Speaking on Saturday, September 6, 2025, we have :
1st: Russell Maddicks – El Salvador – Transformation of a Nation.
This tiny Central American country, known as the Pulgarcita de las Americas (Thumbelina of the Americas), has gone from being the most dangerous in the region to being the safest.
Travel writer and guidebook author Russell Maddicks explains why now is the time to visit and all the places you must not miss, including the volcanoes you should climb, the crater lakes you should bathe in, the quaint colonial coffee towns you should spend time in, and the Pacific beaches blessed with golden sands and warm shallow waves that await you.
He will also take you to the heart of San Salvador, the capital city that was once shunned by travellers due to its risky reputation but is now a delight to explore.
Russell Maddicks is a freelance journalist, travel writer, and guidebook author who focuses on Latin America and Spain.
A member of the British Guild of Travel Writers, he has spent the last 30 years exploring Latin America and has written guides to Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
He is currently researching and writing a series of articles about El Salvador, which he has visited extensively, witnessing firsthand the dramatic changes in the country’s security situation and honing his pupusa making skills to the point of near perfection.
Follow him on X and Instagram – @LatAmTravelist
2nd: Olivia McGregor – Guyana
Olivia travelled to one of the last biodiverse wildernesses on earth, commonly referred to as ‘The Lost World’ in Guyana. She spent a month living in an indigenous Makushi Amerindian village, as their first foreign visitor. She documented the profound changes that are radically altering their way of life in light of the transformation Guyana is undergoing.
Guyana has been undergoing a transformation since the recent discovery of crude oil which has made it, by some accounts, the world’s fastest-growing economy. Olivia went to investigate the implications of this for the region’s unrivalled biological and cultural diversity, and specifically for Makushi people.
Since time immemorial Makushi people have been the caretakers of ‘The Lost World’ that has helped protect this vestige of the world’s biodiversity. Olivia went to find out whether that is changing in light of their changing ways of life.
The talk Darran Rees – Love Letter to Romania has had to be postponed.
Date & Time: Saturday 6th September 2025
Doors open at 14:15 in London and on Zoom with the talks starting around 14:45 (London see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive before 14:45 and switch your phone to “do not disturb” or silent.
We would ask that anyone with respiratory symptoms participate via Zoom.
Admission costs:
- £7 for members. (Members can access a ticket code below or from the members area.)
- £10 for non-members. (save £3 if you join at this meeting)
- a recording to watch later will be available to members and non-member ticket holders.
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