There was no November New York meeting, but Laurie plans a December meeting on 7th December. Details will be sent out to all those on the mailing list. However, Laurie is looking for co-leader to help out!…Anyone interested?! E-mail Laurie on newyork@globetrotters.co.uk.
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.
Its been, I believe, more than two months since I last sent an email of substance about our trip. My eyes have been filled with so many sights and my head filled with so many thoughts that my pen hand has been frozen, like a boy who has taken too big a bite of an apple, whose jaw is stuck clenched around it.
Whereas the first few months of our trip can be described as nomadic and arduous, the last several weeks have been marked by the slowness of time and seeming randomness of events. However undirected our travels initially appeared, they were, in fact, pretty direct. We travelled northwards through South Africa, straight into and through Zimbabwe, meandered around Zambia and then entered Malawi. Look on a map and you'll see that it's pretty straightforward. But everything changed once we hit Malawi. We were tired. No, let me rephrase that. We were haggard. Months of spartan, itinerant living had taken its toll. We reached beyond the breaking point days before when we got stuck driving across a river purportedly infested by crocs and hippos. Forced to set up camp, we spent that night alone in the bush among the animals of the wild.
Fortunately, we were towed out the next day. We are not, and never will be, the same. Thus, we looked upon passive little Malawi, known alternately as the “Warm Heart of Africa” and “Africa Light”, as the cure to our ills. We welcomed with pleasure the conveniences of Blantyre, Malawi's largest commercial city, and the soothing atmosphere of Doogles, Southern Africa's hippest backpacker lodge and Blantyre's coolest pub. Like Cheers, everyone knows your name and they're always glad you came. With tracks of David Gray (our new favourite crooner) playing in the background and good food served all day, our frayed nerves slowly eased.
The list of characters flowing in and out of Doogles runs long: there was a merry band of travellers calling themselves “Hot Rocks” in the midst of a 3-year expedition circumambulating the globe in a enhanced Mad Max-style truck from England (check out their site at ; there was a British couple riding their BMW motorcycle (the ride was so smooth, claimed the husband, that his wife could read when sitting behind him) around the world, financed by rental payments received for the use of their home; there was the lycra-clad professional journeyman on a continuing mission to circle the earth by motorbike who likened himself to James Bond, carried little other than albums containing clippings from travel magazines depicting his life's work, and never tired of describing his latest blaze through the pre-truce Congo (days after I last saw him, I caught the tail end of a Travel Channel episode telling his tales); there was the lanky used car salesman born and raised in Blantyre who showed up every night for beers and conversation; there was the British med student who came alone but quickly found company; there was the reunion with Maria and Oliver, a German couple with whom we formed a quick and comfortable friendship days earlier in Zambia – they beat us in Pictionary 🙁 – there was a British jack-of-all-trades who rolled in to Doogles with three 18-wheelers and stacks of used tires, all shipped over from England and ready for sale to any interested buyer; there were Swiss travellers, Dutch, Irish and Israeli, French travellers, Aussie, American and Kiwi, just to name a few, checking in and out, dining by the pool and quaffing beers in the moonlight; and, of course, there were Souli and Servanne, two of my favourite travellers and half of our meandering quartet.
Travelling is as much a skill as it is an art and Servanne ranks among the best travellers I've encountered. Always upbeat, forever a team player, she has an unquenchable thirst for the sights and sounds penetrating the world. A Frenchwoman, she also speaks English, a smattering of German, Spanish, and numerous esoteric languages that she has picked up from travelling in, out, through and around the world's most unique places. At about 5'1″ and 103 pounds (just a guess), she may be, pound for pound, the world's strongest traveller, and, I can assure you, the most energetic.
Souli, short for Souliman, is a Lebanese-born German dentist who is the oldest of ten children. When we met him, he was stuck in Blantyre waiting for a parcel containing a headlamp to make it through Malawi's lethargic postal system. This guy was finishing up a nearly 14-month bicycle journey from Germany to South Africa (check out his website at www.radflimmern.de). Why, with less than two months left on his trip, did he suddenly need the headlamp? I never could understand it–something about needing it while he rode through the bush in Botswana–but it kept him hanging around, so that was good enough for me.
