Time Zone: CDT (GMT -5)

Airport Code: ORD

Customer service number: 800 832-6352

Distance from city: 18 miles (29km)

Terminal 1 is for United and United Express flights plus Lufthansa departures.

Terminal 2 airlines include Air Canada, America West, Continental, Northwest, United and US Airways.

Terminal 3 airlines include Alaska, American and Delta.

Terminal 5 is the international terminal for most non-US airline departures and all international arrivals

Chicago O Hare is named after Lieutenant Edward O'Hare who was a military hero, and flew planes in the Navy during WW2. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1942.

The largest US troop and cargo carrying airplane, the Douglas C-54, was built at a factory on the site and the base, known then as Orchard Field, which was almost entirely then used by the military. When the war ended, Chicago’s city Municipal Airport, later to become Midway Chicago quickly established itself as the world's busiest civil aviation operation. A far-sighted City Council saw the potential for air travel and decided a second major facility would be needed so in 1946 they bought Orchard Field from the US government together with another 7,000 acres next door. Three years later $2.4 million was spent on acquiring more land and Orchard Field was re-named in honour of O'Hare.

The airport was already busy before it was officially opened to domestic commercial flights in 1955, but Midway was still the star attraction until 1962 when all scheduled operations were transferred from Midway to O'Hare. When the airport was officially dedicated the following year, President John F. Kennedy said, “it could be classed as one of the wonders of the modern world”. He was right in one sense because O'Hare preserved its title as 'World's Busiest' for over 30 years until it was overtaken by Atlanta in 1998.

Source: http://www.airwise.com/

Iris is a British lady of considerable character and pluck, on a 23 week overland expedition from Quito in Ecuador to Caracas in Venezuela. After this, she plans to do a 3-month voluntary placement in Ecuador, and then visit Central America for another overland trip between Panama City and Mexico City, ending up with perhaps another 2-month voluntary placement somewhere in South America again. This amazing journey will take Iris one year. Here is an extract from Iris’ journey notebook.

30^th November: The Journey to Cuenca

I sent my last emails from Baños, was there 3 days and it was a lovely little town but, as I say, that volcano was brooding over it, which made things a little scary! One of our number said he had read there are evacuation arrows in the streets showing the population the way to run should there be an eruption but he couldn't find them which rather concerned him! But we evacuated from Baños without any trouble, but my, what a journey we had to Cuenca – right through the Andes at a minimum of 2,000 metres, sometimes going up to well over 3,000 metres. Everywhere – mountains that seemed to be almost piled one on top of the other, with the occasional narrow valley plummeting down to the depths with hamlets nestled in them. Scary at times as the road was just cut out of the mountainsides and there were some really incredible hair pin bends – looking over the side I was thankful we were going so slowly with no danger of going over the edge because we would have all been killed if we had crashed over the side – probably drops of at least 300 – 1,000m in places with nothing but rock to fall on!

We saw lots of local people – mostly shepherds in the traditional Andean garb of trilby hat, colourful (often red) shawls and brightly coloured skirts, minding their sheep, goats, donkeys, pigs, cattle or llamas. Unfortunately, the cloud was low and obscured what must have been some very fine views but every so often the scene (rather than the sky) would clear and we would see some awesome sights – steaming volcanoes, two or three of them in a line; sheer precipices and steep mountains with their tops obscured in cloud.

We left Baños at 0745 (yours truly being the last on the bus, not because I got up late, I was up at 0500 exercising and showering but the restaurant which was supposed to open at 0600 was later opening and then the girl who waited on table had to run off to the baker's to get bread. But by the time we were all breakfasted (and some rolled in in the early hours of the morning so had no breakfast as they were suffering from hangovers) and I had collected my belongings and finished my ablutions (the obligatory cleaning of teeth), I turned out to be the last on the bus!

We then made our way slowly out of Baños to Cuenca some 366 kms to the south but the terrain, coupled with the weight in our bus – full water tanks as well as petrol tanks, and with two drivers and 22 people aboard with all their luggage – we made slow progress up hills and all sorts of vehicles were continuously overtaking us. We were ok on the straights and downhills but on the downhill had to go slowly again because of the weight being hurled down steep inclines and having to negotiate some hair-raising bends.

We stopped for lunch on the roadside – our leaders/drivers (Heather and Martin) had bought local produce at the market in Baños and so we helped prepare a lunch of salad (lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, radishes, avocado pear, onions) and rolls, butter, ham and cheese for us all. We go through an elaborate process of disinfecting our hands, using a spray disinfectant after using the toilet and then washing our hands again in disinfectant water and rinsing them again in disinfectant water and shaking them rather than wiping them dry. All table surfaces and pots and pans are sterilised and then work begins at cutting up and buttering and putting things on plates and in bowls on long trestle tables and canvas stools are put out for us all to sit on. Meanwhile, the local dogs congregate, sniffing out the food and looking longingly at us, as are the local shepherd population.

