Chicle is the chewy substance that once was used to make chewing gum (nowadays a synthetic material
has largely replaced chicle in the making of gum). It is harvested by hand as depicted here, by slashing the trunk of the chicle tree
and collecting the latex that oozes out of the slash. The latex is then boiled down to the correct consistency.
The first photo shows how the chicilero (as the harvester is called) gets up the tree. Note the use of the rope
to help him up, and note that the end of the rope is trailing below him. You can see slashes on the tree from earlier harvests.
The second photo shows him slashing the trunk to get the chicle flowing, and the third shows him descending.
He used the trailing end of the rope, tossed over a branch, to help him descend.
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