Speaking this month we have:

1. Two Mini Talks
   1. Mary Fogarty – Djibouti: in search of the whale shark.A boat trip around the horn of Africa in search of whale sharks and another boat and Devils Island, inhabited by evil spirits and held in more fear by the locals than the French Foreign Legion, who train nearby …

      Mary Fogarty is a magazine editor and travel guide. She is always on the move, always searching for another Devil’s Island, and now also taking trips to Morocco on a regular basis:

      See marrakechtailormade.com and Facebook for more information.

      

      

      

      

   2. Dan Bachmann – Why we travel Many talks have been given on the general philosophy of ‘why we travel’. This time, it is a very personal story of hitting the road and following the heart.

      

      

      

2. Brian Anderson – Images From The Edge. Brian Anderson, Wirral based photographer and adventurer, has travelled to 55+ countries and territories around the world. Join Brian for a portfolio of his stunning wildlife and landscape photographs from some of the coldest and most spectacular landscapes in the world, and a look at some of the explorers who ‘discovered’ these frigid places. This Illustrated Talk features the great explorers, Ferdinand Magellan, John Weddell, Ernest Shackleton and Roald Amundsen, plus the unique wildlife, including; whales, seals, penguins, walruses, albatrosses and polar bears, that has adapted to survive in these inhospitable worlds. Travelling tens of thousands of miles, we will see icebergs and frozen seas at the North Pole, the wonderful wildlife of South Georgia, the Weddell Sea in Antarctica, and the inhospitable but amazing coastline of Tierra del Fuego. There is something here for everyone. This talk is a must for adventurers, those ‘afflicted with wanderlust’, or those who prefer travelling to very cold places from a comfortable armchair.
3. By tradition we follow this meeting with a New Year Party post-meeting – everyone is invited to bring food and drink 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 approximately 40 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 Illsley – The Ancient Kingdom of the Alpujarra of Granada.

   The peaks that tower over the ancient kingdom of Granada are the highest in mainland Spain, higher even than the mighty Pyrenees. Entrapped between their southern slopes and the mediterranean sea some 30 miles distant, lies the fabled area known as Las Alpujarras, the last exclave of the Islamic empire of Al-Andalus, secretive land which to this day remains revered for its astonishing zoological diversity, its sweeping ethereal landscapes and venerable cultural heritage.

   Just imagine: the slopes rise from the seashore to well over 11000 feet, the seasons are extreme and elemental, the thousand year old system of irrigated terraces still works perfectly, whilst there is a breathtaking array of wildflowers – up to 80% of European endemics, it is claimed – and the entire area somehow reeks of antiquity, with archaeologists suggesting recently that they have unearthed the tooth of a primitive hominid that is a mind-blowing 1.2 million years old.

   The aim of this short talk is to describe and illustrate this lovely area which I’m proud to say has been our home for almost 20 years, and to try to offer some insight into how its inhabitants have had to come to terms and adapt to such a beautiful yet challenging environment.

   David and Emma gave up the day job with the British Council in the Canaries in 1998, and after a month or so back in the UK set off on our bicycles for what was assumed would be a year off. However, they somehow seemed to get a bit carried away, and that year off has managed to extend itself, so that they now find themselves still squirrelled away in the mountains of Granada, where they run a small hotel, restaurant and multi -activity centre, together of course with their family of boys, labradors and an assortment of small animals.

   Find out more at laschimeneas.com or on Facebook.

   

   

   

   

2. Mark Wainwright – Above the clouds Mark Wainwright’s chequered career has included working as an editor, stonecutter, housing officer, and open data evangelist, among other things. In 2014 he lived for some months at the remote Tharpaling Monastery in Bumthang, Bhutan, teaching English to monks. While there he learnt to speak a little Dzongka, to avoid being attacked by bears, and to appreciate chilli as a vegetable.

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 approximately 40 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. Nathan Millward – Sydney to London at 37 mphNathan Millward is a 35-year old male from the East Midlands who in his late-twenties prime embarked on an overland odyssey from Sydney to London. Subsequent trips followed, notably New York to Alaska, with recent time spent as Editor of Adventure Bike Rider and now provider of ‘adventure’ type copy to various motorcycle magazines around the world. Author of two books; The Long Ride Home and Running Towards the Light – Postcards from Alaska.

   Find out more at nathanmillward.com, www.facebook.com/nathan. millward.501 and on Twitter @natethepostman

   

   

   

   

   

2. Sam Williams and Sam Gibbons – The Cordilleras and their CommunitiesIn 2013, Sam Williams and Sam GibbonsFrendo travelled to Peru’s Cordillera Blanca. Close friends since school days, the Sams went to explore this part of the high Andes, taking in some trekking, climbing and mountain biking.However, when they left it wasn’t just the majestic beauty of the mountains that stuck in their minds – although this has never left – but the people and culture of this remote but remarkably accessible area.This presentation tells the story of how they set out to stay connected with the communities that made their trip so enjoyable, and how in 2014 they went back to find a way in which other adventurous travellers can contribute to the remote and vulnerable mountain communities.

   Sam Williams

   Sam is a researcher and consultant for charities, NGOs and universities. He currently works for the Institute of Development Studies. He has degrees in History and International Studies. Sam was born and bred in Devon and fell in love with the mountains while travelling in India. He has since visited 50 countries, climbing along the way. He has climbed in Tajikistan and Afghanistan as well as the Alps and the Andes and in 2010 was part of a team that made a number of first ascents in the Great Pamir Mountains.

   Sam Gibbons Frendo

   Sam works in Strategy and Policy for a research council, allocating funds for biomedical research. He has a degree in biology and PhD in Neuroscience. Sam’s love for the great outdoors was developed clambering over the granite tors of Dartmoor. He soon headed for some serious wilderness and has travelled extensively in Nepal, India and Latin America. His latest adventures have been trekking and mountaineering in the Cordillera Blanca and now we can’t stop him going back.

   Find out more at facebook.com/projectcordillera

   

   

   

   

   

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 approximately 40 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. Denise Heywood – Legend and Lustre: Jim Thompson and Thai Silk.
2. Two Mini talks of 15-20 minutes.
   • Marion Bull – Devil’s Island.
   • Basia Filzek – Mongolia.

Our original speakers unfortunately had to cancel, we are currently updating the programme.

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 approximately 40 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. Tomislav Perko – How to travel the world with almost no money?

   Tomislav Perko, 29, is a travel writer from Croatia. After a career of a stockbroker, broke because of the financial crisis, he hits the road and turns it into his home. He uses alternative ways of travelling – hitch-hiking, couch-surfing, working/volunteering, and manages to wander around the world with just a little bit of money in his pocket, meeting the most amazing people on the way.

   Five years later, he publishes a book “1000 Days of Spring” and goes around giving lectures about what it means to live on the road.

2. Barbara Brooks – a quick trip across Canada & North America Barbara is talking about her recent over six months travelling trip across Canada & North America and meeting old friends and making new ones.

• We are sorry the previously advertised talk by Jeanie Copland has had to be postponed. Jeanie Copland – on to Ho Chi Min (Trans Siberian Part 2).

  Having travelled the Trans Siberian railway from Moscow, via Mongolia, to Beijing; now continue on China’s railways to Nanning, crossing into Vietnam to connect with their reunification rail network – “adventuring en route!!”.

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 approximately 40 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.