Answers to: So You Think You’re Well Travelled?
0 out of 5 – you need to get out more!
1-3 – not bad
4 – very good! You are a Globetrotter!
5 – are you sure you didn’t sneak a look?
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Country |
Description |
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1. |
2,238,480 (1999) |
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2. |
535,461 (2000) |
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3. |
450,865 (2000) |
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4. |
255,179 (2000) |
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5. |
236,313 (1999) |
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6. |
233,517 (2000) |
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7. |
141,124 (2000) |
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8. |
116,912 (2000) |
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9. |
106,484 (2000) |
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10. |
93,062 (2000) |
Source:
A US appeals court ruled that an airline that forced an elderly woman to check a bag with her medical devices must bear responsibility for her subsequent death after losing the bag. A lower court ruled in 2002 that Americans Airlines parent company AMR and BWIA International Airways should pay USD$226,238.81 to Caroline Neischer's relatives because she died soon after her bag was lost. Mrs Neischer’s said it was the first case of its kind. “The significance of the case is that never before has an airline been held liable for the death of a passenger caused by delayed or missing baggage.” Mrs Neischer, who spent most of her life in her native Guyana, died at age 75 after flying from Los Angeles to Guyana in 1997. After Mrs Neischer transferred from an American Airlines flight in New York, a ground agent forced her to check a bag that contained a breathing device to treat her respiratory problems. The agent promised she would be given the bag immediately upon arriving in Guyana. However, the bag was lost and Neischer died days later.
In a forest. In a bee suit. In the middle of Tanzania. 100 miles away from Mikindani. With Tony Herbert’s reputation. Most contrapuntal by anyone’s standards but after spending five days with our beekeeping mentor we knew better than to be surprised by such a situation. Our quest to obtain two stocks of bees had started on Tony’s arrival on the Saturday but this particular episode had begun at 5am that very morning.
The objective of our trip to Masasi, a settlement known for its history of beekeeping, was to purchase two hives and colonies of bees to get the apiary up and flying. With six of us packed tightly into the Land Rover we set off West with the sun on our backs basking in the ever more magnificent African sunrise. After breakfast at Mnazi Mmoja (literally translates as “coconut one” but why, no one seems to know) we reached the Regional Resources Office in Masasi at about half past ten following another particularly bruising journey on the roads of Tanzania. After being promised a meeting with the regional beekeeping liaison you can imagine our surprise to find out he had left the office not more than half an hour prior to our arrival. Needless to say, his phone was either turned off or more likely, out of signal. Had our quest for the holy pair of hives been scuppered by the absence of one man?!
Despite this set back, we were offered a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel by a man named Rodney, the temporary liaison for Natural Sciences in the Masasi district. He knew of a small village called Lipupu, around 50 miles beyond Masasi that was notorious for its beekeeping activities. It was a long shot but with Tony on board we knew that anything was possible and so the decision was made to press on.
Sure enough, faith has its rewards. We found it without any problems and were pointed straight towards the village beekeeper’s house, signified by the array of unused bee hives and interesting looking logs suspended outside his house. One problem… occupant was nowhere to be seen. We were ushered in to the woods by a group of locals keen to show us the hives kept by the owner of the intriguing house and were promised that he was not too far away and that he only left about half an hour ago. Despite being sure that we had heard those words before that day we set off in to the middle of nowhere to investigate the bees that we had been promised. We could not believe our luck when the owner of the hives appeared from within the bush and after many furrowed brows, tense looks and careful negotiation we purchased our two colonies of Apis Mellifera Scutellata, the African honey bee, to be complemented by a further two log hives worth of sting less bees. After all the setbacks of the day we felt we has earned our luck in finding this beecon (sic.) of beekeeping in an otherwise uninhabited part of Tanzania. So, as we set of widdershins, driving in to the rain, spirits were through the roof. The smile on Tony’s face produced by this accomplishment never disappeared for the rest his stay and it really was the culmination of a tiring but wonderfully productive and enjoyable week. For this we will be eternally grateful for the hard work and never ending enthusiasm of one man. Thank you Tony.
Find the answers
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1. Argentina |
2. Bosnia- Herzegovina |
3. Cook Islands |
4. Estonia |
5. Honduras |
Volunteers wanted for projects worldwide.