For me, Souli was a breath of fresh air. As a German, he proudly rooted for the plucky U.S. soccer team when the two countries faced each other in the World Cup. Germany advanced, so he cheered wildly for the heavily outmatched South Koreans in the semi-finals. Why root against his countrymen? Those soccer stars were too cocky, he told me. Souli's soft-spoken affability combined with a limited attention span for all things outside the domain of his interest left me continuously in stitches. To dismiss someone as a nuisance while making him feel good about it is a skill the guy has mastered. I don't mean to sound callous, but in Africa locals approach foreigners for various reasons. These encounters are precious to all travellers, but they also tend to be draining. Souli had a knack for pleasantly nipping those unpleasurable encounters in the bud. Perhaps most of all, I was fascinated by his physically challenging and mentally gruelling trip that brought him, ever so slowly, out of Europe, through the Middle East and across Africa. Along the way, he re-established family ties in the country of his birthplace, found spiritual rejuvenation in the kindness of strangers and dealt with uncommon frustrations like flat tires in the Sudanese desert and rocks thrown by children in certain locales.
The four of us–Servanne, Sali, Souli and I–made a good team. Sali and Servanne enjoyed conversing in French, pondering things European and talking of literature. Souli and I shared an interest in poorly played Chess and laughter at life's trifling events. After a few days together at Doogles, we set out on a camping trip in Malawi's Shire Valley. Uninterested at the time in anything touristy, we pitched our tents in a dry riverbed on the outskirts of a simple village. We spent three days cooking, sunning, laughing and interacting with locals in what were very ordinary conditions–lots of sun, no electricity, a borehole providing freshwater one kilometre away, villagers with small plots of land that produced a variety of vegetables, a population rapidly diminishing in numbers due to the onset of AIDS.
After the camping trip, we headed back to Doogles. Eventually, Servanne hopped on a bus to Mozambique, Souli cycled off to Zimbabwe and Sali and I set out for a hike through Malawi's Mulanje Mountains. We anticipated a 4-5 day trip where we would move from lodge to lodge each day, but the daily hikes were long and tiring and we were poorly prepared, not bringing enough food and failing to hire a porter to assist in the portage of food and supplies. After two days, we found ourselves in a gorgeous spot and too tired to enjoy it. That's when we met James and Hannah, lovebirds soon to be wed, who kindly left us some of their food as they headed down the mountain and invited us to stay with them once we returned. We decided to spend the next three nights in the same mountain hut, enjoying its tranquillity and scenic beauty, and then took a more direct route back to James' and Hannah's three days later.
The next couple of weeks are a blur. All I can remember is breakfasts on their veranda, long stretches of time spent reading, midday naps, fantastic meals, thoughtful conversations with our hosts, evening laughter and a rekindled relationship with television. James and Hannah opened their home to us and we just couldn't get enough. In fact, it soon dawned on us that the expatriate lifestyle (he's from the U.K., she's from British Columbia) in Malawi was not half-bad. As fate would have it, the stunning home next to them had just become vacant. With four bedrooms, two solariums, a swimming pool, stables and beautifully landscaped grounds, this house was nestled in the foothills of mountains, bounded by a nature preserve on one side and James and Hannah on the other.
What could we do in Malawi, we wondered. We floated our resumes around town, meeting several respected lawyers including the head of Malawi's bar association, leaders of their nascent stock market, foreign consultants and bankers, the police department's chief of criminal affairs (it's a long story) and the dean of one of the country's two law schools. After rubbing shoulders with these bigwigs, we became stuck on the idea of teaching at the law school. Encouraged by the dean to seek outside funding–he expressed interest in our services but lacked the funding to pay for them—we met with several development agencies funded by the British and U.S. governments in pursuit of a backer. We wrote letters, shook hands, issued pitches and submitted proposals. Sadly, the well of funds was dry. The mighty New Yorkers had struck out.
During our tireless fundraising campaign, we sought refuge in the crystal clear waters of Lake Malawi on two occasions. Here, the beauty and challenges of African life struck me more clearly than anywhere else on our trip. Warmed by the majesty of the lake's undeveloped serenity and the unbridled decency of its surrounding community, I nonetheless felt weighted down by the pressures of village existence–unceasing poverty in the face of an outpouring of tourist wealth; in the wake of the AIDS pandemic, too few elders caring for too many children; the youthful desire for fun in the sun against the practical need to earn and save; the inescapable fact that villagers rarely leave the at once inviting and confining land on which their parents', their parents' parents and their parents before them were conceived and reared, on which they founded their families and on which they expired.
