Tropical Trivia
The Path Less Traveled - Bocas del Toro
November 07, 2008
I was looking over the different videos on You Tube for
Bocas del Toro Panama this afternoon. I came across
this one which is from Panama’s Tourism Bureau. The
restaurant in the video belongs to a good friend of
ours. It is called Crawl Caye. Luis and his family have
been doing business here in Bocas for years. Just about
every time you see a photo of Bocas del Toro or a video
it includes Crawl Caye. We are fortunate to be located
in the vicinity of Crawl Caye as we have access to all
of the same reef systems as they do. Luis is a great
fisherman - he caught the largest tuna in a recent
fishing tournament here in Bocas. This video brings a
smile to my face as it is great that Luis and his
family get this kind of publicity.
New fishing websites
September 26, 2008
Here are a few new websites to which we have made
contributions. Content is supposed to be added on a
semi-regular basis. We will be fishing next week with
Jim’s older brother. So if we get any new photos that
help with the content of the sites we will be sure to
send them along. Have a great weekend!
Origin of the word: Banana
September 24, 2008
We find ourselves reading and/or researching different
things that affect us down here in the tropics so I
decided that it might be a good idea to share some of
the information we find as these little tidbits are
interesting in their own right even if you don't live
close to the equator.
I am currently reading "Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World" by Dan Koeppel. It is a fairly recent book that I picked up when were in Houston this past summer. One of the interesting items he found in doing his research for this book is that to follow the journey of the banana it is much easier for archeologists, historians, biologists and authors to work with linguists. Why? Because it was easier to trace the words that each culture used to mean Banana that it is to trace the fruit itself.
The words used in the far east to mean banana are very different than the word we use today. The words used in Hebrew, Latin and many other languages are also quite different than we use today. The word that we use today, Banana, has its origin in the Arabic word banan. Banan translates into English as "finger."
Bananas are harvested from the plant as a rack. This rack is then separated into hands. The bunch of bananas you buy in the grocery store are a hand of bananas. The individual fruits are the "finger" of the plant. Thus the Arabic word for finger has come to be our word for this delicious fruit.
I am currently reading "Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World" by Dan Koeppel. It is a fairly recent book that I picked up when were in Houston this past summer. One of the interesting items he found in doing his research for this book is that to follow the journey of the banana it is much easier for archeologists, historians, biologists and authors to work with linguists. Why? Because it was easier to trace the words that each culture used to mean Banana that it is to trace the fruit itself.
The words used in the far east to mean banana are very different than the word we use today. The words used in Hebrew, Latin and many other languages are also quite different than we use today. The word that we use today, Banana, has its origin in the Arabic word banan. Banan translates into English as "finger."
Bananas are harvested from the plant as a rack. This rack is then separated into hands. The bunch of bananas you buy in the grocery store are a hand of bananas. The individual fruits are the "finger" of the plant. Thus the Arabic word for finger has come to be our word for this delicious fruit.