Submitted by Frank from the US. Actual comments from US travel agents:

A woman called and asked, “Do airlines put your physical description on your bag so they know whose luggage belongs to who?” I said, “No, why do you ask?” She replied, “Well, when I checked in with the airline, they put a tag on my luggage that said FAT, and I'm overweight, is there any connection?” After putting her on hold for a minute while I looked into it” (I was actually laughing) I came back and explained the city code for Fresno is FAT, and that the airline was just putting a destination tag on her luggage.

I just got off the phone with a man who asked, “How do I know which plane to get in?” I asked him what exactly he meant, which he replied, “I was told my flight number is 823, but none of these darn planes have numbers on them.”

A woman called and said, “I need to fly to Pepsi-Cola on one of those computer planes.” I asked if she meant to fly to Pensacola on a commuter plane. She said, “Yeah, whatever.”

A businessman called and had a question about the documents he needed in order to fly to China. After a lengthy discussion about passports, I reminded him he needed a visa. “Oh no I don't, I've been to China many times and never had to have one of those.” I double-checked and sure enough, his stay required a visa. When I told him this he said, “Look, I've been to China four times and every time they have accepted my American Express.”

A woman called to make reservations; “I want to go from Chicago to Hippopotamus, New York.” The agent was at a loss for words. Finally, the agent said, “Are you sure that's the name of the town?” “Yes, what flights do you have?” replied the customer. After so me searching, the agent came back with, “I'm sorry, ma'am, I've looked up every airport code in the country and can't find a Hippopotamus anywhere.” The customer retorted, “Oh don't be silly, everyone knows where it is. Check your map!” The agent scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, “You don't mean Buffalo, do you?” “That's it! I knew it was a big animal!”

Meeting news from our branches around the world.

It has certainly been an interesting month here in Mikindani, and also in Dar es Salaam. One of Trade Aid’s new ideas for Mikindani is to start up a local group who can produce Batik T-shirts. But what is this I hear you ask. Batik T-shirt printing is the dying of a T-shirt with certain areas left undyed, this enables you to produce a variety of patterns.

It was at the beginning of December that the journey up to Dar began, at the oh so sociable hour of four o’clock in the morning. After a back breaking sixteen hours in one of the Trade Aid Landrovers, being bounced and battered along a Tanzanian “road” we finally arrived in Dar Es Salaam, oh what a relief. After a day to settle in, and make extensive use of the bar and air conditioning at the Seaman’s mission [where we were staying] it was down to work. My brief was to look into the process of Batik T-shirt production, and to see if it would be feasible in Mikindani.

The Batik T-shirt printing takes place in an indoor market/shopping centre where the products are also sold. There I met the head of the organisation that prints the T-shirts and the head of production, who oversees the entire process.

The process begins when the parts of the T-shirt that are not to the dyed are covered in a special sort of wax. This can be applied through two methods, either using a brush or a wooden print. As far as Mikindani and the Boma is concerned it is my opinion that the print method would be the best, as it would produce work for the local carpenters.

Once the wax has been applied and dried the T-shirt is then dyed. A mixture of hot and cold water (17 litres) dye, caustic soda and sodium powder are then mixed together in a stone bath. The T-shirt is then repeatedly lifted in and out of this mixture until the dye has fully soaked into the material. After which it is then taken out of the water and hung to dry. The wax then has to be removed; this is done by placing the T-shirt into a vat of boiling water, where it is then stirred around until all of the wax has been removed. The T-shirt is then finished and can either be worn, or more colours can be applied by using the wax to cover the previous dyed areas and any areas that need to be left clear. This should certainly prove to be something that Trade Aid and the Boma can make good use of, and it should also benefit the local groups who can get involved.