Nomad Travel Store is now seeking voluntary doctors and nurses for our charity clinic in India. The clinic is based on Karmi Farm in the foothills of the Himalayas on the border of Sikkim. We have spaces throughout 2005. If you would like more information please contact Cathy on: cathy@nomadtravel.co.uk The website of Karmi Farm Guesthouse is: www.karmifarm.com
We're running a trek up Kili in conjunction with Cancer Research next spring and are looking for a doctor and a nurse (or two doctors) to accompany the trek (12-20 Feb 2005). Do you know a suitable doctor who might be interested (and fit enough). They would travel free of charge. Please e-mail: markw@adventurecompany.co.uk or see: http:\www.adventurecompany.co.uk
Help Argentina is a unique non-profit organization that works in conjunction with hundreds of other non-profit and social development organizations with the aim of strengthening the social sector as a whole. Most of the work will be done in the field working with beneficiary organizations, conducting surveys, delivering supplies, etc. Work place and hours are flexible. mpazmm@HelpArgentina.org
CIPPEC is a non-governmental organization working to promote equality and growth in Argentina. CIPPEC aims to make public institutions stronger, to make opportunities equal for everyone and to better the social situation for all Argentineans. Volunteers can work on a range of projects. Volunteers will work for four hours a day. vweyrauch@cippec.org
The Inca Porter Project is looking for long term volunteers with fluent Spanish to staff their new training and drop-in centre. If you are interested, please see: http://www.peruweb.org/porters/
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Spanish police are targeting tourist resorts in a crackdown on holidaymakers who drink and drive. Until this summer, penalties for drink-driving applied only to full-time residents with tourists being let off with a caution and a small fine. But now visitors who commit the offence will face fines of up to £5,000 and a three-year ban from driving in Spain. Those involved in accidents resulting in the death or injury of others will be jailed. Despite its modern road system, Spain has one of Europe's worst safety records, with one person killed or injured every 11 minutes.
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If you have a travellers tale that your aching to tell. Then why not visit the “Travel Sized Bites” section of the Website and share it with the world. Travel Sized Bites
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There was no New York meeting in October, but we will resume in November – Subject will be Tibet by Ken Axen!
For details of forthcoming meetings email newyork@globetrotters.co.uk or register for email updates, click here at our website.
New York meetings are held at The Wings Theatre, 154 Christopher Street (btw Greenwich St and Washington St ), to the right of Crunch Fitness, in the Archive on the first Saturday of each month at 4 pm. Admission: $8.00 for members and $10.00 for non-members.
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Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson has signed a £14m agreement which will allow passengers to travel into space. Branson has commissioned five “spaceliners” built in the US by the team behind the SpaceShipOne vehicle. The rocket plane will became the first privately developed carrier to go above 100km in June 2005. It will cost around £100,000 to go on a “Virgin Galactic” spaceliner, and the first flights should begin in about three years' time.
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Back in January 2004 Martin Wright, one the club’s most sociable regulars at the London Meetings, royally entertained a packed Crown Court with tales of his marathon cycle ride to Australia! Many in that audience will remember his great photos, distinctive narrative style and his thirst for adventure. Well Martin is at it again – this time he’s go back to the land down under to ‘pick up his bike and have a look round’. I think too many cold winter nights provided the motivation to get back on the road! This is the second in an occasional series, based on Martin’s emails, and charts his offbeat approach to the road ahead.
