Starbuck Island

So in my wonderful virtual journey into the country of Kiribati, I discovered Starbuck Island, much to my chagrin, thinking Starbucks had bought itself a little abode in the South Pacific. I had heard of Micronesia before, but apparently Melenesia is that part closer to Australia. One of the perks of working in global issues is that you get to read about far off countries, that even I haven't heard of previously like Palau, Vanuatu, Nauru, Tuvalu, etc. All of them by the way are in the South Pacific, close to Fiji and Tonga.

Anyway, the island has nothing to do with Starbucks. It just seemed uncanny that the name was the same. Apparently the name for the horrible coffee chain comes from Moby Dick. Starbuck the island is named after the captain who discovered it. Both the fictional first mate and the real captain came from Nantucket, where Starbuck was not uncommon family name in the 19th century.

Kiribati itself is across the equator and seems like a conglomerate of small islands all spread out. Crazy!

As for the Micronesia or Melenesia, I am sold! Let's go!