Speaking this month we have:

1st: Sophie Ibbotson – Fergana Valley: The Hub of the Silk Web

Sophie Ibbotson is an explorer, writer, and consultant specialising in Central Asia. In this talk she will challenge the popular understanding of the Silk Road as a single route, presenting it instead as a web or wheel with the fertile Fergana Valley at its heart.

This extraordinary but little-visited region is shared between the Republics of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Sophie will share her reflections of more than 10 years of trips to the area, the most recent of which was in November 2021.

She will cover megalithic civilisations and ruined cities, palaces and shrines, the flourishing of handicrafts and gastronomy, and even Central Asia’s largest statue of Lenin.

Find out more at:

• Twitter https://twitter.com/uzambassador
• Instagram https://www.instagram.com/uzambassador
• LinkedIn

2nd: Claire Nelson – Things I Learned from Falling.

Independent hiker Claire Nelson finds herself seriously injured in the California desert, and over four days she not only fights for her life, but is forced to reconsider the way she’d been living it.

Claire tells her incredible story of courage determination and survival against the odds.

Claire was in her thirties and was beginning to burn out – her hectic London life of work and social activity and striving to do more and do better in the big city was frenetic and stressful. Although she was surrounded by people all of the time, she felt increasingly lonely.

When the anxiety she felt finally brought her to breaking point, Claire decided to take some time off and travelled to Joshua Tree Park in California to hike and clear her head. What happened next was something she could never have anticipated.

While hiking, Claire fell 25 feet, gravely injuring herself she laid alone in the desert – mistakenly miles off any trail, without a cell phone signal, fighting for her life. She lay in the elements for four days until she was miraculously found – her rescuers had not expected to find her alive.

“I remember the sound my body made as it hit the ground, a sharp crack, one that cut through the thump of my weight against the desert floor. Then the white heat of pain that stabbed through my body, escaping through my mouth in an almighty howl. I tried to scramble to my feet – the instinctive reaction to falling – but I couldn’t get up. Again and again, trying to lift myself off the ground, my body, everything below the arms, remained a dead weight.”

In Things I Learned from Falling, Claire shares her story of what it taught her about loneliness, anxiety and transformation and how to survive it all.

Claire is a New Zealander who spent more than a decade in London working in food and travel journalism.

Find out more about Claire on Twitter @clairenelson, on Instagram @ladyeclaire and at www.clairenelson.co.uk

Date & Time:

Saturday, July 2, 2022

Doors open at 14:00 BST in London.

For conditions of entry for COVID-19 please see https://globetrotters.co.uk/covid-19-status-at-meetings.html

We would ask that anyone with symptoms or who needs to isolate participates via zoom.

Last month’s meeting was very successful, the hall is well ventilated and we had no outbreaks following the meeting.

The zoom meeting opens at 14:00 with the talks starting 14:30 BST (London time see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive early so we can deal with any issues with joining.

For forthcoming meetings

• We charge £3 for members to cover our costs. Members will be emailed a ticket code link allowing access to this option or you can access it from the members area.
• We charge £6 for non-members, non-members may join the club for £12 per year and get this and future meetings at members rate for £12, members can also watch the 3 previous online talks, members also receive Globe our members magazine and our annual members calendar, why not join and enter your pictures.
• a catch up to watch later will be available to members and non-member ticket holders.

For in person Tickets at the hall:

For Zoom online tickets:

This meeting is the 2nd weekend of the month due Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Holiday.

Speaking this month we have:

1st: Sandra Reekie – From Istanbul to Islamabad along the Silk Road

Sandra Reekie was offered the journey of a lifetime:  to spend three months travelling along the Silk Road, the fabled trading route between Asia and Europe.

One condition: she would be travelling with a woman she had never met. What could possibly go wrong? You only live once, after all.

Her journey led her through eight countries bumping along from Istanbul to Islamabad and along the way encountering awe-inspiring ancient sites and lost cities from Persepolis to Palmyra, Kashgar to Kiva and at every turn experiencing the timeless kindness of strangers.

2nd: Shafik Meghji – Crossed off the Map: Travels in Bolivia

For his new book, Crossed off the Map: Travels in Bolivia, award-winning travel writer and journalist Shafik Meghji journeyed from the Andes to the Amazon to explore Bolivia’s turbulent history and contemporary challenges.

On the way he uncovered the story of Bolivia’s profound and unexpected influence on the wider world over the past 500 years – fragments of history largely forgotten beyond its borders. Once home to one of the wealthiest cities on Earth, Bolivia kickstarted globalisation, influenced the industrial revolution in Europe, helped to trigger dynastic collapse in China, and played host to everyone from Che Guevara to Butch Cassidy.