Smarting from the burn of rejection, our hearts began to wander back home. Liz, Sali's blue-blooded high school friend, was engaged to wed Niels, a German gentleman living in D.C., at the end of August in Virginia. Jean, my former French neighbour in New York, was engaged to wed Caireen, a feisty Australian, in the middle of September in the French Riviera. We checked our budget, realized we couldn't afford trips to these far-off places, and then decided to go anyway. We bought round-trip tickets to the States with stopovers in London and connecting puddle-jumper flights to Nice, and we were off.
We spent practically every moment of our time back home soaking up the love and attention of our respective families, catching up on everyone's life, telling stories of our own, and fattening up on tasty home cookin'. In a certain twist of fate, Liz and Niels were married in a country French chateau nestled in a small Virginia town among their closest friends and family, while Jean and Caireen paired themselves amidst the glitz and glamour suitable to Hollywood's elite. While guests at the Brinton-Kusserow merger engaged in thoughtful, intimate conversations with the bride and groom and dined among a choice group of guests, attendees at the Bourlot-Shanahan extravaganza rocked the night away under the stars of Beaulieu Sur Mer.
And that, my dear friends and family, is nearly all there is to tell. There was our 3-night escapade through Mozambique and our continuing education on David Livingstone, the Scottish missionary who introduced much of Southern Africa to the European world while campaigning against slavery with every step (see www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/lantern/), there is the sociologist/filmmaker who is tending to our car while putting the finishing touches on his documentary of Malawian street children, there was a week secluded in the Italian Alps following the French wedding (and the 4-train, 10-hour trip it took to get there), our inability to meet up with our Slovenian friends in Venice, the long journey by rail to meet Liz and Niels in Koblenz (Niels whisked his beautiful bride back to his motherland after the wedding), our recent lesson on German beer and sausages and our grand opportunity to sample Niels' famed plum cake (deeeelicous), but there isn't time for all that. In a few days we will have a reunion with Maria and Oliver and in a few weeks we'll be back in Africa steadily collecting stories for the next briefing. Until then, be well.
Wed in September 2001, Sali and Michael left their jobs as New York lawyers six months later and flew to Cape Town to begin a one-year travelling expedition. Without much of an itinerary, they bought a car in Cape Town and have been slowly working their way north through Africa, spending time in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and, currently, Tanzania. Always eager to swap travel tips, Sali and Michael would be pleased to hear from any travel enthusiasts and can be reached via email at mrakower@hotmail.com.
Olympia London from January 30 – February 2
You'll find the largest range of holidays and ideas to be found under one roof – hundreds of tour operators, travel companies and tourist boards offering everything from adventure experiences to cultural weekend breaks. A limited number of complimentary tickets are available to telegraph.co.uk readers (maximum 2 per user) if booked in advance for Destinations 2003.
Visit www.destinationsshow.com, click on 'box office' and enter the code 'tcuk' when prompted.
Greetings fellow Globetrotters The next Globetrotters' meeting and a “pre-Christmas pot-luck” took place at 7.45 pm to 10 pm on November 15, 2002. Robin Christmas, Linda Rosenbaum & Family talked about “The Ve-Ahavta” (“You Shall Love”) a video of a community development project in Bartica, Guyana. 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 (south-east from St. Lawrence Market in Toronto, South of Esplanade, 2nd very short block east from Jarvis) in downtown Toronto at 8.00 p.m.
Everyone has heard of Dracula. Dublin born Bram Stoker (1847-1912) created Count Dracula as a figure of fear and revulsion in his novel “Dracula” published in 1897. Since then, we’ve had countless Dracula versions through film, novels, TV series and even comic books. We all know that Dracula comes from Transylvania, in Romania but is there any truth in these myths? Did he really exist?
Popular opinion says that Dracula is based on an exaggerated account of a man called Vlad Tepes, the prince of the Wallachia (found in the southern part of today's Romania). Vlad Tepes was considered at the time to be a fair but very cruel man.
Let’s call him Vlad – Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg granted him rulership of Wallachia in 1431. The emperor gave Vlad a necklace and a golden medallion with a dragon engraved on it. Vlad set up a mint where he used the dragon emblem.
