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

Speaking this month we have:

1. Two Mini Talks

   1. Rosemary Brown – The Incredible Journeys of Women Adventurers – past and present.

      Let’s start the year by celebrating women adventurers — women who defy convention, take a walk on the wild side and venture into the unknown.

      We’ll play tribute to those before us who left inhibition at home and journeyed through a man’s world on awe-inspiring voyages; as well as today’s ‘adventuresses’ who challenge themselves on foot, bikes, skis in the true spirit of adventure.

      In 2018, the centenary year of women’s suffrage, it seems particularly fitting to commemorate women like Isabella Bird, Mary Kingsley and Nellie Bly. And to catch up with contemporary adventurers like Anna McNuff, Sarah Outen and polar explorer Felicity Aston.

      You will ‘meet’ a Queen of the Desert, a yak and elephant rider, a nurse who trudged across sub-zero Siberia and women who have achieved astonishing adventures despite disabilities and discrimination.

      

      

      

      

   2. Keith MacIntosh – Palestine

2. Gavin A Fernandes and Dino Zelenika – A Winter Wander around Bosnia and Herzegovina

   In December 2017, Gavin and Dino were invited to Bosnia and Herzegovina to join a press/familiarisation trip to help promote the country as a tourist destination. Although Sarajevo and Mostar are well on the beaten track around the Balkans, few visitors venture further afield. The Via Dinarica is a series of mountain trails running through all 7 Balkan countries suitable for hiking, biking (and snow-shoeing in the winter) and the trip visited several sections in Bosnia and Herzegovina stopping to sample locally produced food (and wine!) on the way. Gavin and Dino extended their trip to continue exploring the region meeting residents young and old keeping old traditions alive.

   Gavin A Fernandes is a travel photographer/writer and editor of Globe magazine; Dino Zelenika was born in Mostar, (then Yugoslavia) but has lived in the UK since 1999. He runs realescapetravel.co.uk specialising in authentic experiences for small groups featuring local gastronomy, history and culture as well as wild orchids.

3. By tradition we follow this meeting with a New Year Party post-meeting – everyone is invited to bring food and wine or soft drinks (we are not allowed beer or spirits) and participate!

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. Malcolm Arthur – A short but very exciting trip in southwest Mongolia

   Mongolia is a country of great beauty with a range of landscapes including desert, steppe, mountains and lakes. Its people are friendly and incredibly hospitable; it’s in their nature but it’s borne out of necessity. When the journey in to town is a day or two’s horse ride away, it’s good that people whose homes you pass on the way welcome you for refreshment or an overnight stay. The countryside is clean and the air is fresh. The water in the vast Lake Khovsgol in the north, said to contain between 1% and 2% of the world’s fresh water, is so pure that local people drink it directly from the lake. And there’s a good chance you will be a long way from a mobile ‘phone signal; heaven on earth. Is there any wonder that cancer is almost unheard of in this beautiful country?

   Malcolm and his wife, Jacqui, have travelled extensively in Asia and, in particular, have explored several parts of Mongolia where they have witnessed and experienced many facets of the country and its people. However, this talk will concentrate on a short trip they undertook in southwest Mongolia, down towards the border with China. It became one of the most memorable they have undertaken but to find out why, you’ll have to come to the talk.

2. Alan Palmer – Travels in India’s North East Frontier Agency (Part 2) – The Tribal and Buddhist Landscape of Western Arunachal Pradesh

   Alan previously presented for us at The Globetrotters Club in September 2016 when he talked about his encounters with the headhunters of Nagaland in Travels in India’s North East Frontier Agency (Part 1). In this, the second part of his ventures in India’s former North East Frontier Agency, he visits Western Arunachal Pradesh.

   Nestling at the eastern end of the Himalayas, the remote mountainous Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh> is home to a breathtaking kaleidoscope of traditional tribal cultures unique to this small corner of the world. In his talk, Alan takes us with him on his recent journeys, undertaken by 4×4 and on foot, through unique donyi polo villages, engaging with local tribesmen and participating in their festivals, before reaching the stunning Tawang Valley, close to the borders of Bhutan and Tibet, where he explored the world’s largest Buddhist monastery outside Lhasa.

   Alan is author of “Moroccan Atlas – The Trekking Guide” (Trailblazer Publications 2010, second edition 2014), He has also contributed to Pakistan and The Silk Road (both by Insight Guides). In 2012 he formed his own company, Yak Travel Limited, planning and organising fully personalised treks and 4×4 tours for individuals and small groups in Morocco and North East India.

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