21st June: Arrived in DENMARK early this afternoon after a great few days of cycling to reach here. Even with the bloody wind in my face it was still enjoyable. Less traffic and big bloody road trains to deal with and of course less of the grey ghosts towing their bloody caravans! At any caravan park you are likely to see grey ghosts arriving during the course of the day and some of them are a real source of amusement. Most of them cannot reverse their caravan into a bay so drive around the park looking for a way to drive in – sometimes they have to get other people to move vehicles or get another driver to reverse the caravan for them! I think anybody towing a bloody caravan should take a driving test to prove they can reverse into a space. If they can't do it they should f*** off around Australia on a bus or better still stay at home… My bicycle is in good shape now I’ve had a few minor repairs completed. Should be in Perth in about in about one week and will write again from there…
20th July: Have finished with the south west corner and am now heading along the west coast. Am at present in Kalbarri, a small town about 500kms north of Perth but will have to get a move on now as I will need to be in Darwin by mid September as my visa will be at an end and I will need to fly up for a renewal. I spent far longer in the south west corner of the country than I intended – the weather was not at all good but the area is so beautiful I stayed an extra day almost everywhere I visited. The big tree country around Walpole is breathtaking – I visited the tree top walk which gives a real idea of just how big these bloody trees are. At Pemberton I climbed the Gloucester Tree, which is used as a lookout for bushfires and at 61 metres above ground you can see for miles! Don't climb it if you are afraid of heights as one or two people went about 10 metres up, became stuck and it took a while to bring them back down. Nannup was wonderful and I stayed at the 'black cockatoo' backpackers which was run by an interesting man whose fridge told his story… It was here I met the three young ladies who teased me somewhat and left me very frustrated. Visited Augusta for a spot of whale watching which was breathtaking and tried to hook a few but the line kept on snapping…
1st August: Reached sunny Exmouth on Friday. The journey up to Carnarvon and on to Exmouth was delayed by unseasonal heavy rainfall, which left me with a few short days of cycling. As a result I had to camp wild or stay at rest bays, which were usually full of caravaners but I did meet a few interesting and generous people along the way. On arriving at Nerren Nerren rest bay I was approached by an Aussie man, John, who presented me with a can of whisky and coke. After putting up my tent John called me over to sit under his caravan awning where I was given another drink as we chatted about Aussie rules football or aerial ping pong as I prefer to call it. The next course of cheese and biscuits along with nibbles and dips ensured we then got on to talking about cricket, whilst soon after John’s wife Heidi appeared and presented us both with steak, sausages, vegetables and mashed potatoes; totally delicious! Somewhat better than the two day old sausage sandwiches I was going to eat…
The following day I was held up by rain yet again and was plied with coffee from a 72 year old lady who has been travelling around Australia for the last five years with her pet shitzui. For the next couple of days this lady passed me on the road and at the next rest stop would pull up and have a cup of tea ready for when I arrived.
I finally arrived in Carnarvon last Sunday and found that the roads were flooded in places and I had to wade through 18 inches of water. At the caravan park I met a Dutch couple and together we visited the pub for a few beers – luckily they served Guinness, which was a welcome relief from the Aussie beer. The ride onwards from Carnarvon was again interesting! I’d camped in the bush one night and was woken first by a truck pulling up at around midnight. Soon after I was woken by voices and a torch shining on my tent – after this there were no more disturbances but I did not sleep at all well!
Visited Coral Bay, a beautiful beach resort but the caravan park was expensive and noisy.
The next day took me to the very flat and uninteresting countryside of Exmouth, which is thankfully surrounded on 2 sides by the Gulf of Exmouth and the Indian Ocean. On the ocean side is the CapeRangeNational Park and the Ningaloo Reef. Yesterday I took a bus to Turquoise bay and hired a snorkel, mask & flippers and visited the underwater wonderland. I saw a variety of colourful fish - some big, some small and some which frightened the living daylights out of me! I saw a turtle, a manta ray and a bloody great big leopard shark – indeed I spent far more time swimming than I realised and a great day was topped off by sunburn on my back.
Another rest day today and then tomorrow I am heading back to the highway and on to Karratha, which I hope to reach by next weekend. Should have more news by then…
Which countries are represented by these flags? For the answers, see at the end of the eNews.
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News comes from SE Asia that some airline ticket have fallen below the cost of bus fares, with a one-way ticket between Singapore and the Thai resort of Phuket advertised for as little as 29 Singapore cents. No-frills airline Thai AirAsia offered one-way flights between Singapore and Phuket at 29 Singapore cents (17 US cents) for the first 3,000 seats. The price did not include taxes and fees of about SGD$61 for insurance, a fuel surcharge and airport taxes. (Sound like Ryanair?) The tickets were snapped up within 2 days. Tiger Airways, a venture between Singapore Airlines and the founder of our friends Ryanair, started the price war last month with one-way SGD$1 fares to Thailand for a limited period, which when added to taxes and fees amounted to SGD$62. Singapore Airlines is offering return fares between Singapore and Bangkok ranging from SGD$178 to SGD$268 each compared with its normal ticket price of SGD$358.
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The winner of last month's Moon Guidebook on Peru is: Jane Thomas congratulations!
This month, win a Moon guidebook on Acadia National Park. See www.moon.com for info on Moon guide books.
Some people have said the quiz is difficult, we say do some research: try google.com or Ask Jeeves, if you need help with the answers.