In the site where we were there were a couple of shepherds (women) with their children, and their donkeys and pigs. The children were wide-eyed but rather suspicious urchins (suspicious of us) and refused all requests to have their photos taken, but hanging around watching these strange tourists in their shorts and long trousers preparing food they could only dream about. We didn't encourage the dogs with any scraps and we certainly did not stroke any of them (dirty little mutts), but they all seemed innocent enough and quiet if not friendly, but after we had all finished eating, the food over was handed out to the shepherds and their children in the form of ham and cheese and salad rolls, and bags of lettuce and tomatoes, and for the pigs, all the swill resulting from the lettuce and other vegetables used in the salad. So everyone benefited, even the local hospice (just a dirty brick building with a small shop and rather disgusting loos but at least we were able to use them and rinse our hands under the tap, hence the strict regime of disinfecting our hands every time we used the loos when we stopped.

At one stage, we experienced the necessity of relieving ourselves without the aid of modern conveniences. The men went one way in a small wooded area and the women went the other. It is at times like these one wishes one was a man and could just open our flies without having to strip ourselves half naked and crouch in the undergrowth. Of course, yours truly had to choose a place with some rather long stems of grass, which tickled my posterior regions as I crouched so I made a rather ungainly spectacle of myself jumping around every time something touched me in a rather intimate place! Then the ceremony of the trowel – burying the tissue we used in the ground so that we didn't pollute the local area of scenic beauty! I am sure this is going to be the first of many occasions when we will need to wander off, trowel in hand, to seek out similar places for similar purposes.

If you’d like to contact Iris, whether to wish her luck with her trip or to ask questions about her itinerary and places visited, I am sure she would like to hear from you. She can be contacted on: irisej2002@yahoo.co.uk

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Submitted by Frank from the US. Actual comments from US travel agents:

A woman called and asked, “Do airlines put your physical description on your bag so they know whose luggage belongs to who?” I said, “No, why do you ask?” She replied, “Well, when I checked in with the airline, they put a tag on my luggage that said FAT, and I'm overweight, is there any connection?” After putting her on hold for a minute while I looked into it” (I was actually laughing) I came back and explained the city code for Fresno is FAT, and that the airline was just putting a destination tag on her luggage.

I just got off the phone with a man who asked, “How do I know which plane to get in?” I asked him what exactly he meant, which he replied, “I was told my flight number is 823, but none of these darn planes have numbers on them.”

A woman called and said, “I need to fly to Pepsi-Cola on one of those computer planes.” I asked if she meant to fly to Pensacola on a commuter plane. She said, “Yeah, whatever.”

A businessman called and had a question about the documents he needed in order to fly to China. After a lengthy discussion about passports, I reminded him he needed a visa. “Oh no I don't, I've been to China many times and never had to have one of those.” I double-checked and sure enough, his stay required a visa. When I told him this he said, “Look, I've been to China four times and every time they have accepted my American Express.”

A woman called to make reservations; “I want to go from Chicago to Hippopotamus, New York.” The agent was at a loss for words. Finally, the agent said, “Are you sure that's the name of the town?” “Yes, what flights do you have?” replied the customer. After so me searching, the agent came back with, “I'm sorry, ma'am, I've looked up every airport code in the country and can't find a Hippopotamus anywhere.” The customer retorted, “Oh don't be silly, everyone knows where it is. Check your map!” The agent scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, “You don't mean Buffalo, do you?” “That's it! I knew it was a big animal!”

It has certainly been an interesting month here in Mikindani, and also in Dar es Salaam. One of Trade Aid’s new ideas for Mikindani is to start up a local group who can produce Batik T-shirts. But what is this I hear you ask. Batik T-shirt printing is the dying of a T-shirt with certain areas left undyed, this enables you to produce a variety of patterns.

It was at the beginning of December that the journey up to Dar began, at the oh so sociable hour of four o’clock in the morning. After a back breaking sixteen hours in one of the Trade Aid Landrovers, being bounced and battered along a Tanzanian “road” we finally arrived in Dar Es Salaam, oh what a relief. After a day to settle in, and make extensive use of the bar and air conditioning at the Seaman’s mission [where we were staying] it was down to work. My brief was to look into the process of Batik T-shirt production, and to see if it would be feasible in Mikindani.

The Batik T-shirt printing takes place in an indoor market/shopping centre where the products are also sold. There I met the head of the organisation that prints the T-shirts and the head of production, who oversees the entire process.

The process begins when the parts of the T-shirt that are not to the dyed are covered in a special sort of wax. This can be applied through two methods, either using a brush or a wooden print. As far as Mikindani and the Boma is concerned it is my opinion that the print method would be the best, as it would produce work for the local carpenters.