For more information on the work carried out by Trade Aid in Tanzania, see their website www.mikindani.com

Globetrotters meeting on 1^st February by Padmassana

David Abram was up first and gave us a very interesting talk on Trekking in Corsica. David has spent long periods in Corsica in order to research his Trailblazer guidebook. He told us that the cheapest way to get there is to take a No-Frills cheap flight to either Marseilles or Nice and then take a ferry across to the island. David first showed us the easier coastal walks; we saw the azure seas and waves crashing on to rocky headlands. The main route for Trekking/walking on Corsica is the GR20, which winds its way 170 Km across the islands roof. The route has an altitude change of 19,000 Metres. David explained that although his photos of the route looked daunting to all but experienced mountaineers, including parts where it was necessary to use cables and ladders, most reasonably fit people can manage the route. The GR20 route is for the most part well marked with waypoints. It is divided into 16 stages, which most of the 17,000 people who do the walk each year complete in around 12 days. David finished up with some Corsican music and some of his favourite photos of Corsica. In next month’s e-news we are lucky enough to have one of David’s stories about his time in Corsica – look out for it!

After the interval our second speaker was Peter Nasmyth whose talk was entitled Caucasus adventure. Peter kicked off with photos of snow-capped peaks like Mt Elbrus and hilltop churches, lit by the intermittent electricity supply. This region has many surprises for the visitor; it’s a place where the locals drink toasts to Stalin (he was a Georgian) and to Adolf Hitler (he fought the communists). Other surprises were a bubbling carbonated lake, surrounded by red mineral covered rocks. Tblisi is the Georgian capital, we saw old areas where balconies over hang the streets and a tower block that was once the best hotel in town, but is now a home to many refugees from the wars in neighbouring countries like Ossetia and Chechnya. Peter’s photos of the local people included traditional dress that has built in bullet holders and knives in the waistband of trousers. The Caucasus is an area where it is possible to go heli-skiing, by renting a helicopter and heading up into the mountains, very popular with German skiers. Peter finished by telling us about his charity, which helps the local children, who are bright and well educated, but have little to channel their energies into. Peter also helped establish Prosperos bookshop. The first English language cafe bookshop, which according to Peter sells the best coffee in the Caucasus.

Coming up: Saturday 1st March

Leslie Downer – “Sadayakko and her amazing journey around the World.” Sadayakko was a geisha and Japan's first actress. In 1900 she enchanted audiences around the World from san Francisco, New York, London, fin-de-siecle Paris, Vienna and St. Petersburg. Part II of Leslie's geisha adventures. Geoff Roy – “Great Wall of China” is the longest man-made structure on Earth- stretching from the Yellow Sea to Tibet (6,700kms.) Geoff's talk covers walking on restored, as well as un-restored sections of “wild wall”

London meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden at 2.30pm the first Saturday of each month. There is no London meeting in August, but we will be back in September. For more information, you can contact the Globetrotters Info line on +44 (0) 20 8674 6229, , or register for email updates at at our website (click here)

Anna and Magda wrote in asking for help with voluntary placements in Australia: we are two girls living in Germany, age 19, just finished our A-levels (Advanced school leaving certificate). Our reason for writing is, that we would like to do a voluntary practical year in Australia. WE would be very grateful if you could give us further help in this. Best regards Anna and Magda.

The Beetle responds: As you are both under 30, you are most likely eligible to apply for a working visa in Australia. So maybe if you contact the Australian embassy in your country, they can advise you about this. Roughly speaking, you are not allowed to do a “professional” job, so you are only allowed to do casual work such as potato, fruit picking or short term work. No one piece of work can be over 3 months either.

The Beetle suggests that you search on the internet using the words “voluntary work Australia”. This is a good site to start with: Volunteer Search in addition, the April 2002 Globetrotter e-newsletter 2002 had an article by conservationvolunteers email conservationvolunteers about conservation volunteer opportunities. There’s also always the WWOOF organisation, see: Wwoofing, which caters for people who want to work on organic farms. There’s also:

Working Holiday MakersAustralian Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs.

ATCV (Australian Trust for Conservation Volunteers) accepts Australian and foreign volunteers for a wide range of conservation projects throughout Australia.

Australian Jobs Guide by Nomads World features visa information, job packages, agencies and a harvest guide for fruit picking/harvest work.

