Bananas

The humble banana, tasty and full of goodness.

The saying "Travel broadens the mind" is very true....I never really thought about where bananas come from or what significance they play in some peoples lives, until seeing them growing in the Caribbean and learning how important they can be the local population.






The banana market is controlled by five large corporations - Chiquita, Dole, Del Monte, Noboa and Fyffes. These corporations control huge banana plantations, the remaining banana production is from small banana producers - family owned farms in places like the Windward Islands in the Caribbean.

We take for granted the foods we buy in our Supermarkets without giving much though to where it comes from. Did you know that bananas are amongst the top five most important food commodities in world trade ?










For the workers in the corporate controlled plantations this can mean very low wages, job insecurity and very long working hours. For the Caribbean banana growers this can mean competing against low prices.

Some people (like Fair Trade and Banana Link) are trying to improve the situation. So next time you chose some produce from another country... choose wisely.












Meet the farmers
Story of a banana from grower to shop

Glassy sweepers

A group of Glassy Sweepers that hang around inside the Bajan Queen wreck, an old tug boat that was sunk in 2002.

Apocalypse Now

North Point Surf Resort has fallen into ruin and now looks like a scene from "Apocalyse Now", it is a quiet spot with a golden sand beach surrounded by coral rocks. One of those places that you are likely to have to "help out a local" though.
As it was
Google Earth placemark

Bajan lizard

Tried and tried to capture a good photograph of this lizard but he was always too quick for me, not a sharp photo but the colours just do it for me, and with that expression I can live with my failure.

Beach tree

Could not bring myself to crop the image so cheated and rotated instead. Driftwood not only has a natural beauty about it but is also in some way mysterious...how did it get where it is ? How far did it travel ? How long was it as sea ? Some people seem to make a living out making sculpture from it .... appears Canadian may be the best ?

A friend

Found a friend for Micki's studious Toad.

Dead Brain

Dead coral is normally associated with pollution or human damage but Barbados is an island made from coral (unlike its volcanic neighbours) so the beaches have many pieces lying around.

Beach house

I was wondering what the motivation was to build a house here, perhaps it was a cafe at one time, or maybe just too much run or sun had taken hold of the builder. Looks like nature has fought back and is winning the battle. The link in the previous post is Wikipedia's list of population densities for those that like lists.

East Coast

After what Micki said about coconut personality I was thinking that it reminded me of Tom Hank's companion Wilson from "Cast Away". This is down the coast from that spot, which is at the top right of the picture. It is the east coast of Barbados, which is ranked 8th on the most densely populated countries in the World (can you guess which is ranked top ?).

The West coast is very developed but the East is very sparse, wonderful for escaping from people, you can walk a very long way along this beach before meeting anyone. One of the reasons for this is that this is the Atlantic side of the island, great for surfing but dangerous for swimming.

Coconut

My introduction to the coconut was in the Coconut Shy (is that just a Britsh thing ?) at the local fete. This one was sitting on a deserted beach in the Caribbean, Robinson Crusoe seems more real now. For some reason the Disney movie Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. sticks in my mind, must have been a very early trip to the cinema as I don't think the film is that good.

Another world

Having just taken off to fly home from the Caribbean, where the sunsets are spectacular, the best sunset was saved until last. This picture does not really do it justice but it seemed almost of another world.