It's Mamoncillo Season!

A mamoncillo and guama vendor on La Ciclovia.

It's mamoncillo season! Those fun fruits which you split open with your teeth or fingernail and suck the jelly off of the seed for a sweet and sour taste are out on the street again.

A mamoncillo ready to be sucked.

Also known as mamón, and more scientifically but less poetically as the Melicoccus bijugatus, mamoncillos are related to the lychee and the maple tree, but look like grapes. You can't eat the whole thing, tho. You crack open the peel and squeeze out the jelly-covered seed, which you proceed to suck and suck. And that's the origin of the name: 'mamoncillo' comes from the verb mamar: to breast feed.

For sale alongside the mamoncillos, you'll often find guama, a huge legume, whose beans are covered with a sweet, white fluff, which you suck off.

Guamas for sale.

If you want to try mamoncillos and guamas, do it soon. Their seasons are short!

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

What's Missing From These Lunches?

Children lunching in La Candelaria.

I noticed these schoolchildren eating lunch today outside the patrimony office in La Candelaria. But for me something was missing: They consumed soft drinks, pizza, but no fruits or vegetables. Or, how about a sandwich, with tomato and lettuce.

I don't know about you, but my school lunch always included an apple and an orange or other fruit. All of that sugary, processed and cholesterol-packed food won't do these kids' futures any good.

A few blocks away fruits and veggies for sale in La Concordia's market.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours