Today as we embarked on our journey with the Brazilian students, the word of the day was “Acai”. Our instructor, Kyvia Lugate gave us an in-depth introduction on the Acai palm tree and its influence on the Atlantic Rainforest. Kyvia who did her PhD thesis on the acai plant, specifically taught about the structure of the tree and how the leaves, trunk, and fruit each have a different role. After our introduction, we hiked inside the rainforest and climbed the 15-25 meters (82 feet) acai palm tree. Climbing the acai tree was an exhilarating and enduring experience. We all agreed that it took strength, balance, and most importantly patient to succeed. Kyvia then explain how to process the acai fruit into a tasty smoothie. A summary of the process includes picking only the driest berry, blending it or in our case using a power tool to release the liquid inside, separating the mixture with a strainer, and blending it all together inside a blender. Overall learning about the acai fruit through the hands on approach of climbing the palm trees and juicing the plant was exciting and fun.

Carena Miles