And gets propositioned on the way… read on!

I got to Buenos Aires in pouring rain from sunny London without mishap. My hotel was ok, in the historic area of Buenos Aires and cost around £12 a night for bed and breakfast, and it has a bathroom too, so not bad. This is a good time to visit Argentina as prices are very low – most meals are under £5 and a giant bottle of beer just £1! I wanted to visit a tango show last night but was just too tired around midnight, the time it is all supposed to kick off. Plan to take a city tour of Buenos Aires.

Went to a place called Puerto Madero and it reminded me of all the regeneration that has taken place in Docklands in London. There were very few people and a lot of brand name American eateries, so, I was a little disappointed. I walked back to town where the real people live, but my poor feet hurt after that! On the plus side, it could be classified as training for my forthcoming Patagonia trekking!

The local beer is good and it is now sunny, in sharp contrast to the day I arrived, so prospects are promising. Then headed by bus to El Calafate in Argentina. I am having great weather – sunny, dry unusually windless, and hot, even by my standards! I was even down to a plain shirt and wished I had packed my sandals. I did a 8-9 hour trek from a place called Refugio Pehoe on the lake of the same name (pronounced correctly as “pewe”. to glacier Grey. It was a very scenic walk compared to the one done the other day to Torres (or more accurately “torture”. del Paine which is featured on the all of the postcards here. I reckon this one was a bit tougher than the Machu Picchu trek in Peru, although that was nearly 5 years ago and my age is definitely beginning to show in my knee joints. Maybe it’s just a matter of time before I start considering Saga holidays!

We met some travellers who had to forego their plans as there was no accommodation at the next two destinations we are heading to, the only other option being to set up your own tent! Having roughed it for the last two nights I am not ready for a repeat performance. The alternative was 180 US dollar per night hotel with everything priced in good US $ – the cheapest item on the menu being a coca cola at only $4! Taking of prices, I was shocked at the London prices of everything in the Torres Del Paine National Park. Still, it didn’t stop me from having 2 bottles of Chilean red last night at £8 each. The idea was to stun myself into a deep slumber in the tent and not notice the gale winds and rain.

One thing I have been disappointed about is not being able to gaze at the night southern sky. Chile has some of the best skies for star gazing – but it has been too cold or too cloudy or both! I am beginning to feel quite worn out now and looking forward to taking a hot shower and sleeping in a proper bed! Sleeping bags are not for people like me who toss and turn and sleep in the spread-eagle position!

On a bus from Puerto Natales, I met an unemployed doctor from Spain. As a result of having a fluent Spanish speaker on the team, we were able to find a hotel room very quickly and cheaply, and sorted out our transport – or more accurately dis-sorted! I decided to abandon my very much desired plans to go on into Chile via Coyhaique and head north through to Puerto Montt on the scenic Carretera Austral, now nearly completed, connecting the upper part of Chile to the remote Southern part. This is a lasting legacy started by General Pinochet. It is said that he wanted it named after him but this was met with a fair amount of opposition.

From Puerto Montt, in Chile, we went to the small but pretty and very touristy, town of El Calafate in Argentina. We visited the Perito Glacier, (a natural wonder that grows by 2m a day) almost immediately after we arrived. It was hot and baking there, but a bus ride one hour later, it was rainy at the glacier. This is Patagonia, so the weather remains ever changing after all! Our Spanish doctor refers to El Calafate as a “tourist trap”. apart from the Perito Moreno, there are other excursions but all priced in US $ and upward of $200! We could move on to our next planned destination of Fitzroy, another “must see” place, but nothing to move on from there til Saturday when we head for the Chilean border once again – and then there is no way of connecting to the Carratera Austral with any certainty!

So, the three of us decided to leave town and take a plane, considerably cheaper than taking the bus over 4 days to Bariloche – another very touristy place renowned for its Swiss like setting and more importantly for me, chocolates! We rented a car at Bariloche airport and although not planned, we managed to tour the whole of the Argentinean lake district in 24 hrs – something that would normally take at least 3 days! With our Spanish doctor friend, we did some intense travelling and did not sleep in the same bed twice. When we all split, I missed our new friend’s animated conversation: drink coffee … dug.. dug… dug…, visit x click, click, click….. and his favourite phrase: “we have 2 possibilities”…. to which I would reply: “what about?” The response would be: “we have 3 possibilities… you decide”. He had all makings a 1st Division civil servant or indeed Local Govt officer, if only he could make decisions! We became good mates and did a list of countries we will travel together in the future – almost all except Britain and USA! A real Globetrotter in the making, rucksacks and only economy class for the “authentic experience” – not sure if it meant not hiring cars!