Once the wax has been applied and dried the T-shirt is then dyed. A mixture of hot and cold water (17 litres) dye, caustic soda and sodium powder are then mixed together in a stone bath. The T-shirt is then repeatedly lifted in and out of this mixture until the dye has fully soaked into the material. After which it is then taken out of the water and hung to dry. The wax then has to be removed; this is done by placing the T-shirt into a vat of boiling water, where it is then stirred around until all of the wax has been removed. The T-shirt is then finished and can either be worn, or more colours can be applied by using the wax to cover the previous dyed areas and any areas that need to be left clear. This should certainly prove to be something that Trade Aid and the Boma can make good use of, and it should also benefit the local groups who can get involved.

For more information on the work carried out by Trade Aid in Tanzania, see their website www.mikindani.com

Anna and Magda wrote in asking for help with voluntary placements in Australia: we are two girls living in Germany, age 19, just finished our A-levels (Advanced school leaving certificate). Our reason for writing is, that we would like to do a voluntary practical year in Australia. WE would be very grateful if you could give us further help in this. Best regards Anna and Magda.

The Beetle responds: As you are both under 30, you are most likely eligible to apply for a working visa in Australia. So maybe if you contact the Australian embassy in your country, they can advise you about this. Roughly speaking, you are not allowed to do a “professional” job, so you are only allowed to do casual work such as potato, fruit picking or short term work. No one piece of work can be over 3 months either.

The Beetle suggests that you search on the internet using the words “voluntary work Australia”. This is a good site to start with: Volunteer Search in addition, the April 2002 Globetrotter e-newsletter 2002 had an article by conservationvolunteers email conservationvolunteers about conservation volunteer opportunities. There’s also always the WWOOF organisation, see: Wwoofing, which caters for people who want to work on organic farms. There’s also:

Working Holiday MakersAustralian Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs.

ATCV (Australian Trust for Conservation Volunteers) accepts Australian and foreign volunteers for a wide range of conservation projects throughout Australia.

Australian Jobs Guide by Nomads World features visa information, job packages, agencies and a harvest guide for fruit picking/harvest work.

Diving in Australia has an employment database.

Pelican Point Windsurfing in W. Australia has employment opportunities for instructors.

The Cape Tribulation Tropical Research Station accepts volunteers for conservation projects.

Travel Jobs Network, a service for Australian and New Zealand job seekers.

TNT Magazine has an excellent section on finding temporary work in Australia.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Beetle received an e-mail from the parent of a college student, studying in L.A. They wanted to know where their daughter and two friends could go on an inexpensive package for their spring break April 12-18, 2003. Hawaii maybe?

The Beetle agreed that Hawaii, (but not Oahu – which can be a little touristy and expensive, when the other islands have far more to offer) would be a great option. It is possible to buy reasonably priced fly drive holidays around the Hawaiian islands, where our reader’s daughter and friends could share a room at a very nice hotel at a good price. With only 6 days, I would recommend either the Big Island alone or alternatively split between Kauai and the Big Island. If a car and swish hotel is too expensive, then it is possible to find moderately priced accommodation on the Big Island, so this should cut the cost, but a car is definitely a must!

Coming up: Saturday 1st March

Seeds of Peace is concerned with sowing the seeds of peace among children who have grown up with the horror of war. They will be back for an encore presentation, following their first visit to the New York branch of the Globetrotters Club on January 4, 2003.

Speaking will be: Jeremy Goldberg and Rebecca Hankin of Seeds of Peace, an organization that provides an opportunity for the children of war to plant the seeds for a more secure future. The program focuses on Arab and Israeli teenagers from ten nations in the Middle East but has also brought youngsters from Cyprus, the war-torn Balkans, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other regions of conflict to its unique coexistence program. Seeds of Peace has been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, Time Magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, The Wall Street Journal, People Magazine and on ABC, CBS & NBC network programs, including “Nightline” (twice) with Ted Koppel, “60 Minutes” with Morley Safer, “Sunday Morning,” “The Today Show,” “Good Morning America” and on CNN, PBS and NPR. Jeremy Goldberg is the Director of Corporate Relations at Seeds of Peace, Mr. Goldberg's experience includes time spent on Capitol Hill, as well as at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington, DC-based think tank. He is also the founder and former editor-in-chief of the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, a nationally distributed foreign affairs publication. Jeremy is an honors graduate of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Rebecca Hankin is currently Director of Media Relations at Seeds of Peace, a position she has held since April 2002. Since its founding, Seeds of Peace has graduated over 2,000 teenagers representing 22 nations from its internationally recognized conflict-resolution program.

For details of forthcoming meetings email newyork@globetrotters.co.uk or register for email updates at click here at our website.

New York meetings are held at The Wings Theater, 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.

