Would You Ever Do This?
By Ann LeFlore
@poehere (15126)
French Polynesia
December 6, 2015 4:13pm CST
I don’t know that many people who would ever do this? Do you? Climb a coconut tree with your bare feet, hardly any protection at all, and walk around on the giant coconut palm leaves.
Well this is how it is at my house. We have 2 large coconut trees in our yard and my partner climbs them with his bare feet. He attaches a knife to his waste and makes it to the top of the tree. Up there he cuts down all the large bunches of coconuts and a lot of the palm leaves.
Twice a year we need to do this around the islands. Summer is upon us and so is our cyclone season. In order to protect us and the house we need to get rid of the large bunches of coconuts in the tree. So basically he uses his hands and bare feet to climb to the top of the tree.
Here you can see the coconut tree is a lot taller than the roof of our home. Each time he goes up this tree I just wonder what he\s thinking. I have watched him do this for years but each time I wonder what will happen. A few times when he stepped on some of the palm leaves they have broken.
Have you ever seen anyone climb a coconut tree with their bare feet before and attempt to cut down all the coconuts from the tree and cut the dead leaves off the tree?
Image source - personal image
38 people like this
39 responses
@allknowing (130292)
• India
7 Dec 15
Coconut climbers have become rare in our area. We need them badly. I have one though. He comes and does a good job.
2 people like this
@allknowing (130292)
• India
7 Dec 15
@poehere I wonder why your partner does not make use of any of these safety measures. Some engage monkeys to do the plucking and in some areas there are automatic plucking machines.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
7 Dec 15
@allknowing He has always done this and likes it. So this is how he feels most comfortable to cut the tree. Here in our yard it is limited in space and we don't have any monkeys on our islands. So he does this for us and he likes doing it. The only problem is the amount of stuff we need to clean up and haul away after it's done.
@celticeagle (159936)
• Boise, Idaho
7 Dec 15
I have heard that there are some very tall coconut trees on the islands. I would love to try fresh coconut sometime.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
7 Dec 15
it is delicious. Today we rapped 6 coconuts to make coconut milk. Tonight I want to make curry fish with fresh veggies. When I make my curry I always use fresh coconut milk. I am spoiled and can't stand coconut milk in the bottle or can. It has such a different taste to it. I never really liked coconut so much until I was older. When I was in Mexico I learned to love fresh shredded coconut and the milk that is squeezed from it.
3 people like this
@celticeagle (159936)
• Boise, Idaho
7 Dec 15
@poehere ...I wish they used coconut milk on the curry I have tried. Maybe I would like it better. I doubt I will ever taste what real coconut tastes like since I only get it in the can or bottle. I always liked shredded coconut. Occasionally I see a coconut for sale.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
7 Dec 15
@celticeagle When I was visiting the states one time I saw they sold coconuts in the store.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
7 Dec 15
@MALUSE OK well guess what this one wouldn't go over too well here on the islands. A lot of French people come here from France and treat the Tahitian people like crap. They think they are lower educated and they also call them monkeys. Well they aren't trained monkeys and they have a very high education here. It's just Tahitian people don't really like a lot of the French here on the islands because of how they are. So I guess my advice to you is this - if you ever decide to come here to the islands please don't ever mention monkey to them.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
7 Dec 15
You are so right. I knew then when I wrote this. I was sort of being funny. I just think it''s amazing to see him do this and how he handles it so easily. He is never afraid to do this and just moves around through all the branches or should I say palm leaves.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
6 Dec 15
Yes it is like a bomb dripping out of the sky when one of them drop. Even the branches are extremely heavy and when they fall they are dangerous. Well anyhow yesterday we got one of them cleaned and today there was too much wind to clean the other one. so now we need to wait again for the wind to die down before he climbs up the second one.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (157865)
• United States
7 Dec 15
No, I have not seen this. When I lived in San Diego, California I had palm trees around but they did not produce coconuts.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
7 Dec 15
I know my grandma had 2 of them in her front yard. The city tree trimmers came by and trimmed them. They had sharp thorns on them and it is not possible to climb them at all. At least with the truck on the coconut tree it is smooth and when you climb it you not cut with sharp thorns or stuff like this.
@kiran8 (15348)
• Mangalore, India
7 Dec 15
In India this something you get to see all the time. We have several coconut trees in my garden and a man comes to pluck the coconuts , once a month and with him comes his son if it is a weekend. The son is barely 7 years of age and he climbs the tree with absolutely no support, it is scary to watch him do that
1 person likes this
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
7 Dec 15
@mammots You are welcome. I guess why I did this was the comment my partner made when we were cutting them up or the coconuts off. He said do you realize that everyone around us now has cut down their tree. It is getting harder and harder to find coconut trees around where we live now. He said the tree is food and life and why cut it down.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
7 Dec 15
Thank you for answering. This was just sort of a play on post when I wrote it. I know there are people here who live in countries that have plenty of coconut trees. In these areas it's necessary to keep them cut and a lot of people have an industry to make copra and other oil from coconuts. I was just sort of posting this one to show what we do here in our home.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
7 Dec 15
I see some coconut farmers here. But a lot of them now have a way to take down the coconuts. I know my partner does this for a few clients and here at our home. He has a friend who has all the climbing gear to do this for people.
