Word To Use Today: tana.

Here's a small, ringing word that describes some lovely things.

For a start, not only is Lake Tana in Ethiopia the source of the Blue Nile, but on its islands are kept the treasures of the Ethiopian Church:


Priest going to church.

and in its waters seventy per cent of the fish species are to be found nowhere else in the world.


Barbus tanapelagius. Photo by M Grimm

The River Tana is the longest river in Kenya:


Photo by Chking2. This is the River Tana ferry.

- unless, of course, you're talking about the River Tana in Norway, which leads to Tana Fjord and forms part of the border between Norway and Finland.


Photo Karl Brodowsky

Then there's the tana, also known as Phaner furcifer:



which is a lemur from, of course, Madacasgar; and as if those weren't riches enough there's also the completely different tana Tupaia tana:



which is a tree shrew you may see if you are lucky enough to be in Sumatra or Borneo.

There we are. Tanas.

All lovely things, and I shall cherish them.

Word To Use Today: tana. The word for the animals comes from the Malay tūpai tana, which means ground squirrel.