The book also explores how ordinary Bolivians in and around the world’s highest city, largest salt flat, richest silver mine and most biodiverse national park are coping with some of the touchstone issues of the 21st century: the climate emergency, populism, mass migration, indigenous rights, national identity, rapid urbanisation, and the ‘war on drugs’.

In its pages, Shafik illuminates the dramatic landscapes, distinct cultures and diverse peoples of a country – in the words of one interviewee – that ‘was the building block of the modern world, but is now lost in time’.

• Website: www.shafikmeghji.com
• About me page: http://www.shafikmeghji.com/#/shafik-meghji-biography/
• Twitter: @ShafikMeghji
• Instagram: @shafikmeghji

Date & Time:

Saturday, June 11, 2022 2nd weekend due Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

Doors open at 14:00 BST in London.

For conditions of entry for COVID-19 please see https://globetrotters.co.uk/covid-19-status-at-meetings.html

We would ask that anyone with symptoms or who needs to isolate participates via zoom.

Last month’s meeting was very successful, the hall is well ventilated and we had no outbreaks following the meeting.

The zoom meeting opens at 14:00 BST with the talks starting 14:30 BST (London time see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive early so we can deal with any issues with joining.

For forthcoming meetings:

• we charge £3 for members to cover our costs. Members will be emailed a ticket code link allowing access to this option or you can access it from the members area.
• we charge £6 for non-members, non-members may join the club for £12 per year and get this and future meetings at members rate for £12, members can also watch the 3 previous online talks, members also receive Globe our members magazine and our annual members calendar, why not join and enter your pictures.
• a catch up to watch later will be available to members and non-member ticket holders.

For in person Tickets at the hall:

For Zoom online tickets:

Speaking this month we have:

1st: Jane Wilson-Howarth – health work and wildlife encounters in Nepal

Jane is a medical doctor and wildlife enthusiast and has been privileged to have been able to spend six years in Nepal in the 1990s and a further four years most recently including during the pandemic. She will give an illustrated talk about her health work and introduce you to some of her favourite wildlife characters.

She is undecided whether Machhapuchare or Ama Dablam is the more beautiful mountain. Jane has written nine books including three health guides and five set in Nepal. Her author website is www.wilson-howarth.com and she’s on Instagram as @longdropdoc.

2nd: Nori Jemil – The Travel Photographer’s Way 

Nori Jemil is an award-winning photographer, writer and videographer. Her work has appeared in publications including National Geographic Traveller UK, BBC Travel, Adventure.com and Conde Nast Traveller. Over the past decade she has won several awards, including Travel Photograph of the Year from Wanderlust travel magazine, and Photographer of the Year from the British Guild of Travel Writers. She teaches film and photography in London and on specialist overseas tours, including for an expedition company
 in Chile. Her photos have been exhibited in London, Milan, Barcelona and Madrid. She takes on regular public speaking engagements at travel photography events and as part of National Geographic Traveller UK’s Masterclasses and Travel Geeks programmes.

The Travel Photographer’s Way – by NorI Jemil and Bradt Guides

SHORTLISTED IN THE Edward Stanford Travel WRITING AWARDS: Photography Travel Book of the Year

A ground-breaking practical photography book considers not just how to get better images, but also why and when we should take them. It guides the reader to become a more confident and reflective travel photographer, as well as covering the technical know-how they will need.

Taking a journey around the seven continents, each chapter focuses on the main areas of travel imagery, from people and landscape to architecture and adventure. Bite-size advice on how to get the best from your camera is contextualized throughout the The Travel Photographer’s Way so you learn as you go.

Nori’s book is not an attempt to replicate other reference works on the subject, top-loading technical information and addressing an expert reader. Nor does it focus on gadgetry – the proliferation of new hardware means camera-based information can become obsolete quite quickly. Instead it is a travel companion, a book that can be read for the prose and stories, as well as the information it contains.It covers the main elements of travel photography in eleven sections, including advice from some of the best travel photographers working around the world. Technical information is embedded, given in the context of each shot, but personal travel stories are at the heart of every chapter.

Find out more at:

• Twitter: @andeanimaging
• Instagram: @nori.jemil.travel
• Web: The Travel Photographer’s Way 

Date & Time:

Saturday, May 7, 2022

Doors open at 14:00 BST in London.

For conditions of entry for COVID-19 please see https://globetrotters.co.uk/covid-19-status-at-meetings.html

We would ask that anyone with symptoms or who needs to isolate participates via zoom.

