The El Yaque Tree

The El Yaque Tree

El Yaque, a famous name in the windsport world, but is El Yaque an Island, like many people still think, City or Village and what does El Yaque mean, what´s the origin of the name El Yaque ? The Village in the very far south of the Island of Margarita and only a few kilometers from the international Airport Santiago Marino and around 40 kilometers from the Venezuelan mainland was discovered in the late 80´s by some Sailors and the rumors about that very windy village made the Windsurfers invade the Venezuelan Island. But before they could hit the water, their cars had to survive the dirt roads and the spines of a very dry and nasty tree. The El Yaque Tree grows wherever it gets the chance, is very resistant to long droughts as to floods. Many rubber wheels died already because of the Prosopis Juliflora, how the El Yaque tree is called biologically. The plant of the Prosopis family grows aggressively, partly leading to a monoculture. It denies native plants water and sunlight, and animals trying to find nutrients by eating its pods or leaves end up disappointed, why it is called the “Devil´s Tree” in some regions. The inhabitants of the Island of Margarita instead called it Yaque. Still, with roads, hotels, posadas and houses having built in the past years, the Yaque tree is present at each corner, tropical garden, desert and lagoon.

                                                                                                                                                     TB