I am always amazed at some of the things Dominicans do and how they accomplish the end results. I have lived here since 2001 and still am amazed. So here is The View From My Balcony – Tree trimming – Tree wacking 101.
On rare occasions, I have seen people cutting trees with a chainsaw but usually they wack and hack away at the poor tree with a machete. Chopping and cutting and leaving a mangled looking mess. Tree branches are all ragged and looking all sad and damaged. But somehow the tree comes back in no time looking like its beautiful and full-bodied self. And even more amazing, the machete-wielding human survives for another day of tree-hacking.
These pictures are of a local tree trimmer and his tree hacking technique. I am watching from my balcony as the man sits atop the tree cutting – trimming the top of the poor tree with a machete in Los Molinos, Villa Duarte, Santo Domingo Este.

Watching a man trimming the top of a tree with a machete from my balcony in Los Molinos, Villa Duarte, Santo Domingo Este.