Diving in Australia has an employment database.

Pelican Point Windsurfing in W. Australia has employment opportunities for instructors.

The Cape Tribulation Tropical Research Station accepts volunteers for conservation projects.

Travel Jobs Network, a service for Australian and New Zealand job seekers.

TNT Magazine has an excellent section on finding temporary work in Australia.

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The Beetle received an e-mail from the parent of a college student, studying in L.A. They wanted to know where their daughter and two friends could go on an inexpensive package for their spring break April 12-18, 2003. Hawaii maybe?

The Beetle agreed that Hawaii, (but not Oahu – which can be a little touristy and expensive, when the other islands have far more to offer) would be a great option. It is possible to buy reasonably priced fly drive holidays around the Hawaiian islands, where our reader’s daughter and friends could share a room at a very nice hotel at a good price. With only 6 days, I would recommend either the Big Island alone or alternatively split between Kauai and the Big Island. If a car and swish hotel is too expensive, then it is possible to find moderately priced accommodation on the Big Island, so this should cut the cost, but a car is definitely a must!

Coming up: Saturday 1st March

Seeds of Peace is concerned with sowing the seeds of peace among children who have grown up with the horror of war. They will be back for an encore presentation, following their first visit to the New York branch of the Globetrotters Club on January 4, 2003.

Speaking will be: Jeremy Goldberg and Rebecca Hankin of Seeds of Peace, an organization that provides an opportunity for the children of war to plant the seeds for a more secure future. The program focuses on Arab and Israeli teenagers from ten nations in the Middle East but has also brought youngsters from Cyprus, the war-torn Balkans, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other regions of conflict to its unique coexistence program. Seeds of Peace has been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, Time Magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, The Wall Street Journal, People Magazine and on ABC, CBS & NBC network programs, including “Nightline” (twice) with Ted Koppel, “60 Minutes” with Morley Safer, “Sunday Morning,” “The Today Show,” “Good Morning America” and on CNN, PBS and NPR. Jeremy Goldberg is the Director of Corporate Relations at Seeds of Peace, Mr. Goldberg's experience includes time spent on Capitol Hill, as well as at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington, DC-based think tank. He is also the founder and former editor-in-chief of the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, a nationally distributed foreign affairs publication. Jeremy is an honors graduate of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Rebecca Hankin is currently Director of Media Relations at Seeds of Peace, a position she has held since April 2002. Since its founding, Seeds of Peace has graduated over 2,000 teenagers representing 22 nations from its internationally recognized conflict-resolution program.

For details of forthcoming meetings email newyork@globetrotters.co.uk or register for email updates at click here at our website.

New York meetings are held at The Wings Theater, 154 Christopher Street (btw Greenwich St and Washington St), to the right of Crunch Fitness, in the Archive on the first Saturday of each month at 4 pm.

Today we will visit Durban which is a city situated on the east coast of South Africa. It has a sub tropical climate opposed to that of Cape Town, which is Mediterranean.

What has Durban to offer the tourist or visitor? Along the beach front are many hotels and blocks of holiday flats. This area is called the Golden Mile.

Hotels on the beachfront have magnificent views over Durban Bay and the Bluff to south. Along Durban's beaches jetties have been built out into the sea. They have the effect of turning the long golden beaches into small bays, which can be protected by lifeguards during the holiday seasons.

Durban is well known for its sharks. All the beaches are protected by shark nets that have been installed about 300 metres off shore on the outside of the breaker line. It is very interesting to watch the Natal Sharks Board out in the bay each morning tending the nets and removing any fish that have become entangled during the night. If they are still alive they are released otherwise they are taken to the shark boards offices to the north of Durban where they are dissected for research purposes.

The “ Golden mile” is always a hive of activity with the many restaurants, pubs and bars to be visited. At night many people come down to the beaches to relax and enjoy the atmosphere or just to party.

