The July meeting was the popular Members Slides, though nowadays digital is beginning to take over and in the first session:-
Liz Cooper took us first to Belize showing us the “Blue hole”, which you reach by a combination of scrambling and swimming, she also showed us examples of the abundant bird life and the native Margay cats.
Rene Richards showed us her trip to Peru , including bodies preserved by the dry atmosphere at high altitude, Rene visited the reed islands on Lake Titicaca, worrying that she would sink through these bouncy constructions, and the spectacular Valley of the Condors.
We headed next to Asia as Sue Baker showed us her 2 month’s working in a school in Darham, Mongolia . As well as helping teach the children and taking them into the hills, Sue also got to experience living in a Ger which can be erected in just an hour (not IKEA then!) and trekking around salt lakes.
Next to the Middle East as David Shamash showed us some old pictures of Jerusalem.
Last up before the interval was Jacqui Trotter, who showed us that Spain is not just for the summer, Jacqui visited Madrid and Sevilla, taking in the Moorish architecture, Sevilla cathedral and photographing some of the ornate doorways and peaking behind them. She also showed us Cordoba cathedral, with its wonderful forest of nearly a 1000 columns from its days as a mosque.
After the break we returned to the following varied set of short journeys:-
Tracey Murray took us down under to the Oodnadatta Track, taking in the delights of Coober Pedy, Lake Eyre and the wonderfully named “Plane Henge” where 2 old aircraft are tethered noses upwards. At Maree Tracey showed us a camel made out of railway sleepers, a monument to the Ghan railway.
Eric Hayman then took us to Lesotho where he worked during the 1970’s helping to build dams on the Orange river, this also involved building an airstrip with some very rudimentary equipment, he must have done a reasonable job as its still there and you can book a flight to it on Expedia, its designation code is PEL!
Jeanie Copland, showed us the trip she did earlier this year with Matt Doughty, walking in Big Bend National Park in Texas, Matt is obviously fitter than he looks 🙂 as some of the walks were quite hard, but worth it for the views.
Dan Bachmann made quite an entrance dressed in his Tunisian headscarf to show us his trip into the dessert, where he camped under the stars and his guide baked their breakfast bread under the ashes of the camp fire. Dan was amazed to find plants growing in a dessert that hasnÂ’t seen rain in decades.
Dick Curtis fittingly brought the meeting to its close, showing us Lyon airport, which is an architectural delight, but completely devoid of any passengers due to its not very well thought out location.
For details of the forth coming meetings of the London branch, September 2008 through to July 2009 – http://www.globetrotters.co.uk/meetings/lon09it1.html.
London meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden at 2.30pm the first Saturday of each month, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend. There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh in September. For more information, contact the Globetrotters Info line on +44 (0) 20 8674 6229, or visit the website: www.globetrotters.co.uk.