Due to bereavement in Christina's family, we regret to say that Texas meetings have stopped pending further notice. If you have time to spare and would like to take over Texas meetings, please contact the Beetle on: beetle@globetrotters.co.uk

From 25,000 feet the view of the Tanzanian coastline with its coral reefs, long sandy bays and azure blue sea looks like a classic glossy travel brochure. And the 15-minute drive from Mtwara airport reveals tantalising glimpses of the Indian Ocean between the exotic display of palm and baobab trees. But as we enter Mikindani village I'm looking more carefully at the scenery – for me this isn't an exotic holiday destination; this is to be my home.

I've already been advised that the first two weeks will be in 'Homestay' i.e. living with a local family, so I'm interested to see what the local homes look like. I know that I won't be staying in one of the daub and wattle huts, but in one of the old stone houses. Sounds good. But the first stone houses that we pass, although inhabited, appear to be in total ruin..?

Becky introduces me to my host, Mr Sijaona. He is a small wiry man with a purposeful stride. He welcomes me into his house. I gaze around at the crumbling walls and the total lack of comfort. But then he says in halting English that his other house is better, (two wives, therefore two houses) – so I pick up my suitcase and follow him down the dusty street.

His other house is in a rather worse state of disrepair. The ceiling of the front room is in a pile behind the door. I can't see much detail, as the inside of the house is inky black after the bright sunshine outside. He pulls aside an old piece of cloth to show me to my quarters. I have arrived.

I can't deny that during that first evening I wonder what on earth I'm doing. Waves of panic alternate with interest, and frustration. I want to ask a hundred questions; which is your wife and who are all the other girls, children and women; what are we going to eat for dinner and how is it prepared, how does the family get water, how many people live in this house,…. but I can't seem to make myself understood, or at least the answers in halting English don't match my questions. I'm clutching my 'Teach Yourself Swahili' but at this stage it might as well be 'Astrophysics for Beginners'.

By Day Four I'm beginning to make a bit more sense of my surroundings. I've wandered around the Boma and its grounds, visited a couple of schools, explored the village, the waterfront and the yacht club, but more importantly had time to watch and chat to local people. 'Chatting' takes the form of sign language, my pathetic attempts at Swahili greetings, and local people's various standards of English. Mr Sijaona and his family are being wonderfully patient and helpful. I went with him yesterday to water his garden and help him plant sweet potatoes. Yesterday morning wife number 2 (you see, I am beginning to find things out) sat with me for over an hour teaching me how to plait grasses into a tape which forms the basis of a mat. And this morning Mr Sijaona showed me how to weave a basket from palm leaves.

They are delighted to teach me these things and are willing me to absorb the Swahili they keep throwing my way. If only I could absorb it all quickly. But it's “Pole pole catchy monkey”. I'll get there!

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We are sorry to say that Mac is not very well, but he is still e-mailing strong and recently sent the Beetle a collection of travel reminiscences about Australia, camels which takes us to India and then back to Australia.

In Alice Springs Australia I stayed in an Anglican (Church) Hostel. I was pleased but surprised that they sold beer in this church hostel. Nothing wrong with this especially since it was Australia but something different. When we arrived in Alice Springs the bus driver got a broom and swept off the dust from our suitcases. I guess the Coober Pedy, where the author of article below stared his safari from was that town, that was mostly underground as it was so hot. Even the chapel or church was underground where I went to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. They dug and searched for emeralds underground. You paid a few dollars and you could dig for same.

I think maybe they planted inferior or cheap emeralds so tourist could discover them but maybe it was genuine. On our bus going to the outback there were two drivers, double springs, double air conditioning and one tub full of ice in aisle way where people put beer (it was the Holidays). We stopped at one out of the way shack and it was full of grizzled natives.

We had a British lady with us that was dressed as if she was going to a party at Buckingham Palace and she carried a dainty parasol. The grizzled natives decided they would have some fun with this British lady. They said. You know when Prince Philip was in Australia he went with a native girl. The lady replied “Good for him!” It turned out she was a journalist and had been around and could pass out the repartee too. I used the term Safari which in Africa means any kind of journey I am told, but don't know if they call them that in Australia.

I am reminded of camels. One of the reasons I did not enjoy a camel safari in Rajasthan was because we did not have an entertaining fun group of people and we did not see much except sand dunes. I am a sightseer and want to see things. Ha! It was kind of boring but another time I might have enjoyed it. I really did enjoy the cities with their castles and their colourful people in colourful garb in Rajasthan and it was kind of medieval or something. It was just that I was kind of out of sorts on that day of camel riding. Sometimes on a lengthy trip you need to stop travelling and just sleep or rest for a day or two (kind of a vacation within a vacation) and then continue on. I was trying to see all of India in one trip. I later returned two more times and by then I was more adjusted to India and really enjoyed it. I only recommend India though to people that can kind of rough it and don't get too upset by poverty. Poverty in warm countries where they have large family support does not bother me as much as poverty in cold countries. I saw a lady in Nepal sitting on the ground trying to sell six peanuts. Come to think of it, tourists were giving her money so maybe she knew what she was doing.

