A Mango on the Loose

A few fruits talk of the Caribbean, limes perhaps, the coconuts on the beaches… but mangos are in a category of their own.

And what about this for a strange, magical Caribbean moment…? I was driving down a steep and extremely windy road in the backwoods of St Lucia, when a mango fell from its tree, bounced off the verge and rolled onto the tarmac. And it kept rolling, end over wobbly end, in no particular hurry, plump yellow and pink against the brand new, smooth black tarmac. It meandered into the middle on the short straights and it speeded up into the bends where it was steepest, drawn into the curve by the camber. At one point it almost veered into the gutter, but then righted itself and just kept rolling on, for more than 100 yards, drawn beautifully by its own weight and shape. I said there was no hurry, and I crept along to follow its progress, but in the end another car appeared on my tail, so it became embarrassing to be driving so slowly. I had to drive on. I never saw how far the mango got...