Holiday Extras- Goat Island

Jangles · February 25, 2015, 19:16:07 PM

We have just booked our second trip to Fuerteventura and are trying to find a good deal for car parking at Gatwick. Putting our Thomson flight numbers into the Holiday Extras booking engine and the destination comes up as "Goat Island" and not Fuerteventura. obviously somebody having a laugh but has anyone seen this (or has it been posted before)?

Deso · February 25, 2015, 20:14:00 PM

I booked car parking at Liverpool through Easyjets site and when I put the flight number in, it also came up with 'Goat Island'

woe10 · February 25, 2015, 21:24:03 PM

Before they changed the name, Puerto Del Rosario, the capital, was called Puerto Del Cabra. The Goat Port.

Corralejo (Corral-Lejo), litterally means "The Faraway Corral", where Goat farmers used to take their livestock to sell.

While we're at it. Caleta De Fuste is the "Cove of Canes" (caÃ±a), Bamboo used to grow all around this area. I remember there used to be loads before they built the Sheraton / Atlantico CC.

Spike On Q · February 26, 2015, 00:02:33 AM

Ah but what does Fuerteventura mean, "windy island"

Look back to when all new territories were registered at The Vatican in Rome. Then see what the response of the British government was to the first registration by J de B.

GOOD LUCK, well nearly!

woe10 · February 26, 2015, 10:29:21 AM

Well, we all know that Fuerte means Strong. Ventura is debatable. In Latin it means luck or fortune, but could also refer to Venturi.

The Venturi effect is the increase of spead of wind as it flows through a constricted section of land mass.
A perfect example of this is at Sotovento (that word again, Vento), where the wind increases off shore as it passes across from West to East, making the sea flat. Hence making perfect conditions for speed windsurfing.

Whoever named the Island could have tried to land here, but was forced back out to sea because of the Strong Wind

The Venturi effect is named after Giovanni Battista Venturi (1746â€"1822), an Italian physicist.

admin · February 26, 2015, 14:52:20 PM

Lobos Island (Wolves Island) was named for the large number of 'sea wolves', also called monk seals, that once lived there.
The monk seals were the island's only inhabitants when it was discovered by the Spanish conquerors of the Canaries archipelago in the fifteenth century, but with the arrival of man, these animals were hunted on a massive scale by sailors and fishermen who saw them as a source of food, fat and skin.
As a result of this hunting, the species eventually became extinct on the island and its presence now is only occasional.

cockney · February 26, 2015, 15:11:48 PM

Quote;While we're at it. Caleta De Fuste is the "Cove of Canes" (caÃ±a), Bamboo used to grow all around this area. I remember there used to be loads before they built the Sheraton / Atlantico CC.

I was told many years ago that a Fuste was a small fishing boat. There used to be one in the children's play area.

emmi · February 26, 2015, 15:34:26 PM

My on line dictionary translation says:

caleta

cover

Dictionary

caleta
1 (GeografÃa) cove; small bay; inlet
2 (And) (barco) coasting vessel; coaster
3 (And) (escondite) cache

fuste
1 (importancia) importance
de fuste important; of some consequence;

SheilaW · February 26, 2015, 15:45:31 PM

Quote from: woe10 on February 26, 2015, 10:29:21 AM
The Venturi effect is named after Giovanni Battista Venturi (1746â€"1822), an Italian physicist.

QuoteWell, we all know that Fuerte means Strong. Ventura is debatable. In Latin it means luck or fortune, but could also refer to Venturi.

Unlikely IMHO, seeing as the word wouldn't have existed before Signor Venturi himself. OTOH, we do know that the island was run by a Frenchman, Monsieur Bethancourt, before any other Europeans. And that must have been a "forte aventure", French for Great Adventure. I think that fits better than the Latin meaning of Great or Good Fortune, because really there's been quite a lot of misfortune on the island over the years, what with multiple invasions, populations been wiped out, intensive agriculture stripping the island of its soil...and then the crazy goings-on of the end of the last century. But I'm personally happy with either meaning. Too big a leap of faith for me from "viento" (Spanish for wind) to "ventura" though. But I'm sure that's where Sotavento comes from - that can only have been named a few decades ago, can't it? I don't believe there was anything there before tourism arrived.

Jangles · February 26, 2015, 16:19:33 PM

Wow, this has all gone educational!

woe10 · February 26, 2015, 23:11:01 PM

Quote from: cockney on February 26, 2015, 15:11:48 PM
Quote;While we're at it. Caleta De Fuste is the "Cove of Canes" (caÃ±a), Bamboo used to grow all around this area. I remember there used to be loads before they built the Sheraton / Atlantico CC.

I was told many years ago that a Fuste was a small fishing boat. There used to be one in the children's play area.

Don't know where you got that from.

A "Caleta" is a cove.
Definitions of Fuste: caÃ±a, cane, mango, shank, shin, leg,

A small beer or CaÃ±a is so named because it was served in a sawn-off piece of Bamboo Cane.

Spike On Q · February 26, 2015, 23:33:52 PM

Lovely thread. - thanks everyone, it shows we all have a love for this beautiful island, it's Strong Fortune for me, that represents the optimism and love shown by the native population no matter what they are and have been forced to live through

duncolm · February 27, 2015, 10:50:53 AM

The name that confuses me is in Costa Calma where there are signs referring to it as CaÃ±ada del Rio.
I reckon that should translate as 'river crossing' or maybe 'path by a river'.

A river? At Costa Calma?

F1REFLY999 · February 27, 2015, 11:07:22 AM

or Mal Nombre .... Bad Name?

woe10 · February 27, 2015, 12:30:18 PM

Quote from: duncolm on February 27, 2015, 10:50:53 AM
The name that confuses me is in Costa Calma where there are signs referring to it as CaÃ±ada del Rio.
I reckon that should translate as 'river crossing' or maybe 'path by a river'.

A river? At Costa Calma?

CaÃ±ada is a Glen or Ravine. Yes, there would have been a river flowing down it when it rained hard. You'll see many dry river beds all over, some deeper than others. This is a Barranco.
Due to the non-porus lava rock, when it rains good, these fill up quickly as raging torrents.

Spike On Q · February 27, 2015, 15:36:34 PM

You may like to visit the "Rio Calma" hotel

Jock719 · February 27, 2015, 18:35:01 PM

Quote from: Spike On Q on February 26, 2015, 23:33:52 PM
Lovely thread. - thanks everyone, it shows we all have a love for this beautiful island, it's Strong Fortune for me, that represents the optimism and love shown by the native population no matter what they are and have been forced to live through

Quite right and well said. Much optimism indeed, a place to be proud to be a part of.