Back to Australia: there is an article in the January 2001 Smithsonian Magazine titled For Dromedary Trekkers in Australia's outback its Camelot in the Desert by Derek Grzelewski, photographs by Mark S Wesler. The Author had seen a sign earlier on a camel farm “For those of you who have never ridden a camel we have camels that have never been ridden before”. Here is a condensation of the rather lengthy but interesting article.

It was a 150 mile desert trek on two dozen dromedaries from Archaring Hills north of Coober Pedy toward Witjaira National Park. The camels go in single file with three weeks of provisions (swags (sleeping rolls) and 100 gallons of water). The human participants would ride only an average of two hours a day taking turns sharing the two camels that were not carrying supplies and equipment. The rest of the time they walked beside the camels. (Me/Mac speaking now: I one time took about a two hour safari on camel out of Rajasthan India. Maybe it was a half day. I had forgotten about it until I read this article. The camels and their keepers in Australia originally came from Rajasthan, India or Northern India and Pakistan. The five seasoned cameleers and eight adventurers in Australia might have been on camels that were ancestors of the camel I tried to ride.

The author describes the trip as a gentle rocking motion that one could read a book while riding. (Me, I remember my ride as mildly uncomfortable. My camel was smelly and had bad breath worse than mine. In Egypt outside Pyramids the touts will tell you if you are an American that your camels name is Coca Cola. If you are Canadian they will tell you that your camels name is Canadian Club, if German your name is Heineken. Same camel. I disliked the camel I rode in Rajasthan so much that I did not ask its name.

All I could think of was I want to get back to civilization and get a cold beer. We had no beer with us. Perhaps it was forbidden. Drunken tourists and drunken camels would have been more fun. Camels can do without water for weeks but I couldn't go a couple of hours without beer. Camels can travel 600 miles without drinking if food is succulent (plants) and the air cool. These camels and handlers (known as Afghans or simply Ghans) brought from India many years ago were used to haul supplies to remote mines and sheep stations. Also sleepers for the Transcontinental Railway and the first piano arrived in Alice Springs lashed to the hump of a camel. Between 10,000 and 20,000 were released to the desert to fend for themselves when the Ghans became unemployed and could not feed their camels. The camels thrived in the desert and doubled their population every six to ten years.

There are now as many as 40,000 out in the desert. “The once unsurpassed beast of burden became simply a beast and a burden.” Now the Australians find camel meat lean and tasty and the fur and hides are used for crafts and clothing. The author did not say how much trip cost. Mine out of Rajasthan was reasonable and I got it from one of their Government sponsored hotels in Rajasthan. Now for a quiz for my generation: was the Arab on the package of Camel cigarettes riding the camel, standing beside the camel or leading the camel? Answer: he was not sitting on the camel, standing beside the camel or leading the camel. He was behind the pyramid in the picture taking a sh_t.

Happy Camel Riding. Mac

The killing is over on Ambon, the hub of the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, in Indonesia. There is an invisible line drawn between the Christian and Muslim sectors in the City – it is still dangerous to stop on the wrong side. The burnt out churches, houses and even university buildings are reminders of the carnage that occurred a short while ago, when Ambon was likened to Beirut at its worst. “So it was a religious war?” I enquire. “Not really, more the result of political manoeuvrings. Now we have peace and democracy, but no jobs, clean streets or reliable infrastructure, the opposite of neighbouring Singapore.” Almost incredibly, fair and trouble-free elections had just been completed, much to the surprise of the incumbent president, who refused to accept defeat. “I would rather be in the hands of the Chinese army than the Indonesian”, a French photo-journalist told us later, after describing how he had to injure himself to persuade the Chinese soldiers to release him. “You won't be killed or “disappear” in their custody.”

With two friends I drove across the spine of Ambon to Hila, an old village overlooking the much larger island of Ceram, passing countless cloves and nutmegs drying in the sun on the roadside. It was hard to believe that centuries ago such spices were valued more highly than gold, with the result that the islands were a battle-ground for the colonial powers, ending when we swapped our land there for New York, after smuggling out seedlings to establish plantations in India! We hiked up a steep trail, through spice plantations, to a ridge with a spectacular view over the partially forested hillsides. Here we strove to observe two species of parrots endemic to these islands, which we could hear but not see. We returned early the following morning and were rewarded by the sight of the electric Moluccan Red Lory and the “poorly known”, to quote the bird book, but well-named Drab Honeyeater. On the drive back to the airport, we stopped to chat and photo the friendly locals, many of whom were Muslims.

