Mixed Central America and Caribbean Trivia

1. Animals: Which brightly coloured little bird, immortalized as Jamaica's national bird, is endemic to Jamaica? (All will be well if you get this one).

From Quiz Jamaica, by Category

Answer: the doctor bird

The doctor bird is also known as the swallow tail hummingbird. In addition to its beautiful feathers, the mature male has two long tails that streams behind him while in flight. The doctor bird was thought by the Arawaks to have magical powers. According to one Jamaican folk song, "Doctor bud a cunny bud, hard bud fe dead". This can be translated to mean that the doctor bird is a smart or clever bird that cannot be easily killed.

From Quiz Beginning The Beguine

Answer: Euro

Both countries are overseas regions of France, and are considered an integral part of that country. As such they are part of the European Union and have the Euro as their currency. The first European to set foot on either island was Christopher Columbus in 1493, when he landed on Guadeloupe, but his party left no settlers behind. Guadeloupe became part of the Kingdom of France in 1674. Over the next hundred years the island was invaded and seized by the British several times, mainly because of the lucrative sugar trade. At the end of the seven years war the British decided that keeping Canada was more important than keeping Guadeloupe, and it was returned to France as part of the 1763 Treaty of Paris.

From Quiz Barbados

Answer: Trident

The two outer bands are blue, representing the sea and sky, with a central band of gold to symbolise the sand of the beaches of Barbados. The trident has been broken off, to represent the breaking of the colonial bonds when the island achieved independence. The flag in use between 1885 and 1958 had shown a full sized trident. The three points represent the principles of democracy - government of, for and by the people of Barbados.

From Quiz Panama? Perfect!

Answer: Bocas del Toro

Called the Canal de Soropta, this 12 kilometer long (sometimes called Changuinola Canal) was built in 1903 (11 years BEFORE its more famous cousin opened) by Michael Snyder for transporting banana barges. It is located near Bocas del Toro and is still used for tourist cruises.

From Quiz Beginning The Beguine

Answer: St. Pierre

Up until 1902 St. Pierre was the capital of Martinique. The volcanic eruption completely destroyed the town and killed 30,000 people who lived there. This caused the capital to be moved to Fort-de-France, and this has been the capital ever since. One of three survivors of the volcano was August Cyparis. His life was saved because he was in prison, and the prison walls were thick enough to withstand the eruption. He went on to travel with Barnum and Bailey's Circus.

From Quiz Barbados

Answer: Spain

The Portuguese were the first to sight the island, but decided not to risk fighting the Caribs who lived there. The Spanish did land and may have taken the local inhabitants to use as slaves, leaving the island uninhabited. The English took possession in 1624, with the first settlers arriving about three years later. Barbados then remained a British colony until gaining its independence in 1966.

From Quiz Panama? Perfect!

Answer: Fire ants, vampire bats, scorpions

While all of these animals do exist in Panama, sighting are rare. Most people will never see any of these dangerous animals, and are more likely to get bitten by no-see-um's, fire ants and possibly, it they are on the Caribbean side, by mosquitoes. The most common medical problems treated in Panama are sunburns and hangovers.

From Quiz Jamaica, by Category

Answer: Madge Sinclair

Madge Sinclair's first film appearance was in 'Conrack' in 1974. In 1977 she performed as Bell Reynolds in 'Roots' and was nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance. Madge performed in a number of the 'Star Trek' sequels and was the first female to appear as a star ship captain in any 'Star Trek' series or movie. She also performed in 'Coming to America' and 'The Lion King' as well as in many other films. She died in 1995.

From Quiz Beginning The Beguine

Answer: Caribbean plate

The island lies along what is known as the subduction fault, which is the area where the North American plate slides under the Caribbean plate. This gives the island eight areas of volcanic activity. The oldest lava rocks found are about twenty four million years old, but the oldest volcano on the island is Mont Pelee, which formed about 400,000 years ago, which makes it quite young in mountain terms. It last erupted in 1902 and is still regarded as an active volcano.

From Quiz Why Worry About Guatemala?

Answer: Maya

Native Americans are a great part of Guatemala's population. Many Mayan families, however, are very poor and have very little land ownership. In fact, land distribution is a major problem in the country as Ladinos, descendants of Spaniards, are the rich landowners who own haciendas and lots of other fertile lands. Mayans have been very affected by this, as they often feel Mayan and not Guatemalan, feeling there is no support from their country. The Civil War, that started in 1960 and ended in 1966, was a conflict that involved the Guatemalan government and Mayans. The military overthrew a leader that favored land reform, then installed a series of military leaders. Many Mayans were killed in the process, and their land taken away from them.

