pulp that permanently stains all it touches, Granadilla, and Maracuya, which you might know as Passion Fruit. The Curuba is another that should make your must-try list along with the pink-fleshed Guayaba with pinhead-sized seeds so hard that even a hammer won't break them open. The bright orange and green Lulo, with its tart greenish pulp, makes a juice not unlike strong lemonade - but better. Don't worry; you'll add plenty of sugar - unless you want the hair taken off your chest - from the inside. All these and more are available to pack your pantry along with a bevy of over-sized vegetables. Haven't sampled these yet? Let me tell you, they're ALL delicious! Just you wait and see.

The year-long growing season allows papayas to attain nearly the size of watermelons, carrots as big around as your wrist, mangoes weighing more than a pound each and coconuts containing up to three glasses of "water." Orange juice bursting with flavor is always fresh-squeezed here as practically all other fruit and vegetable juices are. "Are you SURE you didn't add sugar to this?" I asked after a long pull on an orange juice. "Nope. Don't have to." My friend replied. "Why - don't you think it's more than sweet enough?" I sure do.

Colombian Coffee

Let's not forget the tantalizing aroma of Colombia's mild black coffee that will wake anyone from their deepest slumber with a smile. Coffee likes to be grown in the cool air of mountainous slopes. Because it also prefers the shade, it's usually planted in the shade of banana trees. The steepness of the slopes, and being interspersed with tall, large banana trees makes harvesting difficult, so it must be done by hand - berry by berry. Now, there are two beans in each coffee berry. A coffee tree may produce around two thousand ripe coffee beans each year. Since it takes about two thousand beans to make one pound, a coffee tree yields only a pound of coffee per year. By many, it's considered to be the richest coffee in the world. Called "tinto", it's served freshly-brewed to every house guest or office visitor as a common courtesy.

Other Foods

Not only are the fruits and vegetables different, but other foods as well. They eat ants here. Yeah, you read right - ants. But not the ones you slap away from your picnic vittles, these are specially-raised "Hormigas Culonas" which have an enlarged abdomen. They're cleaned, then roasted or fried and served with a wedge of cheese or a small container of honey. Only the crunchy abdomen is dipped in honey then bitten off and eaten. They're sort of like partially popped kernels of popcorn. (Hey, don't knock it unless you've tried it.) To be honest, I had the "willies" my first time too. Now I'm an "old hand" who buys'em by the bag when they're on sale in the spring.

This represents but a sparse handful of the thousands of varieties of fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, stems, roots, tubers and other unique edibles to found in the cornucopia of tropical delights that is called Colombia. It would take a lifetime to sample and savor all the offerings available here. So when you visit, keep an open mind and try to be content with tasting perhaps just a few dozen or so.