Village – Sago (post by Bill & Liz)

Sago is used as a supplement to the villagers’ regular diet. They grow the sago trees in their jungle gardens and chop down the tree whenever required. Once a tree is chopped down, the men pound into the soft wood to make a rough woody pulp.


Here’s Bill having a go at it. All his toes were still intact afterwards!


The wood pulp is collected and carried to a nearby river and washed through hessian bags and the residue is caught in containers beneath them. The sago settles in the bottom of the bowls and the water is poured off later.

Here is Liz trying her hand at washing sago.


We were served sago for breakfast the next day and it was not our favourite meal. It looked like a brown jellyfish!