Searching for St. Maarten's Guavaberry & Exotic Island Fruits | A Caribbean Adventure!

Having read in our cruise ships tour guide that Guavaberry (Myrciaria floribunda) was the national drink of St. Maarten; I was eager to get ashore to find the tree when the ship docked in Philipsburg, the Dutch sector of St Maarten. The travel brochure also said that the Guavaberry should not be confused with a tropical guava. I soon found out that the tree mainly grew on the French side of St. Maarten, so my wife and I jumped into a taxi and travelled to the French side of the Island to find the elusive Guavaberry. After some searching, I did find a Guavaberry tree, but the tree did not have any fruits on it. Pursuing my search for more Guavaberry trees, I found other interesting exotic fruit trees such as a flowering and fruiting Moringa tree (Moringa oleifera), and a fruiting Tamarind (Tamarindus indica). Our taxi driver Daniel also invited us to visit his house to see some of his exotic fruit trees. We saw his Pomegranate (Punica granatum, young Papaya tree (Carica papaya) grown from seed and his vigorously growing Noni tree(Morinda citrifolia) following heavy pruning. We also stopped off at a Local market in search of the Guavaberry fruit with no luck, but they were selling Passion fruit (Passiflora ligularis), Avocados, Ripe Plantains, green Banana, Chocho/Chayote(Sechium edule), Yam (Dioscorea) and Pumpkins. Although I was not fortunate enough to find any Guavaberry fruits, I was able to buy a bottle of homemade Guavaberry rum for drinking; but only when I get back to the UK, because if I break the seal, it might not get through customs. So, for now, I will just dream of tasting the rum as I sail on the Ocean. #StMaarten #GuavaberryHunt #CaribbeanRum #IslandAdventure #ExoticFruits #TravelVlog #TropicalFruitTrees #CaribbeanCulture #GuavaberryRum #FruitExploration