The name Dracula is actually a nickname and is derived from the Romanian language that in turn comes from Latin – Drac means Devil. Vlad’s father was called this, and the name stuck, and so Vlad became known as Vlad Dracula. He was not a friend of the Ottoman Empire and started organising the state, the army, the law, applying the death penalty by impaling against all those he considered enemies: highwaymen, robbers, beggars, cunning priests, treacherous noblemen, usurper Saxons (who tried to replace him either with cousin Dan cel Tanar (Dan the Young) or by his natural brother Vlad Calugarul (Vlad the Monk)).
Vlad died in 1476 in a battle at Snagov, killed by Laiota Basarab who succeeded him to the throne of Wallachia. To experience some places in Dracula’s life, you can visit:
by Charles Arthur / Independent/UK (via Common Dreams News Center)
The snows of Mount Kilimanjaro, immortalized by an Ernest Hemingway short story, are melting so quickly they are expected to disappear within two decades.
Researchers have found that the ice fields capping Africa's highest mountain shrank by 80 per cent in the last century, from 4.6 square miles in 1912 to just one square mile two years ago, which has brought down the height of the mountain by several feet.
The ice covering the 19,330ft peak “will be gone by about 2020”, said Lonnie Thompson, a glaciologist at Ohio State University. The process has cut water volume in some Tanzanian rivers that supply villages and hospitals. Global warming is one reason, but scientists say it alone cannot have caused such a dramatic change. The other factors behind the transformation remain a mystery.
Globetrotters Meeting Texas Branch – 9 November 2002 by Emily
We had two groups of speakers at our meeting, both on Spain. The first group was Chris and Julie who displayed some fabulous slides of different areas of Spain: Toledo, Madrid, Balboa and San Sebastian.
Our next group of speakers on Spain was Christina and Susan. They spoke mostly about their recent experience at a language school. This school, based in a restored village, is specifically for Spanish professionals to practice their conversational English. They also spoke about their sightseeing adventures in Madrid after they finished a ten day course helping the Spaniards with their spoken English.
Next, each member and visitor spoke about recent trips and future hopes for trips. Upon closing, a suggestion was made to bring ethnic holiday foods to the December meeting, although this is contingent on the approval of the library where our meetings are held.
The next Texas meeting will be held on Saturday 8th December.
A reminder that Texas meetings will start one hour earlier, at 2pm and not 3pm.
Meetings are held at 2pm at the New Braunfels Public Library, 700 E. Common Street in New Braunfels, Texas. The meeting ends at 5 p.m. If you would like to continue travel talk on a more informal basis, we plan to adjourn to the Hoity-Toit, a local New Braunfels establishment. If anybody would like to enquire about meetings or help Christina, please contact her on: texas@globetrotters.co.uk
Rank
Airport
Total Passengers
% Change
1
ATLANTA, GA (ATL)
75,849,375
-5.4
2
CHICAGO, IL (ORD)
66,805,339
-6.9
3
LOS ANGELES, CA (LAX)
61,024,541
-8.3
4
LONDON, GB (LHR)
60,743,154
-6
5
TOKYO, JP (HND)
58,692,688
4.1
6
DALLAS/FT WORTH AIRPORT, TX (DFW)
55,150,689
-9.2
7
FRANKFURT, DE (FRA)
48,559,980
-1.6
8
PARIS, FR (CDG)
47,996,223
-.5
9
AMSTERDAM, NL (AMS)
39,538,483
-.2
10
DENVER, CO (DEN)
36,086,751
-6.9
Hartsfield Atlanta Airport is situated on the site of an abandoned racetrack owned by a Coca-Cola magnate. The City Council took a 5 year lease on 287 acres of land in 1925, rent free, if you can believe it, with the option to buy the land for $100,000. They exercised the option in 1930 and the rest as they say, is history. The airport is named after William Berry Hartsfield, the city alderman who found the site and pushed for the airfield. Hartsfield went on to head the city's new aviation committee and served as Mayor of Atlanta from 1938 to 1961, the year the airport terminal was built.
Information supplied by Airports Council International, the organization that represents most of the world's airports. http://www.airports.org/
New York City may convert de-commissioned cruise ships into shelters for its rising numbers of homeless people. Last month, a record 37,000 homeless people were sleeping in city shelters every night according to the Coalition for the Homeless, which compiles statistics for the city. City officials, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg's commissioner of homeless services, have flown to the Bahamas to inspect disused ships. They say the idea of using them was just one option being considered – but critics say the plan is unnecessary, and have called on the city to provide affordable housing for those in need. City officials stressed that it is too early to speculate on how the cruise-ship idea might be applied in New York.
