We met the "desmochador", the tree trimmer whose job it is to cut the "palmiche" [fruit] growing beneath the crown of a Royal Palm.
He was delighted to give a demonstration for a foreigner like me. In just a few minutes, without a single wasted movement, hoisting himself up the tree with a rope wrapped around the smooth column of the trunk, the desmochador climbed to the top, the crown, 20 or 30 metres up.
The palmiche, which he chopped off with a blow from his machete, often weighs more than 20 kilos. If the desmochador has someone to hold the rope out at an angle, he places the palmiche across the rope and lets it slide smoothly down to the ground. An excellent lesson!