The main reason for going to Ambon was to take a flight to the rarely visited Tanimbar Islands, some two hours east of Ambon. The only flights were with Merpati, whose slogan “Get the feeling” aptly described schedules in these parts as feelings were all you could rely on, with nobody outside their office in Ambon knowing when such flights would occur. Fortunately, we were able to fly to Saumlaki on Yamdena, the main island of the Tanimbars, on the desired day, a most uncomfortable experience in an ancient 22-seater. We then discovered that we could not fly to the relatively close Kai Islands as we wanted, flights having been suspended, and the flight we had “booked” back to Ambon did not run that day. As the previous day was full, we got a booking for the day after, but no tickets as the agent had gone to the airport to investigate why the plane had returned. The answer was that the pilot had felt ill and so decided to come back to Saumlaki, apparently not trusting his co-pilot to take-over.

The Tanimbars are at almost the south-eastern extremity of the 5000 km long Indonesian Archipelago, only 150 km from the coast of Australia. Unlike most of the country, the population is predominantly Christian. At the Harapan Indah, the only hotel in town, we arranged to stay at the owners' farm 21 km along the island's only road, so that we had ready access to the native forest. By the time we reached the farm, after supplies had been purchased, including a crate of beer, it was raining – the first time for 4 months so it was said. We had come here to try to see the 20 or more special birds endemic to these parts, a surprisingly high number for such a relatively small area. When the rain stopped, we set forth, amongst much bird activity, but were disappointed to find the extensive forest reported to be present by the last person we knew to have visited, some 10 years ago, had gone and only patches of logged forest remained. However, over the next 4 days we saw all the specialities, including 2 parrots, 2 thrushes and 5 flycatchers, apart from the Tanimbar Scrubfowl, sadly scarce or elusive due to hunting, and the Pied Bronze Cuckoo. Strangely, I had recorded the song of the cuckoo on the first afternoon, but never heard it again. According to the book, it parasitizes the endemic Rufous sided Gerygone, but the only bird to react to the playback of its song, on several occasions, was the Wallacean Whistler – indicating that this species is the main host for the cuckoo's eggs.

On the last afternoon, we visited the old village of Turgham. We started at the mayor's house, where a meeting of the village elders was in progress. After mutual greetings, we signed the visitors book, noting that all previous visitors of the last 2-3 years looked to be either Indonesians or Australians, the latter associated with the annual Darwin to Saumlaki boat race apparently. At a wood-carver's house we bought a number of carvings from the selection on offer by several local artists – good quality and value. We were invited to drink a glass of Soli, local spirit distilled from palm wine- highly alcoholic and surprisingly smooth. Returning to the Harapan Indah in Saumlaki, we enjoyed the air-conditioning, until ended by a power cut, and were amused to observe the staff ironing banknotes flat, perhaps to facilitate storage as even the smallest item can require a large number of notes, the exchange rate being 16, 000 Rupiah to the pound. The trappings of civilisation are a bit thin on the ground here: no mobile phone cover, internet access or shopping malls. Predictably, our flight was delayed by late arrival of the plane but this gave us chance to study the profusion of Oriental Plovers and Little Curlews on the runway – two species rarely encountered away from their wintering grounds in northern Australia. It was a shame we could not fly to Kai but we all agreed this last minute extension to our eastern Indonesia trip had been a highly rewarding and pleasant experience.

Ryanair has been fined £24,000 by a court for misleading customers over fares on its website and pressure is being placed on all airlines to give an all inclusive price. Despite this, Ryanair has said that it will continue to go against advertising authorities which insist the airline include taxes and charges when emailing customers with its latest offers. Ryanair is resisting a ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority in Ireland (ASAI) which upheld a complaint from ferry companies that Ryanair emails to subscribers failed to include taxes and charges. The matter was heard by the ASAI because the emails originated in Ireland. Ryanair was ordered to include all costs in its emails, a ruling welcomed by the ferry companies, 15 of which formed the 'Sail and Drive Campaign' which aimed to end what it claimed were misleading pricing policies from airlines. A spokesman for Ryanair defended its stance: “We have not had a single complaint from passengers, it is just a few ferry companies having a moan. These emails are not adverts, they are private correspondence with passengers and we will sue the ASAI for a breach of privacy if they persist with this matter.” Ferry companies have pledged to continue their battle against tax-exclusive fares. Hoverspeed managing director Geoffrey Ede said: “It's about time the relevant authorities took action to compel these so-called low-cost airlines to advertise the real price of travel.”