Scuba diving is the fastest growing sport in the world, each year the number of certified divers doubles. Travel to another world is not just a slogan that many dive centres use to attract the client, it’s true….. to dive is like a dream. Floating underwater is like meditation, yoga or living solitude on a lonely island. You hear nothing, only the bubbles, you feel complete freedom when you are scuba diving. The fish could be your enemy, but in the Greek waters there are only friendly species. Diving in Greece is very popular, the locals like doing it and being a favourite holiday destination……… let’s not forget the tourist. Since the government released some strict rules, particularly about the archaeological places, scuba diving is growing rapidly and in almost every tourist place you can find a diving centre.
On the southernmost point of Europe near the village Plakias on the island of Crete you will find several diving centres. There’s one that opens all year.
Plakias lies opposite the legendary island of Gavdos, where Odysseus spent seven years with the goddess Kalypso. Gavdos is the most southern island of Europe, but there’s no diving centre, only a shepherd with some sheep and goats.
During the wintertime Plakias is a lively little fishermen’s resort. Here you’ll find supermarkets, rooms for rent, restaurants, bars, a doctor, a pharmacy, a post office and a cash machine.
The medieval Town of Rethymno on the north coast is only 45 minutes by car.
Crete in the winter offers a subtropical climate with average day temperatures seldom lower than 16o C and on a good day above 20o C. The island has an average of 300 days with sunshine per year. January and February is the rainy season (good for the farmers) but the tropical showers seldom destroy your whole day. God is taking an hour of your time and you can enjoy the sunny hours afterwards.
Being the cradle of Europe there are many historical places that you can visit. There’s Knossos, the archaeological Museum, and there’s the green countryside with botanical beauties that you’ll find only on Crete.
The friendly Cretans are working in the olive groves or picking the oranges, so Crete is alive during the winter and there are not so many tourists. The locals have time for you and if you like it “siga siga” (no stress) than you should visit Crete in the winter.
The island offers all sorts of activities, like guided walking tours, biking tours, you can rent a car for your trips and let’s not forget the diving excursions.
A good contact point is a local adventure club named Kalypso Rocks Palace.
Let’s stick to the diving where we started this article.
There are dives from the shore or boat starting from an old natural (pirate) harbour that is situated near Hotel Kalypso Cretian Village. The diving scenery here is perfect and the visibility underwater is 20-25 metres, making the Libyan Sea the clearest ocean of Europe.
You’ll see plenty of fish: Groupers, Octopus, Shrimps, Sea Stars, Sea brass, Sponges, Morenos, Corals, etc. Look for them in the numerous small canyons, caves or along the mountain walls. Crete is not comparable with top diving destinations, but by European standards it’s a very good location.
Your gear can be provided and on request accommodation in the hotel or in a pension in Plakias for a reasonable price.
If you are interested tin diving or comming to Crete to look around, please contact the Kalypso Adventure Club www.kalypsodivingcenter.com or email: info@kalypsodivingcenter.com
Update: Kalypso diving centre tell us that any readers of this e-newsletter are eligible for a discount of 10% on diving.
The FCO said early November: 'Following the terrorist attacks in Bali… in which Western tourists were deliberately targeted, the threat to British nationals in Thailand, including popular tourist areas, the island of Phuket in particular, has increased significantly.'
This statement has enraged not only the Thai and other South East Asian tourism authorities, but ABTA, that venerable travel industry association who have asked for greater clarity in the travel advice issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Keith Betton, head of corporate affairs at ABTA, said: 'Surely they should tell us if they have had a specific threat about Phuket.' He added: 'The advice they have given has scared people and we have no idea whether it is reasonable. As far as we can tell Thailand is as dangerous for the 6,000 or so Britons there as London was for Americans when the IRA was bombing here.'
In response, an FCO spokesperson said: “We would not mark out Phuket just to be on the safe side. Our advice is drawn from a number of sources, including intelligence officials”.
Tour operators have been calling customers with bookings to Thailand, or travellers in Thailand, apprising them of the FCO advice and allowing them to postpone or alter their holiday plans. Airtours has dropped Thailand, and Thomson Worldwide says bookings have dipped.