Today we will visit Durban which is a city situated on the east coast of South Africa. It has a sub tropical climate opposed to that of Cape Town, which is Mediterranean.

What has Durban to offer the tourist or visitor? Along the beach front are many hotels and blocks of holiday flats. This area is called the Golden Mile.

Hotels on the beachfront have magnificent views over Durban Bay and the Bluff to south. Along Durban's beaches jetties have been built out into the sea. They have the effect of turning the long golden beaches into small bays, which can be protected by lifeguards during the holiday seasons.

Durban is well known for its sharks. All the beaches are protected by shark nets that have been installed about 300 metres off shore on the outside of the breaker line. It is very interesting to watch the Natal Sharks Board out in the bay each morning tending the nets and removing any fish that have become entangled during the night. If they are still alive they are released otherwise they are taken to the shark boards offices to the north of Durban where they are dissected for research purposes.

The “ Golden mile” is always a hive of activity with the many restaurants, pubs and bars to be visited. At night many people come down to the beaches to relax and enjoy the atmosphere or just to party.

Durban is also famous for it Rikshas. A Riksha for those who don't know is and African man who wears a very fancy head dress made of beads and cows horns and bits and pieces of cheap jewellery and feathers and other odds and ends. The Riksha also has a cart with two large wheels and a seat where two adults or three kids can fit into. For a small fee you will be taken for a ride along the beachfront with this man wearing his head dress pulling the cart. The ride can get quite exciting when the riksha picks up a bit of speed and leaps into the air balancing his weight and yours like a seesaw. When he does this without warning the passengers are thrown backwards and think they are going to fall out the back of his cart. Not to worry! There is a small jockey wheel at the back that stops the cart falling over and you falling out.

There are many other things to do in Durban other than just swimming and tanning. Although most of the action takes place along the beachfront there are other areas where there is much to do. The two main roads in Durban are Smith Street and West Street. Both of them are one way only with West Street going towards the beach and Smith away from the beach.

The main shopping areas of Durban are found along these streets.

There are also many sports facilities with the main arenas being Kingsmead for cricket and the Shark Tank for rugby.

Most people will have heard of the Comrades marathon. This marathon is run between Durban and Pietermaritzburg each year, one year up and the other year down. It is a gruelling race that is normally run in hot weather and it attracts 1000's of people. The race is 89 kilometres long and follows the old road between Pietermaritzburg and Durban. The next Comrades Marathon will be held on the 16th of June 2003 and will be the down run i.e. Pietermaritzburg to Durban.

The scenery between Pietermaritzburg and Durban is beautiful. The old road wends its way through the valley of a thousand hills. As far as one can see there are just hills. Vegetation is lush and if the province has received rain very green. In Pinetown a small town between PM Burg and Durbs there is a beautiful waterfall. Its called the Howick falls and although not very big is quite spectacular.

Durban also grows various varieties of tropical fruit. Fruit such as Paw Paws, mangoes, avocado pears and of course bananas. Their avos are to die for. On the occasions that I have visited Durban I have always made an effort to get a grass wash basket full of green avos to take home.

If you drive out into the country areas surrounding Durban you will come across many farms growing sugar cane. This is one of the main products grown in the area. Durban is known as the sugar capital of South Africa and you can see many large silos where sugar is stored. A tour of the refineries is very interesting as they show you the entire process from where the cane is pulped to where the white sugar is finally packaged to be shipped.

Durban is one of South Africa’s premier holiday destinations. Visit in July and watch the Durban July horse race.

Geoff Fairman writes an ezine called Turtle Essays that concentrates on Cape Town and its surrounds. To subscribe send a blank email to TurtleEssays-subscribe@turtlesa.com

or read the ezines online at http://www.turtlesa.com

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.

Globetrotters should be extra careful when booking flights with travel agents in the UK. High street budget travel agents, Trailfinders are, like most other companies, happy to sell you a ticket for any destination in the world and try to get you to cough up for their in-house insurance at the same time. They of course earn commission on this.

This Globetrotter booked a ticket through Trailfinders to Bali. I booked it well before the Bali incident and am due to fly to Bali at Easter. I was offered insurance, which I declined as I have my own. At a recent London travel show I enquired about the two different Trailfinder policies on offer, one annual and one single trip.

When I rang to ask to book the Trailfinder insurance a couple of weeks later, I was told that Trailfinders would not insure trips to Bali or any part of Indonesia. Whilst I totally understand the reasoning behind this, Trailfinders should not be offering insurance over the phone and at Travel shows and then reneging when people try to book it.

After the Bali bomb many companies in the travel trade took the step of contacting clients with existing reservations to Bali offering them money back or a change of destination. Trailfinders did not do this and now as time for final payment looms, the horrible truth of the situation is becoming apparent to UK travellers.