From Quiz Jamaica, by Category

Answer: Lisa Hanna

In 1993, Lisa Hanna became the third Jamaican to cop the coveted Miss World title. Carole Crawford won in 1963 and Cindy Breakspeare in 1976. Portia Simpson Miller is the Prime Minister of Jamaica but I've never heard of her being a 'candidate' for beauty pageants. In 2007 Lisa, a member of the People's National Party, contested and won the seat for St, Ann Southeast. She then served as Opposition spokesman on Information, Youth and Culture until she was appointed Minister of Youth and Culture after her party won at the polls in December 2011. Lisa is one of the youngest women to be elected to Parliament in Jamaica.

From Quiz Beginning The Beguine

Answer: Leeward Islands

Set in the south Caribbean Sea, Guadeloupe is the most southern of the Leeward Islands. It has two main islands, Basse-Terre and Grand-Terre, which are separated by a narrow sea channel. Three adjacent French islands come under the jurisdiction of Guadeloupe. Whilst it enjoys a warm climate its position in the Caribbean Sea does mean it suffers from hurricanes, and over the years it has been hit by several big ones, which have caused extensive damage. When Hurricane George made landfall there in 1998 it destroyed almost 90% of the banana crop, a large part of Guadeloupian economy. The other main economic activity is tourism, with many large cruise ships now choosing to stop there.

From Quiz Barbados

Answer: Cricket

The list of famous cricketers from Barbados also includes Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes and the man who many consider to be the best all rounder ever in Sir Garfield Sobers. Also included in the list are all three of the 'three Ws', who played in the 1950s and all of whom were knighted - Clyde Walcott, Everton Weekes and Frank Worrall.

From Quiz Jamaica, by Category

Answer: Caribbean Sea

Jamaica is an island in the Caribbean Sea. It is in the hurricane belt of the Atlantic Ocean and is therefore prone to damage from storms. The seventh largest natural harbour in the world is the Kingston Harbour in Jamaica.

From Quiz Beginning The Beguine

Answer: Snakes

The warm climate means that Martinique is home to many varieties of snake, most of which are venomous. In the 1800s the settlers introduced the mongoose in an effort to control the snake population. Unfortunately they preyed on the eggs of wild birds, which has led to extermination or extreme endangerment for some native ground laying species, including the Martinique trembler. The snake population however remains largely untouched.

From Quiz Why Worry About Guatemala?

Answer: Antigua

El "Palacio de Los Capitanes", or Palace of Captains, was rebuilt many times after the 1773 earthquake. It is now the location of the local police force. Tegucigalpa is in Honduras and San Jose in Costa Rica.

From Quiz Panama? Perfect!

Answer: boxing

Roberto Duran won the world welterweight championships against Sugar Ray Leonard in June 1980. His nickname was "Hands of Stone". Another famous Panamanian is Hall of Fame legend Rod Carew, a baseball player.

From Quiz Beginning The Beguine

Answer: Huguenots

The earliest French settlers in Martinique were Huguenots looking for religious freedom. There were few Catholic priests in the area at the time, so despite various edicts issued by King Louis XIV they lived a quite prosperous and peaceful life. This changed in the mid 1680s when Huguenots were forcibly deported to Martinique if they refused to convert to Catholicism. They were transported in ships reminiscent of the slave trade, and were treated as serfs when they reached the island. The harsher regime imposed by France led to the Huguenot population emigrating from Martinique to British Protestant colonies in America as well as Protestant European countries. This decimation of the population set the economy of Martinique back for decades.

From Quiz Why Worry About Guatemala?

Answer: Erick Barrondo

At the 2012 London Olympics, Barrondo competed in the 20km walk event and won a silver medal, an historical one because it was the first ever for Guatemala. That silver medal was the only medal Guatemala won throughout the entire Olympics. His coach, Cuban Rigoberto Medina, also trained Salvadoran gold medalist Cristina Lopez. Guatemala is not very known for their sports skills. The Guatemalan soccer team won their first CONCACAF championship in 1967, two years after hosting themselves the CONCACAF tournament. It was also the runner-up in the 1965 and 1969 tournaments, which took place in Guatemala and Costa Rica respectively.

