Encountering "Firsts"

One of the great things about travelling to new destinations is that every day contains "firsts".  It is like being a kid again, especially if one can break out of their adult fears, expectations and judgments.  The trick is to open up to the world and approach it like a child: curious, fearless and nonjudgmental. If one can do this when encountering all the "firsts" while travelling, it leads to greater acceptance of the world around us, filling one with excitement, joy and wonderful surprises at every turn.

Trying the local food and cuisine is an experience of many “firsts”.  One of the delightful little surprises I discovered on my last trip to Belize was stewed coco plums. Coco plums, or Chrysobalanus icaco, grows near the sea along beaches of the Caribbean. It grows either as a shrub or a tree, up to 20 feet. The fruit of the coastal coco plum forms in clusters, bearing round, 5 cm diameter, yellow to dark purple fruit.

Belizeans stew the fruits with sugar and spices and serve them cold out of the refrigerator. When you put the coco plum in your mouth, you suck the sweet jelly-like fruit off the seed inside. Then when the seed is clean, you crack the seed and inside you find an exquisite little nut. Eating the nut after the sweet fruit makes a wonderful combination that keeps you coming back for more. Bet you can’t eat just one.