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For information on Ontario meetings, please contact Svatka Hermanek: shermanek@schulich.yorku.ca or Bruce Weber: tel. 416-203-0911 or Paul Webb: tel. 416-694-8259.
Meetings are held on the third Friday of January, March, May, September and November. Usually at the Woodsworth Co-op, Penthouse, 133, Wilton Street in downtown Toronto at 8.00 p.m.
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Work on a tunnel and rail system under the Bosporus Strait connecting Europe and Asia in has just started in Istanbul. The tunnel will be 13.7 kilometres long, (8.5 mile) tunnel and 1,400 meters of the tunnel will be underwater. The Bosporus Strait, a 32 km waterway connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, separating European Turkey from Asian Turkey. It bisects Istanbul as it flows by historic Ottoman castles, mosques and parkland. The tunnel will become the third link between the city's European and Asian sides.
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When Tanganyika – as it was then – gained its independence it was praised for the devotion and priority it gave to education. Its then president, Julius Nyerere was known as Mlimu (teacher) and 40% of GDP was devoted to teaching. Things have changed with the passing of years and now Tanzania spends the least of all sub-Saharan countries on primary education.
The provision of all levels of education is woeful and unfortunately wealth and geography all too often act as a barrier. The standards of teaching are on the whole terrible as the teachers are poorly educated, trained and motivated as a result of extremely low salaries. This is exacerbated by a lack of teaching resources, textbooks and classrooms, laboratories and other facilities. For example only one school in Mikindani has an adequate, year round water supply. As a result of all of this the levels of education achieved are very low.
Mikindani as a political entity is made up of five ‘wards’ each of which has its own primary school. These are in theory free but actually are not. The nearest secondary schools are in Mtwara city, one of which is a fee paying state school and there are also several private schools with higher fees and lower entry requirements. The catchment areas for theses schools are huge and the number of places available are very few in relation to the number of potential pupils. As a result of these factors and poverty not all children go to primary school and very few go to secondary school or beyond.
To try and rectify this there are three separate charities working in Mikindani and co-operating under the umbrella of the Mikindani Education Group (MEG). These are the Danish Schools Project (DSP), EdUKaid and Trade Aid – partly via its Gender Equality Project (GEP). Trade Aid has always supported the three main primary schools in Mikindani by volunteers teaching, the tree nursery and other projects.
Beyond this MEG is responsible for the sponsorship of individual pupils and supporting the schools directly. Primary school sponsors are asked to pay to provide essential items for pupils to go to school as well as providing building funds, resources etc for the schools. DSP have sponsored pupils and the primary schools of Mnaida, Singino and Mchuchu for several years. EdUKaid have just started supporting the outlying wards of Lwelu and Mitengo and their respective primary schools.
The cost of sending a child to secondary school is relatively high and so the three MEG members are also addressing this by paying for fees, desks, uniforms, transport, books etc. All have come from different viewpoints but the result is that all graduates from the Mikindani schools are guaranteed a place at secondary school. EdUKaid are responsible for all pupils from Lwelu and Mitengo, Trade Aid’s GEP deals with all female graduates from the three Mikindani schools whilst DSP deals with all the boys from there. Confusing with so many acronyms but it works fine on the ground under the stewardship of Mr Namadengwa, a teacher from Mikindani who acts as liaison and general worker for the MEG members.
We are still a long way from our respective aims but the benefits are already being felt and the gratitude of the pupils reflects this. If you would like any more information or are interested in sponsorship please contact us at the following:
Country Statistics
| Rank | Country | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | South Africa | 0.74 per 1000 people |
| 2. | Colombia | 0.52 per 1000 people |
| 3. | Thailand | 0.31 per 1000 people |
| 4. | Zimbabwe | 0.04 per 1000 people |
| 5. | Mexico | 0.03 per 1000 people |
| 6. | Costa Rica | 0.03 per 1000 people |
| 7. | Belarus | 0.03 per 1000 people |
| 8. | United States | 0.02 per 1000 people |
| 9. | Uruguay | 0.02 per 1000 people |
| 10. | Lithuania | 0.02 per 1000 people |
Source: www.nationmaster.com
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What's your score?
0 out of 5 – you need to get out more!
1-3 – not bad
4 – very good! You are a Globetrotter!
5 – are you sure you didn’t sneak a look?