Last month’s meeting was very successful, the hall is well ventilated and we had no outbreaks following the meeting.

The zoom meeting opens at 14:00 with the talks starting 14:30 BST (London time see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive early so we can deal with any issues with joining.

For forthcoming meetings:

• we charge £3 for members to cover our costs. Members will be emailed a ticket code link allowing access to this option or you can access it from the members area.
• we charge £6 for non-members, non-members may join the club for £12 per year and get this and future meetings at members rate for £12, members can also watch the 3 previous online talks, members also receive Globe our members magazine and our annual members calendar, why not join and enter your pictures.
• a catch up recording to watch later will be available to members and non-member ticket holders.

For in person Tickets at the hall:

For Zoom online tickets:

Speaking this month we have:

1st: Kat Towers – Solo Female Vanlife in the UK and Beyond – Destination Bulgaria!

World traveller, podcaster and campervan fanatic Kat Towers from She’s At The Wheel Vanlife Podcast shares her experience as a nervous female driver travelling solo through France, Germany, Austria, Hungary and Romania to Bulgaria and how the challenges she faced along the way helped her conquer her fears and discover a love of challenging herself! 

Kat is a professional musician, podcaster and writer who fell in love with travel at a young age. She has flown in a rickety plane over Everest, picked fruit under Mount Fuji, ridden sled dogs in Alaska and spent a birthday at the Taj Mahal!

Kat has been obsessed with campervans for years and has designed and renovated two vans with her friend Pavel. She recently completed a 4000 mile solo round trip to Bulgaria and back passing through 8 different countries which taught her a lot! She documents her adventures and chats with other UK vanlifers on She’s At The Wheel Vanlife Podcast. You can find out more about Kat and the podcast at www.shesatthewheel.com

2nd: Alan Palmer – Vainglorious pursuits – The Everest Base Camp Trek.

In April 2019, Alan, founder and director of Yak Travel, finally visited Nepal as the guest of a Nepalese trekking company wishing to work in partnership with him. He elected to hike to Everest Base Camp.

Clutching his battered 1985 edition of Lonely Planet’s ‘Trekking in the Nepal Himalaya’, he quickly discovered that the Everest trail continues to evoke all the drama of the great, early Himalayan explorers. He also saw that the region truly exudes the glorious natural beauty that has been acclaimed for it – and much more besides.

As he wound upwards through traditional Buddhist villages, taking time to stop off at their monasteries for moments of quiet reflexion, and then headed along the full length of the mighty Khumbu Glacier to Everest Base Camp itself, he found, too, that the region is not without a few recent changes.

Alan is Founder and Director of Yak Travel, his own company, which organises bespoke treks and tours through rarely explored regions of Morocco and North-East India, as well as Nepal. He has also recently begun to offer a series of guided walks from the front door of his eighteenth-century cottage in the heart of the North York Moors.

He is author of Moroccan Atlas the Trekking Guide (Trailblazer Publications) and has also contributed to three other guide books, Pakistan and The Silk Road (both published by Insight Guides), and the Rough Guide to Morocco. Most recently, he accepted an invitation to write about his favourite aspects of Morocco and India for The Rough Guide to the 100 Best Places on Earth 2022. Additionally, he regularly writes articles for travel magazines and delivers talks and presentations on Morocco, North-East India and Burma (Myanmar) at travel clubs and travel shows, both in England and in India.

He is:

• a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS)
• a member of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs (RSAA)
• a life member of the British Moroccan Society (BMS)
• a member of the Pakistan Society
• a member of The Globetrotters Club
• TripAdvisor Destination Expert (DE) for Morocco

Find out more at:

• http://www.yaktravel.co.uk/
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbeFQsXbenMiGh9bhm50TdQ

Date & Time:

Saturday, April 2, 2022

Doors open at 14:00 BST in London.

For conditions of entry for COVID-19 please see https://globetrotters.co.uk/covid-19-status-at-meetings.html

We would ask that anyone with symptoms or who needs to isolate participates via zoom.

Last month meeting was very successful, the hall is well ventilated and we had no outbreaks following the meeting.

The zoom meeting opens at 14:00 BST with the talks starting 14:30 BST (London time see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive early so we can deal with any issues with joining.

For forthcoming meetings we have

• £3 for members to cover our costs. Members will be emailed a ticket code link allowing access to this option or you can access it from the members area.
• £6 for non-members, non-members may join the club for £12 per year and get this and future meetings at members rate for £12, members can also watch the 3 previous online talks, members also receive Globe our members magazine and our annual members calendar, why not join and enter your pictures.
• a catch up to watch later will be available to members and non-member ticket holders.