Early November, the FCO updated its advice on 12 countries – including Honduras, Seychelles, Gibraltar and the Marshall Islands in the Pacific – advising travellers to be 'aware of the risk of indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets in public places' although no one at the FCO could explain what this risk is, and it has promised to discuss the practicality of its warnings with the Travel Advice Unit.
Foreign and Commonwealth Travel Advice is available on 020 7008 0232/3.
A British union that has firemen and airport workers as its members has announced a set of dates it on which it proposes to strike.
These will affect seven airports: Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Edinburgh, Southampton, Glasgow and Aberdeen.
Proposed strike dates are: 28 Nov, 2, 10, 15 & 23 Dec and 2nd Jan, and if the fire service does strike, the airports will be left without fire cover and will almost certainly be forced to ground all flights.
Here in the UK, we’ve just had our traditional bonfire night, on November 5th, to celebrate the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot. We’ve been doing this off and on, barring wars, since 1605. Each year either on November 5, or the weekend closest, people get together all over the UK to light bonfires, burn effigies of “guys”, and set off fireworks. Increasingly, people go to public organised bonfires, rather than have one in their back garden, as the public display fireworks are far more spectacular than anything one could put on at home. We are talking amazing pyrotechnic displays!
But what is it all about? The Gunpowder Plot was an attempt to kill the anti-Catholic King James I, King of England. The alleged perpetrators were a group of four Catholic aristocrats and Guy Fawkes who was a soldier. Their plan was to lay barrels of gunpowder in the cellars of the Parliament Buildings to be ignited the following day, on 5th November when King James, his eldest son, Prince Henry, and Queen Ann were to attend the opening of Parliament. The aim of the conspirators was, once the king and his family had been assassinated, to propose someone else who was more sympathetic to the Catholics in the UK.
So how did they set about this? The first attempt at tunnelling into the cellars of the Parliament from nearby lodgings failed as water from the River Thames waterlogged the tunnel. Instead, one of the gang used his influence to gain access to cellars beneath Parliament, and somehow, they managed to smuggle in 36 barrels of gunpowder. However, there were problems: the King kept postponing the opening of Parliament, so he was never around to blow up, and secondly, because of the time delay, the gunpowder was going mouldy, and more had to be bought from overseas, to ensure that it would explode.
So what happened next? Just before the big day, someone sent a letter to Lord Monteagle a former Catholic sympathiser, warning him to stay away from the opening of Parliament on November 5th. Lord M immediately passed the letter to Robert Cecil, the King’s Chief Secretary, and even though the gang of five knew about the letter's existence , and that they had possibly been rumbled, they still went ahead with their plans. Guy Fawkes, a soldier, was volunteered to stay overnight in the cellar with the gunpowder and set light to it at the right moment. On the night of 4th November, after a thorough search of Parliament, Guy Fawkes was found hidden, along with the gunpowder in the cellars. He was tortured and the other members of the gang were found and along with Guy Fawkes were tried and sentenced to death in St. Paul's churchyard in January 1606. Later, four of the conspirators were executed at the Old Palace Yard, Westminster. All eight men eventually identified as being part of the plot were hung, drawn, and quartered, the standard punishment for those convicted of treason.
Canada and the European Union have joined Australia and indefinitely closed their diplomatic missions in the Philippines after receiving information about an “imminent” terror attack.
The move came after Australia said it had received “credible and specific” warning of the attack by Islamic militants on its embassy in the capital Manila within the next few days.
“It is not only location specific, targeting the Australian embassy itself, but also it's time specific,” Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told Australian radio without giving any further details.
Passed on by the London Meetings co-ordinator: TravelIntelligence is a new website giving access to good travel writing (mainly British) – Philip Marsden, William Dalrymple, Stanley Stewart, Nick Danziger et al.
Take a look at Travel Intelligence and sign up for their monthly newsletter – mostly links to other sites.
