Hello all,
A belated happy new year and return to the eNewsletter to you all. IÂ’ve been back from South America for three weeks or so and have finally managed to get back into the swing of a working life & catching up with Globetrotters 
And how was South America ? Absolutely superb…we managed to visit most of our wish list and enjoyed so many sights & sounds ! Starting with new year in Mendoza, crossing over the Andes to Santiago in Chile, we then headed up across the Atacama desert to the salt flats at Uyuni, Bolivia. The last week we biked & trekked our way up through the forests to Machu Picchu – stunning scenery all round and well worth all the aching limbs. We even managed to avoid the floods & mud slides that have plagued the Cusco, Peru area…though I would have quite liked to have been evacuated by helicopter to conclude the adventure !
As ever South America is full of life, the people are friendly & the scenery is outstanding…whether it be the beach, the forests or the mountains. IÂ’ve included a few photos of some of these highlights we were lucky enough to enjoy
Picture by The Ant : Salt Flats flag stand, Uyuni
Moving on, quite a few of you have been busy as well some very interesting projects & ideas during the winter…itÂ’s good to see & hear of so much energy:-
The London branch hosted a travel advisors stand at The Adventure Travel Show, http://www.adventuretravellive.com/, Victoria in London. Twenty plus members attended both days and spoke to many a would be traveller about all manner of possible trips…the possible range of where you could travel to & how was stunning, even in these economically troubling times. Whilst the owners ran the show on a very tight budget, it was good to see some of the old ethos behind the show return…as the show is now owned once again by Martin Anslow & team. A big thank you from the club side goes out to Dick, Jacqui, Paul & Tim at the Stanfords stand for much of the behind the scenes organising…
Charles Egan, club member & author of ‘The Killing Snows’ will speak at 2pm at the Irish Cultural Centre, Hammersmith on Saturday 6 March – see http://www.irishculturalcentre.co.uk/?q=events for more details.
Delia Cardnell, club member, is exhibiting at The Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours exhibition, from 21st April to 1st May at the Mall Galleries (next to Admiralty Arch) and would be happy to show anyone around who is interested. Showing six paintings, this year the exhibition features abstract landscapes from her travels in Britain – mainly the West Country. DeliaÂ’s web site is www.deliacardnell.com and features most of her key artistic details.
Hot news of the press and from regular club member & extraordinary traveller Neil Harris regarding a significant change to visas visits to India:-
This is the page that gives information on the new 2 month rule: My experience (two visa in the last 4-5 months) is that if you are doing anything other than a simple one visit to India, fill the form in online, then make an appointment at your local ‘centre’ taking copies of everything relevant, air fares, booked holidays, accommodation etc. At least it’s better than having to queue at the Indian Consulate to get a number to go into the queue inside.
Hope that’s of use.
Neil
ThatÂ’s all for now – hereÂ’s to another exciting year of travel adventures and enjoy what weÂ’ve put together for you in this latest edition…
The Ant
theant@globetrotters.co.uk