On another matter, Ryanair was recently found guilty in Chelmsford Crown Court of six breaches of the Consumer Protection Act over the price of flights advertised on its website. On six occasions, Ryanair had failed to state that prices excluded taxes and charges and was fined £24,000. However, the court ruled that the airline was not misleading customers by putting a net fare on its home page, provided it made clear charges would be added. In response, Ryanair said it welcomed the ruling. “This dates back to 2003 and for the past two years we have stated that fares exclude taxes and charges. This is a vindication of our policy,” said a spokesman.

A little while ago, we reported on a website set up to help pilots working for the Irish budget airline exchange information about their working conditions. Ryanair has now launched legal proceedings over a campaign of “harassment and intimidation” of its pilots. The British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) said the legal action was “extraordinary” and was aimed at forcing it and the Irish Airline Pilots Association to divulge the names of pilots who had sent comments to the website. Ryanair told its Dublin-based pilots in 2004 that if they do not sign new contracts tying them to the company for five years, they will not be given training on the airline's new fleet and could lose their jobs. Pilots were also told that they would have to repay the full €15,000 cost of training if they leave the airline before the five years has expired. Ryanair is planning to replace ten Boeing 737-200s, based in Ireland, with the larger and more fuel-efficient 737-800 by the end of 2005 and more than 90 pilots in Dublin require retraining.

Which countries are represented by these flags? For the answers, see at the end of the eNews.

Luckily there are many ways to go hiking over the weekend and most of them are accessible by train or bus from New York City. Possibly the most famous trail of all is the Appalachian Trail, which starts in Georgia and goes all the way up to Maine. But for day trips or a hike of a few hours, you can take a bus or train from the city.

The most popular way to get there is by train from Grand Central Station. There are two early morning trains that run on weekends only. The train will drop you off at a tiny station (Appalachian Trail station) that runs right through the trail. The walks North or South along the trail are both picturesque, but the South walk is possibly less strenuous and better for beginners. You first walk along planks through a swampy area. Then you enter a lovely forest area. Suddenly the forest ends and you are out in the open, in the middle of fields and farms. Walk along the sides of farms and you can wave hello to the cows and horses that inhabit them. The backdrop to these fields and farms are gorgeous mountains, which are especially picturesque in the autumn months when the colours of leaves change. Bring a camera as there are some lovely photo opportunities. Then cross the road and enter another forest area; but this one feels different to the last. You will see new types of plants and trees in this area. So the walk is a real feast for the senses and the trail keeps taking you through different terrain and landscapes. You can hike for either 3 hours or 5 hours before you have to get back to the tiny station for your return train to the city.

It is also possible to take the Metro North train to Cold Spring train station. There are many trails within walking distance of the train station but for the Appalachian Trail you have to go into the sports store near the station. It is one of the first stores you will see along Main Street when you leave the end of the platform. For a small fee, they provide shuttle service to the trail. It would be wise to book ahead but on weekends they have regular service for the many hikers that enjoy the area, especially in the warmer months. You are dropped off at the trail head and they pick you up at a specified time later in the day. The trains back to New York City run every hour.

Another route would be to take the bus to the Appalachian trail from Port Authority Bus Terminal (there is a bus that goes to Bear Mountain as well as to the Military Academy across the Hudson River). It is a 2-3 hour ride, but the bus leaves you right at the trail and then you have a few hours to hike before getting the bus back to New York. There are toilet facilities in Bear Mountain State Park, and also places to buy drinks or snacks. The Appalachian Trail runs directly through the park and there are also several other enjoyable trails in the area, including one around a large lake that is very picturesque.

Still another possibility is to take a bus from Port Authority to the Delaware Water Gap in Pennsylvania. The Gap is right on the border of Pennsylvania and New Jersey and the Appalachian Trail runs right through the town there too. It is a 2-3 hour ride and a short walk from the bus station through the middle of town to the trail itself. The town has a few shops and places to eat, and even trolley tours of the area (during the warm months only). Again, you can spend several hours exploring the area and hiking the trail before returning to New York City.

There is little excuse not to hike the famous trail and enjoy all the benefits of a walk in the woods. A tranquil break from the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple is always welcome.

Sun at Midnight is a book by Rosie Thomas, due to be published in July 2005 by Harper Collins. The book is based around her stay on a research station in Antarctica. We wanted to include a brief account of Rosie and her forthcoming book to give inspiration to other aspiring authors. It is only in recent years following a divorce and her children finding their own way in the world has Rosie had her life to herself. Travelling across deserts, partaking in international car rallies and scaling high mountains are so much easier without the family baggage. Once she was established as a successful writer and her children were grown, she discovered a love of travelling and mountaineering. She has climbed in the Alps and the Himalayas, competed in the Peking to Paris car rally, and spent time on a tiny Bulgarian research station in Antarctica to research this novel. Woman and Home magazine said this of Praise for SUN AT MIDNIGHT: 'This is an epic love story set against breathtaking descriptions of Antarctic waste.' Look out for it!

Link: http://www.harpercollins.com/