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We don’t have any information for upcoming meetings, but if you would like to attend a New Braunfels Globetrotters meeting, or obtain information about the Texas Branch: please contact texas@globetrotters.co.uk or register for email updates at our website (click here) or call Christina at 830-620-5482
If anybody would like to enquire about meetings or help Christina, please contact her on: texas@globetrotters.co.uk
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Paperless and ticketless bookings made more attractive by incentives, discounts and offers of air miles are fast becoming the way to travel. Airlines are planning to stop issuing paper tickets in the next three years, a move that could save the industry up to $3 billion a year in running costs, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Some carriers are already ahead of the game: In the past year, more than 18 million customers have used e-ticketing services on Continental Airlines. The move isn’t limited to airlines, hotel chains such as the Hilton, InterContinental, Sheraton, and Hyatt, are starting to automate processes too. In Malaysia, you can make air ticket enquiries by SMS to a travel agent and in the case of budget carrier AirAsia you can book tickets by SMS.
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Sally left the UK around two years ago to start a new life in Portugal. She lives in a suburb of Lisbon, close to the sea and is now a TEFL teacher, teaching English to Portuguese children and adults. So, if you are interested in a career in teaching English as a foreign language, here is an account of some of her work.
My children are still the same except one has now gone up a class so I am left with three – to be honest if I could shed this class I would, as it is not as enjoyable as teaching grown ups due to the fact that Portuguese children are not taught to read or write before the age of six – so, in a way I baby sit them twice a week. We are making slow progress as Jorge (the four year old) tends to be disruptive when he is with one of the girls but fine with the other one! I had to send him out of class to sit with the receptionist one week because he was so naughty.
Nuno, my other student, is still great fun. His English has come on in leaps and bounds and he now proudly displays a sign in the front of the taxi he drives on Sundays in Lisbon, to say he speaks English. He loves it when he gets an English passenger – he had one from Birmingham last Sunday so he had great fun chatting to him. He is a Sporting Lisbon fan and very knowledgeable about them. He is also very interesting and told me all about his upbringing in Cacem. Cacem is not a very pretty place – mainly high rise flats and a lot of black people (I am not being politically incorrect – this is what they are called here). He remembers it before all of this and is quite upset about the way it has become. He lives in what was his parents’ flat (they died a few years ago) with his wife. He went to university in Lisbon and did what all students did, i.e. drink and behave badly but still managed to pass his exams. He is a strong family man and found Christmas quite trying and he still misses his parents and says although Christmas was at his aunts, it was not the same. He is also very interesting about his childhood, playing in the cul-de-sac with his friends but says that he has lost quite a few to drink or drugs which has made him sad. He is about 29/30 and still out of work although he has had loads of interviews – very like the UK, half the time he never gets a reply to either application or a reason for not getting a position.
I have also got two/three other students. One, Senor Manuel, is a Graphic Designer who is going on a cruise on 21 March so needs some English to get by on it. He has French and reckons he had no English but as usual he understands quite a bit. We are getting on quite well and I think he will manage OK. The other one/two is the husband of the Ambassador for a Caribbean country, and his daughter. Both are lovely. He has decided that he has to get his English sorted because his best friends over here are the UK Ambassador and the US Ambassador. He is making swift progress. His daughter just needs help with the reading and writing. I teach the pair of them for two hours on a Saturday morning.
My Portuguese is coming along and I find that watching the TV helps. Television is still dire but I am now slowly watching bits and pieces of Portuguese TV. I got hooked on their version of Who wants to be a Millionaire – very entertaining as the presenter often gives them a clue! I have been trying one of their telenovelas (soap operas) but it was so atrocious (think the UK’s Crossroads but worse acting and wobbly scenery) that I had to turn it off. I am also getting much better at understanding the news. Last week there was a wonderful piece on at lunchtime about a group of OAPS who had raided a disco in Abrantes (Pego Power Station) dressed up in glitter wigs, men dressed in drag etc etc to protest that dancing was for all ages and not just the young! Some of the old men had grabbed very young, nubile young ladies and were swinging them round the dance floor much to their horror. Good on ’em I say. Great footage too of all the snow that has hit the north of the country and brought parts of it to a standstill. Lorries trapped at the Spanish border, people stuck in cars for seven hours etc etc.
If you would like to ask Sally any questions about living in Portugal or teaching English as a foreign language, Sally can be contacted on: pethybs@hotmail.com
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