For in person Tickets at the hall:

For Zoom online tickets:

Speaking this month we have:

1st Pip Stewart – Life Lessons from the Amazon: A Guide to Life From One Epic Jungle Adventure 

Fuelled by a zest for life and the desire to explore the world around her, Pip Stewart took on a world-first challenge: following Guyana’s Essequibo River from source to sea. With the help of guides from the Waî Waî indigenous community, Pip and her teammates journeyed through the rainforest, facing peril every day as they kayaked rapids, traversed waterfalls and hacked their way through the mountainous jungle of the Guiana Shield, before finally reaching the Atlantic Ocean.

Survival skills and a flesh-eating parasite weren’t the only things Pip took home from the rainforest. From contending with snakes to learning about the value of community, forgiveness and self-belief, in her talk Life Lessons from the Amazon Pip shares many pearls of wisdom that we can all apply to our own lives. Her hard-won insights invite us to embrace the wildness within ourselves and live more every day.

Find out more at:

• Book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Lessons-Amazon-Jungle-Adventure/dp/178783980X 
• Instagram http://instagram.com/pipstewart/
• Twitter https://twitter.com/pipstewart
• TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pip_stewart
• Website: https://www.pipstewart.uk/ 

2nd John Gimlette – Madagascar: The Gardens of Mars

An improbable world beckons.  We think we know Madagascar but it’s too big, too eccentric, and too impenetrable to be truly understood.  It if it was stretched out across Europe, the island would stretch from London to Algiers, and yet its road network is no greater than tiny Jamaica’s.  There is no evidence of any humans at all until 10,000 years ago, and then, when they did finally settle, they came all the way from Borneo, 3,700 miles away on the other side of the Indian Ocean.

During three months’ of travel, John Gimlette delved deep into the county’s past, in order to understand this magnificent country.  As we join him on his journey, we meet politicians, sorcerers, militiamen, lepers and the descendants of 17th century English pirates. Strap yourselves in for a bumpy ride.

Date & Time:

Saturday, March 5, 2022

Doors open at 14:00 GMT in London, a condition of entry is proof of vaccination or a COVID lateral flow test within 48 hours or a positive PCR within 90 days having completed any required isolation, the easiest way of showing this is with the NHS Covid Pass which lets you show your COVID-19 status in a secure way. We will be carrying out temperature checks and asking visitors to confirm they do not have any symptoms on arrival.

We would ask that anyone with symptoms or who needs to isolate participates via zoom.

Last month meeting was very successful, the hall is well ventilated and we had no cases following the meeting.

The zoom meeting opens at 14:00 with the talks starting 14:30 GMT (London time see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive early so we can deal with any issues with joining.

For forthcoming meetings we have

• £3 for members to cover our costs. Members will be emailed a ticket code link allowing access to this option or you can access it from the members area.
• £6 for non-members, non-members may join the club for £12 per year and get this and future meetings at members rate for £12, members can also watch the 3 previous online talks, members also receive Globe our members magazine and our annual members calendar, why not join and enter your pictures.
• A watch later recording will be available to members and non-member ticket holders.
• We will be running this meeting as an in person at the hall event plus we will be streaming it on zoom and will be following the same procedures as the west end theatres.

For in person Tickets at the hall:

For Zoom online tickets:

Speaking this month we have:

1st Mary Fogarty – A trek in the High Atlas with a mule called Beloved and a guide called Sarkozy

Last October, Mary Fogarty finally managed to get into Morocco again – after 18 months of closed borders. Determined to break out of her beloved Marrakech, she found herself on a trek in the High Atlas with a guide called Sarkozy and a mule who was also Beloved (actually her name was Habiba, which is the Arabic version).

The going was really tough, with the temperatures in the mid-30s and the men ploughing on ahead, so it was a blessed relief when Habiba was put in front – as she would make frequent stops and allow the single female at the back to catch up. But Habiba was not only essential for rests – she was also carrying mountains of food, which turned miraculously into the most divine dishes at both lunch and dinner, thanks to her keeper, the genius muleteer Hassan!

Monsieur Sarkozy darted around the mountains like a sprite, appearing high up in the cliffs, diving under waterfalls, and jumping onto village rooftops. He was really far more of a performer than a guide and delighted to entertain, though Habiba remained stubbornly unimpressed. He was after all only a man called Sarkozy.

2nd Anthony Britton – Tuvalu – paradise threatened.

A 2009 visit illustrates the contrasting elements of this developing Pacific island nation from iconic palm fringed coral atoll to environmentally degraded landscapes caused by war, waste and warming.

