Guava is one of tropical fruit that was quite easy to find in Bogor, in the past. The phrase “in the past” should describe the different condition nowadays.It’s not categorized as “very difficult to find” yet but it’s not as easy to find as 10-15 years ago.
Thank to the rapid growth of the city, more and more land have been used for housing, road, or business complex. This results on less and less available land for farming.
If we could go back one or two decades, it was still quite easy to find locals cultivating guava in Bogor, especially in the Regency. But, not now, it is easier to find storey building than guava trees.
So, the supply of guava produced locally in Bogor has become less and less. Furthermore, more and more imported fruit has been entering fruit market and cornered local fruit to difficult situation.
However, some people may still try to survive by selling locally cultivated fruit, like the seller of Guava in Soleh Iskandar Street, one of the most busiest and jammed street in the city (especially currently there is a project of Bogor Outer Ring Road Extension).
Few sellers of guava can still be found here. Most of the sellers get the supply from local nearest farmers. Their display is very “modest” made from few pieces bamboo or wood and stand on pavements or road constraint.
Buyers will usually slow down or stop their vehicle on the road and open their car windows. The price is decided with bargaining, so the price among each seller may differ and depending on your bargaining ability. Also, probably you may get higher price if you use cars than motorcycles.
Here, you can find both red and white guava. And, their taste is fresh and sweet, basically it is not too far different from what you get in supermarket. Visitors coming from Jakarta or outside, often buy guavas as souvenirs from Bogor.
The only problem of buying guava from these street vendors is, especially if you bring your cars, then you contribute a lot to traffic jam caused. Other riders or driver will definitely honk their horn. The street was already very jammed, even when the highway project was not started, it was getting worse when the project begun. By stopping you, then you can be the number one enemy for other road users.
If you think it’s worth to do for guava, well, it is your own risk. I prefer to put my car somewhere, where there is a parking lot and walk down for few hundred meters. It is better than facing angry road users.