@Freelanzer (10744)
• Canada
7 Dec 15
As a child we live on an Island and my dad always paid the young boys to climb trees and pick coconuts and there were not the short varieties you see today, they were the very tall coconut trees . I even tried, as a girl to climb once ore twice but got seriously bruised and didn't get very far. Recently on on stop on my Caribbean cruise, I saw kids doing the same thing even though the trees were quite a bit smaller
1 person likes this
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
7 Dec 15
Here we have both varieties in our yard. We have the tall and the draft. I can see the draft is not so hard to climb. But the one that he climbs in our back yard is around 30 meters I swear. it is so tall and it is a long way down if anything happened up there.
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
7 Dec 15
@sol_cee The funny thing is that I never nag him and it is him who can be a total pain when he is in the right mood. I just ignore him and leave him be. I know he likes it but not all the time. I can see him standing on the bottom and looking up. He says wow I need to cut that tree. Then he says well maybe I'll wait to see how much falls. But he know how dangerous it is. Like today we had one of the branches fall down. We both knew it would fall soon but had no idea. He just said watch it when you are in the back. Kind of hard to do this one because we need to pass by there for so many things.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
7 Dec 15
I never heard of them doing this to relieve stress. Here we have competition to see how fast they can climb them and also there are the ones who do this to get the coconuts to make copra. Then the others ones who do them for people who have trees in their yard. Twice a year they are cleaned so the coconuts and leaves don't fall down and hurt anyone.
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
7 Dec 15
I watched some local entertainers climbing them while being entertained at a resort once in Mexico and once in the Dominican Republic. Bare feet and all. I would not like to have my partner doing that, it looks so dangerous.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
7 Dec 15
I agree with you on this one. I see him all the time. I think a lot of times it's easier going up than coming down. I see how he comes down and how his feet slide down the trunk of the tree. I also see how he garbs on around the trunk of the tree. I think coming down he more than likely slides down than actually climbs down.
1 person likes this
@carexing25 (1818)
• Philippines
7 Dec 15
it's very common here in my country.. most people climb coconut trees for a living.. especially in my village, it's the main source of income..
1 person likes this
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
7 Dec 15
We have a few people on our island that do this too. I know in Mexico and other countries that have a lot of coconut trees this is a good source of income. There are some climbers here that will make a person pay like a dollar a coconut to have them taken off the tree. When a tree has as many as our does it will cost quite a bit of money to have it cleaned.
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
7 Dec 15
@Asylum I think the trees we have in our yard that wouldn't work on them. The shorter ones are fine. We have a smaller one in our back yard and this one could easily be cut this way. I think he likes to go up so he can direct the way the stuff falls down.
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
6 Dec 15
I think you might be right on this one. But here on the island they do have in July a competition to see who can climb the tree the fastest the way he does. Not many people do this and not a lot of people want to try anymore. I think there is too many lazy people who don't do a lot of exercise.
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
7 Dec 15
Yes I have seen it being done. You would not want a coconut falling on your head EVER!
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
7 Dec 15
That ones for sure. When they fall in the yard it is like a bomb dropping. I hate it when they hit the house on the way down too. I have seen some of them split open and wow that takes a major impact to do this one.
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
7 Dec 15
@nanette64 Maybe. I think there is a lot. He has feet like shoe leather and it doesn't bother him one bit. Here most people grow up like this so the bottom of there feet are very tuff. After being on the islands forever you to would have tough feet.
1 person likes this
@nanette64 (20364)
• Fairfield, Texas
7 Dec 15
@poehere There might be a callous or two on the bottom of his tootsies.
@birjudanak (14320)
• India
7 Dec 15
no i never do this thing but i want to try this one because i saw so many people to do this while visit the beach and some are where coconut tree.while i see people to do it then i just become eager to do it.
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
7 Dec 15
Yah some people make it look so easy. But in reality it isn't as easy as it looks. I think maybe you should try it with spiked shoes and a belt first before you try it with your bare feet. You need some strong feet to do this one with.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
7 Dec 15
@birjudanak It does take practice and if you want to start I guess being younger is the best way to do this one. I know he has been climbing coconut trees since he was around 10 or so. So he does this with ease and I guess it doesn't bother him at all.
1 person likes this
@birjudanak (14320)
• India
7 Dec 15
@poehere yes its not easy as it look we have to do practice and concentration and i saw some people climb with rope on body and spike shoes,i know i will never climb in first try because we cant learn without fall.
@JudyEv (326601)
• Rockingham, Australia
6 Dec 15
That's pretty impressive. I guess if he's been doing it for years he doesn't see any danger in it. And I'm sure he's careful. But make sure his life insurance is up to date 
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
6 Dec 15
Yes it is. Each time he decides to do this it seems everyone from around has to come and watch him. One time a person yelled up at him and he lost his concentration and slipped. I was so worried that he now hates anyone around except me when he does this. Normally he will lower down the giant bunches of coconuts and I will remove them and send him back up the cord.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (326601)
• Rockingham, Australia
7 Dec 15
@poehere We have to put up heavy lights when we have out outdoor concerts. Although we've been offered help, it's best if it's just Vince and I as we know what we're doing and we look out for each other. My mum used to climb her apricot tree when she was in her 90s to get the last of the fruit. When the neighbour told her it was too dangerous and she should stop doing it, she said she just got up a bit earlier and did it before anyone else was up.
1 person likes this
@YossiSabag (3)
• Tel Aviv, Israel
7 Dec 15
Hello there , I would not recomended to do this with a bare feet . Since , it is to risky and think about even the chance to fall down the tree and get heart really bad . I think it is pretty funny he did it but not worth for a coconut :P
@YossiSabag (3)
• Tel Aviv, Israel
7 Dec 15
@poehere Hey there do you any good source of information to understand the way this site works ? (sorry for asking just kinda new) :P