Globetrotters meeting Saturday 5th October 2002 By Padmassana
Eamon Gearon's talk entitled “Walking to Siwa” gave us a glimpse of the Egyptian desert. Eamon first visited the area in 1994 and has returned regularly since. His slides depicted the mad Siwa traffic and told us about the Brooke Hospital for working animals, a charity that seeks to alleviate the suffering of mules and other working animals. The camel market where Eamon buys his camels is a sight to be seen, the camel's owners mark them with paint and each subsequent owner adds their mark, so that in the end some of the camels are psychedelically coloured! Eamon told us a good camel costs around £200 and when he trades them in after use, “One careful owner”, he normally gets his money back. Eamon's treks into the desert last around 3 weeks. For the first 100 miles or so from the coast water wells are well marked, but after this water becomes an issue, he told us how he got dysentery from a well where he suspected an animal had fallen into it and died thus polluting this important source of life. The Egyptian desert is not a sea of rolling golden sand dunes as we may have expected, but mile upon mile of rock-strewn desolation. Though this landscape does lend itself to some superb sunset photographs. Eamon's slides of Siwa showed us the houses made of mud and the 100 feet high mud city walls, which have 21st century additions like electricity cables and satellite dishes. Eamon explained that these mud constructions can be killers in the rain as they are prone to collapse and turn into mud slides. Siwa is a series of oasis, it is said that you can sink a well anywhere in the locality and you will find water, Siwa is a green place, despite its location.
Our second talk was by Tahir Shah entitled “Searching for King Solomons mines”. Tahir's ambition was to find the location of these legendary mines. After extensive biblical research Tahir came to the conclusion that they lay in present day Ethiopia. On his second day in Addis Ababa Tahir struck lucky finding a taxi driver called Sampson who had previously worked as an illegal gold miner. Tahir and Sampson headed to the mines via a town plagued by hyenas. The locals believed these hyena's came off the mountain in order to steal the local children, so to placate them, the local “Hyena men” would slaughter a cow and feed it to the hyenas each evening. The illegal mines are a dangerous open cast type of operation run as co-operatives. The material is moved by hand, along chains of miners. The women then do the panning. Tahir explained that if a miner finds a nugget he usually swallows it, waits for nature to take its course and then goes to the city to sell it. However it is not uncommon that if other miners find someone has done this, they are often murdered and disembowelled for the nugget. This is just another danger for the miners, especially the brave ones who go down deep pits in search of their prize, as these pits frequently collapse with loss of life. Tahir showed us a cave he suspected could be the fabled place he was looking for, but alas it was just full of bats and ended after a few metres. Tahir is sure that the legendary mines are out there somewhere, just waiting to be discovered.
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. There is no London meeting in August, but we will be back in September. For more information, you can contact the Globetrotter Info line on +44 (0) 20 8674 6229, or visit the website: www.globetrotters.co.uk
There is an old Namibian saying: “If the Namibian sun has shone on you once, you are part of the country.”
People who have never been to Africa seem to be under the misconception that lions and wild animals roam our streets or that we stay in the bush! This has caused much laughter from Africans and some even thought that this was just the opportunity to fool around with someone. But that is typical African hospitality. People will joke around just to make you feel comfortable and at ease!
And when you finally convince someone to come and stay in “the bush” in Namibia, it's amazing to see their reaction when they arrive, one of disbelief and feeling that a mistake has been made, is written all over their faces! You see, our International airport is situated 40km outside Windhoek and when you arrive there, it truly seems as if there is nothing! And you do not see the city until you are basically in it! The landscape is such that it hides civilisation from a first time visitor!
But once your find yourself in Namibia, you'll be angry at yourself for not coming here sooner! The country is exquisite in beauty, cultures, places to see and things to do! But don't be in a hurry! African time seem to have found its way to Namibia too! At the coastal town of Swakopmund (the most visited town in Namibia and the second largest town) you get a true European feel – people are laid-back and it seems as if they are on a constant vacation. But don't misunderstand: business is good – you do get good service, but this is the place to come and unwind completely! And we do offer the best cuisine! You can even experience a true African dinner in Windhoek in a township restaurant! This is a must do for any traveller! But you must have a strong stomach! This is not for the faint-hearted!
So what is there to see and do in Namibia? There are international events, such as championships in sand boarding and powerboat racing, to mention a few. And don't forget, we do have the oldest desert in the world, the Namib Desert. You can ride the endless waves of dunes on a quad bike or in a 4×4 or hot-air ballooning over the Namib Desert or visit indigenous tribes or go big game fishing or skydiving or going on a seal and dolphin cruise or bird watching or take a safari to see the big 5, or, or, or…(the list is endless!) Travelling in Namibia you will encounter good hospitality and good value for money and unspoilt nature scenes where wild life is abundant.
