Turkey Time at Martha's and Andre's Place

We all went over to see Martha and Andre (about a mile away as the nene flies), and to watch the turkeys and share some food and drink. Andre shared a rum drink from his native Haiti. Although he was a bit vague on the specific ingredients, we drank the cream-colored, thick liquid and no one went blind or fell into a lava tube!

They live on 3 acres with papaya, lilikoi (passionfruit), avocado, coffee, plumeria and assorted other trees, herbs, bushes, fruits and vegetables. Martha says there are 10-20 wild turkeys roosting in a ohia tree every night, flying up into the tree after the sun sets. So, armed with food and drink, we sat outside and watched the turkeys (10 of them today), root about for food until just after sunset, when one by one they flew up to the trees. Apparently there was trouble in turkeydom the day before, with young males fighting, so 4 flew up to one tree and 6 up to another. The light was fading fast, so the pictures aren't as sharp as they could be.

 The west side of the property. When I first came to Hawaii, I had a feeling something was different when looking at the land, but couldn't quite figure it out. Then one day it hit me: there aren't any rocks, other than lava rocks, and in some parts, not much soil unless the lava is very old. On this property (like Nani and Manono's) there isn't much soil, except some in pots and in some of the holes in the lava used for starter plants. In this picture here, the grass and everything else is growing on or in the lava.

My favorite fruit, Hawaiian papayas!!

 This is a huge lilikoi (passionfruit) plant that grew up over a dead tree. That is Nani next to it to show how tall it is. Kirsty has been working on perfecting her lilikoi butter, which is a much loved treat here in Hawaii.

 Plumeria is one of the main flowers used in making a lei. The plumeria and the orchid are #1 and #2 in my favorite flower rankings. This information can come in handy should you (as an example), be scratching your head wondering what type of Hawaiian shirt to get me for my birthday.

 It has been said that roasting these turkeys is like eating tough turkey jerky. Hence they are still walking around.

 The turkeys are tall, standing upright at about 3-4 feet. I'm guessing they weigh in at 25-40 pounds.

Two of the turkeys in the ohia tree. The light was too low to capture the rest of them as they didn't all fly into the tree at once. Apparently there is a pecking order and they have to arrange themselves accordingly. They stay in the tree until first light.

Peace my friends!