Anthony has spent forty years teaching all aspects of Geography. His students motivated him to visit an example of all the most important human and physical landscapes in order to teach (with streetwise knowledge, his own photographs and artefacts) about the people and places that are appropriate to the National Curriculum.

Date & Time:

Saturday, Saturday, February 5, 2022

Doors open at 14:00 GMT in London, a condition of entry is proof of vaccination or a COVID lateral flow test within 48 hours or a positive PCR within 90 days having completed any required isolation, the easiest way of showing this is with the NHS Covid Pass which lets you show your COVID-19 status in a secure way. We will be carrying out temperature checks and asking visitors to confirm they do not have any symptoms on arrival.

We would ask that anyone with symptoms or who needs to isolate participates via zoom.

Last month meeting was very successful, the hall is well ventilated and we had no cases following the meeting.

The zoom meeting opens at 14:00 with the talks starting 14:30 GMT (London time see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive early so we can deal with any issues with joining.

For forthcoming meetings we have

• £3 for members to cover our costs. Members will be emailed a ticket code link allowing access to this option or you can access it from the members area.
• £6 for non-members, non-members may join the club for £12 per year and get this and future meetings at members rate for £12, members can also watch the 3 previous online talks, members also receive Globe our members magazine and our annual members calendar, why not join and enter your pictures.
• a catch up to watch later will be available to members and non-member ticket holders.
• We have had confirmation that the Church of Scotland hall is open and we will be running this meeting as an in person at the hall plus we will be streaming it on zoom and will be following the same procedures as the west end theatres.

For in person Tickets at the hall:

For Zoom online tickets:

This month we have:

AGM: The clubs AGM starts at 12:00 pm (card carrying members only), then at 2.30 pm the meeting begins

Speaking this month at 2.30 pm we have:  (Get Tickets)

1st Mary Fogarty – From the Pasha’s Palace to the desert city of the Haddou.

Mary Fogarty tells of a journey over the dramatic Tizi n’Tichka pass in the High Atlas mountains to visit the ancestral home of Thami El Glaoui, the Pasha of Marrakech and caid of the surrounding Ounila Valley.

Freak weather – snow and freezing temperatures – pervaded the journey as Mary and her friends then made their way to Ait Benhaddou, a stunning hilltop ksar (fortified village) built of red clay bricks in the kasbah way, which cleverly camouflage it against the surrounding red rock desert.

Given UNESCO World Heritage status in 1987, the ksar is probably more famous to the wider world for being the location in films such as Gladiator, Alexander and Prince of Persia. Mary and her friends were practically blown off the edge of it by biting winds, and on the return drive to Marrakech the snow descended and the mountain pass closed behind them.

2nd Rob Ainsley – How to cycle abroad without leaving Britain

Rob Ainsley takes us on a journey around the world without leaving the Britain.

Rob Ainsley is a cycling writer, but does more cycling than writing. He’s collecting international End to Ends, has ridden all Britain’s rhyming coast to coasts, and once biked to all the places in the world called ‘Bath’. He lives in York but is usually somewhere else.

The talk by Rose Moloney has unfortunatly had to be postponed.

Date & Time:

Saturday, December, 2021

AGM Doors open at 12.00 noon.

Doors open at 14:00 GMT in London, a condition of entry is proof of vaccination or a COVID lateral flow test within 48 hours or a positive PCR within 90 days having completed any required isolation, the easiest way of showing this is with the NHS Covid Pass which lets you show your COVID-19 status in a secure way. We will be carrying out temperature checks and asking visitors to confirm they do not have any symptoms on arrival.

We would ask that anyone with symptoms or who needs to isolate participates via zoom.

Last month meeting was very successful, the hall is well ventilated and we had no cases following the meeting.

The zoom meeting opens at 14:00 with the talks starting 14:30 GMT (London time see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive early so we can deal with any issues with joining.

For forthcoming meetings we have

• a donation £3 for members to cover our costs. Members will be emailed a ticket code link allowing access to this option or you can access it from the members area.
• a donation of £6 for non-members, non-members may join the club for £12 per year and get this and future meetings at members rate for £12, members can also watch the 3 previous online talks, members also receive Globe our members magazine and our annual members calendar, why not join and enter your pictures.
• a catch up to watch later will be available to members and non-member ticket holders.
• We have had confirmation that the Church of Scotland hall is open and we will be running this meeting as an in person at the hall plus we will be streaming it on zoom and will be following the same procedures as the west end theatres.

For in person Tickets at the hall:

For Zoom online tickets: