I found a local fruit stand finally, not sure why I'd missed it the first few days. I think it was closed for the holiday.
Bananas for 10 cents, pineapple for $1.50. A buck-fifty seems a bit steep, but ok. Me gusta mucho pina.
Upon bringing my first pina home though I realized that I wasn't 100% sure how to cut it.
Enter Google.
"how to cut a pineapple" netted me: http://www.howtocutapineapple.com
And I was in business.
It's amazing how much we take for granted being "free" online. I wonder how many people actually net the site's owner, Mark, any money. Am I really going to click on a a google ad for a vegetable peeler or a "get a flat stomach!" ad, if I'm just cutting a pineapple?
Maybe not, but I clicked to see how to open a coconut!
But what if Mark took his sites with their keyword-loaded domains, and became part of a bigger network of "how-to" information, perhaps survival in the tropics, maybe how to eat naturally on vacation, etc.
What if he took it a step further and built relationships with companies in popular tourist destinations who sell the necessary equipment?
La escuela de espanol tienne un cochillo. (The spanish school has a knife.).
But what if they didn't? I would have had to walk around town hoping, as a gringo tourista, to find an 8" butcher knife to purchase to cut my pineapple. And there's no home depot to get myself a hammer for the coconut.
Would I pay a buck for that info? Sure. Would I pay 5 or 10 for a booklet on where to shop / what to buy to eat healthy and organic in Bocas del Toro? Heck yeah.
Lonely planet / escape artist et al cover the big-picture stuff.
Somebody needs to go further down the tail and start filling in the details.