Speaking this month we have:

1. Olie Hunter-Smart – Walking India Top to Bottom

   In April 2017, British adventurer Olie Hunter Smart set off from the Line of Control in Ladakh to walk the length of India, a 4,500km journey that would take him seven and a half months to complete. His aim: To uncover untold stories about Partition and Independence from Britain that took place in 1947, and to find out how it impacted the ordinary people of India.

   Olie will be sharing some of his experiences from his epic journey, from navigating his way through the crowded streets of Delhi and the fear of walking through a tiger reserve to the difficulty of finding a place to stay in rural villages and seeking out heart-rending stories from those that were directly affected by the largest mass migration of people in history.

   Olie was born in the south of England, spending much of his youth messing about in boats. At the age of 18 he spent 6 months in Belize working on a conservation project to rebuild a remote ranger station and teaching in a local school. The experience gave him an appetite for adventure, travel, to see the world and to understand more about different people and cultures.

   Since then, Olie has worked in the London advertising industry taking every opportunity to travel and see more of the world. In 2013 he backpacked his way from Russia, through Asia, Australasia and across South America. In 2015 Olie became one of only a handful of people to have travelled the length of the Amazon River unsupported on foot and by kayak, and in 2017 Olie took on a new challenge, to walk the length of India to uncover untold stories of India’s struggle for Independence.

   Find out more at

   • Website: www.oliehuntersmart.com
   • Social Media: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

   

   

   

   

   

   

2. Becca, Max and Joel – Global Convoy -The Art of Absurd Travel.

   The Global Convoy – made up of Joel, Becca, Rich and Max – are a group of young adventurers who somehow managed to complete a full circumnavigation of the entire world in the space of a year! Using two cars they saved from a scrapheap, without a plan and not even close to a sensible budget, they set off East with their fingers crossed and their sights on the horizon. 4 continents, 46 countries, hundreds of hitchhikers and thousands of incredible stories later they rolled back into Dover with the new goal to help people see the world in the best and most exciting ways possible!

   Find out more at

   • Facebook
   • Instagram
   • Youtube

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

London branch meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden the first Saturday of each month, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend.

Admission costs, £3 for Members and £6.00 Non-members. You do not need to be a member to attend, and we do not sell advanced tickets, please just come on the day, the doors open at 2:15pm and the program starts around 2:30pm with each talk lasting between 45 – 60 minutes.

There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh each September. If you would like to keep up to date with what’s happening at the Globetrotters London meetings and to be sent email reminders prior to the meeting, please sign up here

Members Slides : Around the world in eighty minutes.

10 presentations of 10 slides

Speaking this month in a fast paced journey around the Globe we have:..

1. Hilary Clark — The colours of Mexico
2. Jenny Power — Stranded on St Helena
3. David Shamash — Baltic Cruise
4. Janie Butler — Hawaii
5. Peter Hall — The trip from hell
6. Mary Fogarty — Seven saints of Marrakesh: Mary’s pilgrimage

Coffee/Tea/Chat

7. Emily Edgell — Mongolia/New Zealand
8. Cristina Lopo — Remote tribe in Thai forest: why not to get insurance
9. Justyna Hellebrand — Myanmar (Burma)
10. Jayesh Patel — Uzbekistan
11. Hemant Amin — Coastal Odessa
12. Rosemary Brown — In the Aegean: Welcoming Syrian refugees

Reserve speakers

13. Simon Finnamore — Chiang Mai highlights
14. Francesca Jaggs — Sri Lanka

London branch meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden the first Saturday of each month, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend.

Admission costs, £3 for Members and £6.00 Non-members. You do not need to be a member to attend, and we do not sell advanced tickets, please just come on the day, the doors open at 2:15pm and the program starts around 2:30pm with each talk lasting between 45 – 60 minutes.

There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh each September. If you would like to keep up to date with what’s happening at the Globetrotters London meetings and to be sent email reminders prior to the meeting, please sign up here

Speaking this month we have:

1. David Redford – Glimpses of the Nile – and echoes of the great explorers.

   Images and stories from a number of short visits to East and Central Africa to illustrate the enormity and history of the River Nile, and hopefully to pass on some of its fascination to travellers.

   

   

   

   

2. Russell Maddicks – Magical Mexico City

   Built on the ruins of the ancient Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, Mexico City has mushroomed into the largest Spanish-speaking city in the world. A melting pot of all that makes Mexico great, and with more museums and cultural institutions than any other city in the world apart from London, it can be hard for first-time visitors to negotiate this sprawling behemoth. Travel writer Russell Maddicks, author of the Culture Smart! Guide to Mexico, brings you his top tips for enjoying this magical city like a local, taking in the history, art, music, food and people that make it so memorable and unique.

