On Walkabout At: Hamamoto Tropical Fruit World, Guam

Basic Information

• What: Hamamoto Tropical Fruit World
• Where: Yona, Guam
• Hours: 9AM – 2PM Daily
• Cost: $5 self guided, $12 cart tour
• More Information: Official Facebook Page

Narrative

My kids love going to farms and seeing fruit and vegetables growing.  Back in Colorado we had a lot of good times visiting local farms and picking up fresh produce.  On Guam the only farm that allows visitors is the Hamamoto Tropical Fruit World.  This ecotourism farm is located in southern Guam outside the town of Yona:

The farm is well marked on both Highways 4 and 17.  The turn off from Highway 17 heads down a narrow one lane road that leads into the Hamamoto Tropical Fruit World. The 50-acre farm was opened in 1996 by Hisamitsu Hamamoto, a farmer from Seiyo, Japan, who came to Guam in 1974. The first time we visited the farm the gate was open and we drove in and parked.  However, a lady came over and told us they were closed even though it was during visiting hours.  So we left and came back the following week and the gate was locked even though it was the established visiting hours.  The following week we tried once again to visit and the third time ended up being the charm because they were open and we could tour the farm.

There were two options of touring the farm, one was to take a tour on a cart with a guide and the other was a self walking tour of the farm.  The lady we spoke with mentioned that for English tours that people need to call and reserve a tour because the regular tours they provide are in Japanese.  We only wanted to do a self walking tour so our kids could get some exercise and better appreciate the farm.  The fee we paid was $10 for the two adults and my two little kids were allowed in for free.  After paying the fee we began our walk around the farm:

As we walked around the farm many of the trees had signs underneath them describing what it was such as these agave plants:

My kids love agave syrup so it was good for them to see where their favorite syrup comes from.  They also like papayas and they got to see papaya trees as well:

Here is a closer look at the papayas:

This was a type of sweet apple that I could not remember the name of:

Here is a picture of some of the beautiful heliconia plants growing all around the farm:

My kids also really like guava jelly and they got to see where guavas come from as well:

My kids have seen plenty of pineapples back in Hawaii and now they got to see what a Guam pineapple looks like:

I was actually surprised that pineapples could grow on Guam because I figured it was too hot.  However, the farm has a species of pineapple that can grow in Guam that does look different from a regular pineapple:

Next we saw some lemongrass along the trail:

Here is a picture of some cool looking purple flower which I am not sure what it was called:

Since the farm is in a tropical jungle there was of course plenty of coconut trees to see as well:

Another common jungle plant on Guam is the pandanus tree which is notorius for its sharp leaves that can scratch exposed skin when hiking:

Since the farm is located in a hilly area the trail does have various ascents and descents so my wife and kids were getting a good workout from the walk around the farm:

We next came to a grove of banana trees which unfortunately did not have any fruit growing on them yet to see:

During the walk around the farm we took a side trail that led into a densely vegetated area:

The side trail made a loop into a little valley that had caves visible on one side:

In side the valley we saw a large grove of bamboo:

We saw more heliconia plants:

We saw some star fruit growing which since the visit to the farm I will actually pick up some at the store when I see them for sale because they do taste pretty good:

The little valley is also where the farm grows its coffee beans:

Here is a closer look at the coffee beans:

Later at the gift shop I actually bought some of their coffee and brewed some the next day.  The coffee is a bit pricey, but I thought it tasted pretty good.  As we continued to walk around the valley we also saw wild mushrooms growing:

This is the first time I have seen mushrooms growing in Guam and have no idea if they are edible.  Oh, did I mention there is a lot of heliconia plants growing in this farm?:

Once back on the main trail we saw some tangan tangan trees which are an invasive weed species, but supposedly the wood make for really good barbecues:

We next saw a bilimbi tree:

These trees had a lot of fruit growing on them:

The main trail ended up taking us back to the farm gift shop where we started our walk at.  Adjacent to the gift shop they have a large area with picnic benches and views of the surrounding countryside:

Here is a panorama picture I took of the view:

Here is a closer look at the prominent Mt. Alutom that I could see out in the distance with the Leo Palace Resort below it:

Information about my prior hike up Mt. Alutom can be read at the below link:

• The Mt. Tenjo, Mt. Alutom, & Mt. Chachao Trail Loop

While checking out the views there was a Japanese tour group that paid to have a buffet of freshly picked fruit served to them  They invited us over to try some of the fruit:

It was interesting to try all the different tropical fruits I had never tried before and my kids particularly enjoyed it.  The fruit buffet is only available if ordered a day in advance because the workers in the gift shop have to go out into the farm that morning to pick the fresh fruit.  That was good to know for when we decide to visit the farm again because we enjoyed the fruit buffet.

Conclusion

Overall we had a great time walking around the farm.  We walked just over a mile on hilly terrain so my kids were wore out and ready to go home.  Next time we visit we are going to definitely call and make reservations to ensure they are open because the posted hours of operations are not exactly accurate.  We also found that the gift shop was a really good place to find a lot of made in Guam items like soap, lotions, and wood products.  The gift shop also had a limited amount of various fruits for sale as well that were picked that morning.  We purchased a few of the fruits to eat which my kids enjoyed as we concluded our day at this great farm.