With is wide variety of inhabitants, habitats and scenery, Namibia has a lot to offer any traveller! It is fast becoming a popular holiday destination and with a well-planned itinerary, you can see an impressive amount of the country that will leave you breathless with awe and amazement! Even the most difficult to please will find something to enjoy.
For more information, visit Renate's website at www.mcleodcontours.com
LAPA, the Argentinean domestic airline went belly up a while back but the name LAPA is to be revived by new owners who rescued it from receivership. It has been operating as AIRG since the Aeroandina group raised capital in both Argentina and Bolivia to put it back in business. Plans are afoot to start regional services to Sao Paulo, Brazil, the Chilean cities of Santiago and Puerto Montt and to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, by the end of this year.
Due to the dreadful and unpredictable event in Bali, the new Bali based airline Air Paradise, which was due to start flying in October 2002, said it was delaying its launch indefinitely and refunding tickets it has already sold. The airline was due to make its first flights to the Australian cities of Perth and Melbourne.
According to union sources, a one-day strike planned by Air France unions for October 24 has been switched to November 5.
Workers are protesting over French government plans to privatise the French flag carrier and reduce the state's controlling stake.
Expanding Australian budget airline Virgin Blue plans to add flights to New Zealand to its schedules and will cause a few ruffled feathers in the Australian flight market, largely operated by Air New Zealand and Qantas. Virgin Blue was launched in August 2000 with a single route between Brisbane and Sydney. It now serves thirteen Australian destinations. Now, Virgin Blue plans a code share arrangement with United Airlines so that it will be faster and easier for booking flights from Brisbane to San Francisco and Los Angeles and beyond.
Meanwhile, back in the US, Boston Logan Airport is to introduce security scanners that can make immediate checks on driving licenses and passports against government databases or “watch lists.” Despite concerns expressed by civil liberties groups, the airport said it will go ahead with the system. Initially, it will only be used to check around 10,000 people who work at Logan. However, the airport's operators, Massachusetts Port Authority, say they would like to see the system extended and in tests carried out during the Summer discovered a number of passengers flying out of the international departures on forged passports.
Passengers due to fly into or out of Stansted (the Beetle's most HATED airport, ever) near London may want to alter their travel plans if this involves early morning or late evening flights.
Due to alleged rail improvements, from Sunday 29th September 2002 through to Spring 2004, all Sunday train services to and from Stansted Airport will be replaced by a slow coach service.
Incidentally, the last coach leaves Stansted at midnight on Sunday for Liverpool St station and 11pm from Liverpool St. First coach to Stansted from Liverpool St is allegedly at 4.30am and 5am from Stansted to Liverpool St. You have been warned, and allow plenty of time – preferably around 2 hours journey time! Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport is closing down international services from Terminal 2 at the end of October week due to reduced numbers of passengers. The decision, by the Israel Airports Authority, is part of a series of cost-cutting measures, according to daily newspaper Haaretz. If international passengers start to increase the Terminal 2 facility may reopen.
A message from Laurie, the New York Chair: there will NOT be a Globie meeting in November, but we WILL have our December 7th meeting.
We wish Laurie Bonne Voyage as she prepares for her trip to Asia!
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.
You would have to be living in a world with no access to the radio, newspapersor tv not to hear about the recent bombing in Bali. News reports say that around 75 percent of those who died (around 200) in the blasts were Australian nationals.
But let's not forget the local people of Bali and other nationals too, who lost their lives in Bali. A further 300 people were injured in the attack. As investigations start into Saturday's nightclub bombings on Bali, Australian airline Qantas is laying on extra flights to bring tourists and injured victims back from the Indonesian island. Singapore Airlines has also been carrying additional passengers.
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation and Australian police and intelligence services are helping in thesearch for the bombers.
The governments of Australia and the United States are advising against travel to Indonesia and the US State Department has asked all American citizens to leave the country. All US government personnel, apart from those in key positions, are being withdrawn.
The UK has also issued a travel warning, advising the cancellation of non-essential visits to Indonesia.
Despite some expected cancellations, Singapore Airlines says it is continuing to operate four daily flights to the area.
The airlines say they will not impose penalty charges on passengers who change or cancel their flight reservations. Those without tickets wishing to leave Bali are being offered discounted fares.