Durban is also famous for it Rikshas. A Riksha for those who don't know is and African man who wears a very fancy head dress made of beads and cows horns and bits and pieces of cheap jewellery and feathers and other odds and ends. The Riksha also has a cart with two large wheels and a seat where two adults or three kids can fit into. For a small fee you will be taken for a ride along the beachfront with this man wearing his head dress pulling the cart. The ride can get quite exciting when the riksha picks up a bit of speed and leaps into the air balancing his weight and yours like a seesaw. When he does this without warning the passengers are thrown backwards and think they are going to fall out the back of his cart. Not to worry! There is a small jockey wheel at the back that stops the cart falling over and you falling out.

There are many other things to do in Durban other than just swimming and tanning. Although most of the action takes place along the beachfront there are other areas where there is much to do. The two main roads in Durban are Smith Street and West Street. Both of them are one way only with West Street going towards the beach and Smith away from the beach.

The main shopping areas of Durban are found along these streets.

There are also many sports facilities with the main arenas being Kingsmead for cricket and the Shark Tank for rugby.

Most people will have heard of the Comrades marathon. This marathon is run between Durban and Pietermaritzburg each year, one year up and the other year down. It is a gruelling race that is normally run in hot weather and it attracts 1000's of people. The race is 89 kilometres long and follows the old road between Pietermaritzburg and Durban. The next Comrades Marathon will be held on the 16th of June 2003 and will be the down run i.e. Pietermaritzburg to Durban.

The scenery between Pietermaritzburg and Durban is beautiful. The old road wends its way through the valley of a thousand hills. As far as one can see there are just hills. Vegetation is lush and if the province has received rain very green. In Pinetown a small town between PM Burg and Durbs there is a beautiful waterfall. Its called the Howick falls and although not very big is quite spectacular.

Durban also grows various varieties of tropical fruit. Fruit such as Paw Paws, mangoes, avocado pears and of course bananas. Their avos are to die for. On the occasions that I have visited Durban I have always made an effort to get a grass wash basket full of green avos to take home.

If you drive out into the country areas surrounding Durban you will come across many farms growing sugar cane. This is one of the main products grown in the area. Durban is known as the sugar capital of South Africa and you can see many large silos where sugar is stored. A tour of the refineries is very interesting as they show you the entire process from where the cane is pulped to where the white sugar is finally packaged to be shipped.

Durban is one of South Africa’s premier holiday destinations. Visit in July and watch the Durban July horse race.

Geoff Fairman writes an ezine called Turtle Essays that concentrates on Cape Town and its surrounds. To subscribe send a blank email to TurtleEssays-subscribe@turtlesa.com

or read the ezines online at http://www.turtlesa.com

For information on Ontario meetings, please contact: Svatka Hermanek:

shermanek@schulich.yorku.ca or Bruce Weber: tel. 416-203-0911 or Paul Webb: tel. 416-694-8259.

Meetings are held on the third Friday of January, March, May, September and November. Usually at the Woodsworth Co-op, Penthouse, 133, Wilton Street in downtown Toronto at 8.00 p.m.

Globetrotters should be extra careful when booking flights with travel agents in the UK. High street budget travel agents, Trailfinders are, like most other companies, happy to sell you a ticket for any destination in the world and try to get you to cough up for their in-house insurance at the same time. They of course earn commission on this.

This Globetrotter booked a ticket through Trailfinders to Bali. I booked it well before the Bali incident and am due to fly to Bali at Easter. I was offered insurance, which I declined as I have my own. At a recent London travel show I enquired about the two different Trailfinder policies on offer, one annual and one single trip.

When I rang to ask to book the Trailfinder insurance a couple of weeks later, I was told that Trailfinders would not insure trips to Bali or any part of Indonesia. Whilst I totally understand the reasoning behind this, Trailfinders should not be offering insurance over the phone and at Travel shows and then reneging when people try to book it.

After the Bali bomb many companies in the travel trade took the step of contacting clients with existing reservations to Bali offering them money back or a change of destination. Trailfinders did not do this and now as time for final payment looms, the horrible truth of the situation is becoming apparent to UK travellers.