   The previously advertised talk on Nicaragua has been postponed due to the current situation in Nicaragua

   Russell is the author of Bradt Guide Venezuela, Culture Smart! Ecuador, Cuba, Mexico.

   Find out more at

   • Instagram
   • Twitter

   

   

   

   

   

London branch meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden the first Saturday of each month, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend.

Admission costs, £3 for Members and £6.00 Non-members. You do not need to be a member to attend, and we do not sell advanced tickets, please just come on the day, the doors open at 2:15pm and the program starts around 2:30pm with each talk lasting between 45 – 60 minutes.

There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh each September. If you would like to keep up to date with what’s happening at the Globetrotters London meetings and to be sent email reminders prior to the meeting, please sign up here

Speaking this month we have:

1. Jacek Obloj – Ethiopia

   Jacek will share stories from visiting traditional tribes in Omo Valley and Christian churches in Lalibela. Jacek is also planning another trip to Ethiopia in March this year so will have more stories to share in May.

   Find out more at:

   • Website

2. Jim Holmes – The Lower Mekong, a river in flux.

   An exploration of the people, culture and river as it flows through Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand.

   Jim Holmes is a documentary photographer that lived and worked in Laos and Vietnam for 18 years. He travelled and worked extensively on the Mekong River and illustrates his own personal journey through the region with his dramatic images and stories.

   See also www.jimholmes.co.uk

   

   

   

   

London branch meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden the first Saturday of each month, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend.

Admission costs, £3 for Members and £6.00 Non-members. You do not need to be a member to attend, and we do not sell advanced tickets, please just come on the day, the doors open at 2:15pm and the program starts around 2:30pm with each talk lasting between 45 – 60 minutes.

There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh each September. If you would like to keep up to date with what’s happening at the Globetrotters London meetings and to be sent email reminders prior to the meeting, please sign up here

Speaking this month we have:

1. Paul Gillingham – Western Ireland: north to south by bike.

   Riding solo, this is a journey from northern Donegal to Cork and Cobh in the south, visiting along the way the islands of Aran and Achill, the bizarre limestone pavements of the Burren, the annual Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival and the sacred mountain of Croagh Patrick. In passing, Paul considers the Irish passion for Gaelic football, the horrors of the Great Famine, mass emigration, attitudes to the British and Oliver Cromwell’s attempts to crush the Catholics. His talk concludes with the final port of call of theTitanic and, inevitably, kissing the Blarney Stone.

   Now retired, Paul taught history in Canada, Tanzania, UK and Hong Kong, moving into journalism with BRMB radio in Birmingham. He went on to become a newscaster with TVB in Hong Kong and, returning to UK, a freelance presenter/reporter for BBC Radio 4, BBC World Service and Classic FM, travelling widely in pursuit of stories. He considers his highlights to be: a spell in the Swedish Merchant Navy, a month in a Rwandan refugee camp, meeting Ginger Rogers and interviewing, among others, the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, Little Richard and the sons of Martin Luther King and Benito Mussolini.

   In retirement, Paul enjoys long-distance cycle-camping, preferably at a slow pace.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

2. Darren Axe – ‘Aotearoa: Journeys into the Long White Cloud’

   Darren is an International Mountain Leader with a passion for sustainability issues in the mountain environment. In 2007 he spent 6 months living in Wellington, capital city of New Zealand. During this period and a return visit almost 10 years later he explored the dynamic and varied landscapes of this primeval remnant of the paleo-supercontinent Gondwanaland. Aotearoa; Journeys into the Long White Cloud is an illustrated tour of this isolated archipelago with its unique biodiversity and strong cultural identity. The talk also delves into the environmental challenges facing modern-day New Zealand including reflections on the epic journeys involved in getting ‘there and back again’.

   Find out more at: Website, Facebook and Twitter.

   

   

   

London branch meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden the first Saturday of each month, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend.

Admission costs, £3 for Members and £6.00 Non-members. You do not need to be a member to attend, and we do not sell advanced tickets, please just come on the day, the doors open at 2:15pm and the program starts around 2:30pm with each talk lasting between 45 – 60 minutes.

There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh each September. If you would like to keep up to date with what’s happening at the Globetrotters London meetings and to be sent email reminders prior to the meeting, please sign up here