From Quiz Barbados

Answer: Christianity

Over 95% of Barbadians declared themselves to be Christians in the official census of 2000. Of these, Anglicans were the biggest group and around two thirds were active. Seventh-day Adventists, Roman Catholics and Methodists were other Christian denominations represented. Followers of Islam were a small minority, and there were even fewer Buddhists. Other religions declared were Hindu and Rastafarianism.

From Quiz Panama? Perfect!

Answer: almost 3 million

Migration includes broad-winged hawks, turkey vultures and Swainson hawks. They make the migration south from Oct to mid-Nov, and return from May to early April. Panama has more different species of birds than all of Canada and United States combined.

From Quiz Jamaica, by Category

Answer: Blue Mountains

The Blue Mountains extend throughout the parishes of Portland, St Mary, St Thomas and St Andrew. The north and south coasts of the island can be viewed from its peak. If the day is clear the outline of the island of Cuba can be seen also. Jamaica's Blue Mountain coffee is internationally acclaimed.

From Quiz Jamaica, by Category

Answer: the Arawaks and the Tainos

The Arawaks and the Tainos were indigenous people of the island. They originated in South America and came to Jamaica between 4000 and 1000 BC and made their settlements. There were more than 200 villages on the island which were ruled by village chiefs known as caciques by the time Columbus arrived in 1494.

From Quiz Beginning The Beguine

Answer: Mosquito bites

As with many tropical climates both islands suffer from mosquitos, and whilst yellow fever is not an issue on either island, dengue fever epidemics occur every few years, with isolated cases popping up at other times. It is transmitted by several different types of mosquito, and five separate types of the virus have been identified. Once you have had one of the types you have life long immunity to it and short term immunity to the other types. Fortunately it is rarely life threatening. As at 2014 there is no vaccine for this disease, although work is continuing to find one. It is estimated that over fifty million people worldwide have the disease during any one year. At the moment prevention is centred on control of the mosquito population.

From Quiz Why Worry About Guatemala?

Answer: Otto Perez

A term as President of Guatemala lasts four years, and there is no right to re-election. Otto Perez was elected in 2011 and took office in 2012. He was the founder of the Patriotic Party. Barack Obama was elected in 2008 President of the United States and Peña Nieto was elected in the 2012 Mexican Presidential Elections. Alfonso Portillo was the President of Guatemala from 2000 to 2004, and immediately after his term ended, he fled to Mexico. Since 2010, the United States were looking for him for money laundering and in May 2013, he was extradited to the U.S.

From Quiz Barbados

Answer: Rihanna

Rihanna was born in 1988, and has established a very successful career. Among her singles are 'Unfaithful' from 2006 and 'We Found Love', a hit in 2011. Her biggest hit of the early twenty-first century came in 2007 with 'Umbrella', which also featured Jay-Z. Adele was born in England and Shakira is Colombian. Pink was born in America. Other well known musicians from Barbados are Rayvon, who sang on many of Shaggy's hits, and Grandmaster Flash, the DJ.

From Quiz Jamaica, by Category

Answer: jerking

The jerking technique is widely used in Jamaica. Jerk stands and jerk centres are a common sight along the streets. Chicken and pork are the meats commonly used for jerking although other meats such as fish are now being prepared as jerk. Jerk is sold with hard dough bread, Johnny cakes, bammies or festivals.

From Quiz Beginning The Beguine

Answer: Rum

Rum can be made direct from sugarcane juice or from sugarcane by products such as molasses. Traditionally it has been made on Caribbean islands, and they still account for the majority of the output. The sugar trade in Martinique was, at one time, the backbone of the economy, but the decline in it has led to tourism and the growing of bananas now being the biggest economic factors on the island. There is not much sugarcane grown now in comparison to the past, and most of it goes to the rum producing industry. Martinique has to import almost all of its meat, vegetable and grain food requirements.

From Quiz Why Worry About Guatemala?

Answer: CAPTCHA

In 2000, the "Completely Automated Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart", or CAPTCHA system was introduced. In 2009, Google bought the evolution of CAPTCHA, reCAPTCHA, which uses the same interface but helps digitize text of books. The system is used in major sites like Facebook, The New York Times, Twitter and TicketMaster.

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