I did things not “programmed” like hire cars, and which our Spanish doctor friend drove like an aspiring Italian Grand Prix driver in a red Fiat Punto replica. This even gave time to visit the island of Chiloe, S America’s 2nd largest) – did in half a day (instead of whole day) by special negotiation. The place where we stayed In Castro also did the tours, ran the Tourist office, the taxi company ..the lot!

Arrived back in Buenos Aires – in broad daylight in sharp contrast to the previous week when (thanks to Taris our Spanish travel companion and now fast friend) we seemed to be getting to our destinations in the middle of the night with no accommodation fixed! It was a bit of a relief to be in BA after a 15 hr bus journey (very comfy sleeper – got up fresh as a daisy and wished our air flight had been of the same standard – meals, night cap fizzy champagne etc. from Neuquen (Arg).

This time in BA, we opted to stay in the slightly posher part of town. I didn’t realise the unexpected benefit until we left a Thai restaurant about 1am. We ran into a stunning, vivacious, voluptuous raven-haired beauty who we initially mistook to be a typical friendly Argentine but she made proposals about providing massage and other services by gesticulation as we didn’t understand Spanish, but we got the drift all right!

One of my travel companions muttered something about going to sleep as he was dog tired whereas I tried to explain that my Redbridge Council zero-budget (Hem is a UK civil servant!) for entertainment and socio-economic research would not allow such indulgences. Only moments earlier I was reflecting on the night time economy as the Environmental Executives of BA municipality, who were furiously flushing the pavements and clearing garbage just yards away. And then to be presented with this provocative proposal – my thoughts of returning home had me thinking of gaps in the Skills Matrix, the reliability of National workforce data with excluded key sector professionals in the all important tourism and culture industry; was she entitled business start up advice and grants, etc, etc – enough of work talk.

On serious note: life is pretty tough for most people after the near-collapse of Argentina’s economy 3 yrs ago and a great many try and cope with everyday life by doing two or three jobs and even reverting to desperate means.

Not one for taking taxis for the “authentic experience”, I found myself taking the underground metro. It was amazing to find that that TV screens suspended over the platforms showing all kinds of stuff – one in particular was a Miss Brazil (previous night I am sure it was Miss Argentina) parading on a catwalk – starting with a glasses, full business suit and the mandatory army officer hat – starting to strip of each apparel at a time – Did she take everything off? No Se, I don’t know. I was on the fast and frequent train by the time she got down to her essentials! Visit Argentina – its a great place to enjoy yourself !

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The Beetle visited Papua New Guinea (PNG) last Christmas and here is an account of Port Moresby.

Getting to PNG the first time was not straightforward, although I have since learned that it is much easier to fly from London to Singapore – about 12 hours, and then take a 6 ½ hour Air Niugini flight (twice a week) from Singapore to Port Moresby. Because last year I intended to spend some time in Australia on the return leg back to London, I flew into Brisbane, transferred up to Cairns, a short hop, and then a 1 ½ hour flight from Cairns to Port Moresby. The international airport at Port Moresby is modern, has a shiny floor, a tourist office that I never saw open (on the 4 occasions I went through it) and is a great place to people watch! Whilst waiting for my diving buddies, a week into my trip, I met and chatted (in pidgin) with a charming man from the highlands who was (seriously) wearing his full traditional costume, which consisted of a lot of feathers, not much in the way of clothing and painted marks on the face, arms and torso. He looked both dignified and quite splendid. He was the type of figure you might expect to see on a postcard, only I met him for real!

Finding a budget place to stay for a weeks’ diving proved a little difficult. I would have liked to have stayed at the Loloata resort – primarily a place for divers, but it was way out of my budget. Eventually, John and Chrissie at PNG Dive recommended the Magila Motel to me. OK, it was a little basic, a concrete based room, but it was clean, safe and had a bed and a shower – perfectly adequate – and was well run by a determined Scottish lady, her two dogs, husband and local and Philippino staff. What really made the Magila motel welcoming to me, and I was there alone, was that it has an outside area with tables and benches and a telephone. I ate all my meals outside in the shade of the umbrellas, and struck up conversations with anyone else eating at the same time – I was impressed by how incredibly friendly people were.

The telephone was the focal point of the place and attracted good natured queues. (None of the international mobile telephone companies are willing to establish a network in PNG, so no cell phones work, with the result that public telephones are well used facilities – remember those times?) As people waited, they sat at the table, drank a beer or two and started conversations with anyone around, and I was no exception, being something of a curiosity, a white English female, all alone for a week and only present from late afternoons onwards. After a week, I think I must have met every single person staying in the Magila, a mix of transient one night stays by people coming to town from the highlands for business and returning the next day, to a former member of the government who had won a scholarship to study for a business degree in Australia, and was in Port Moresby for a business appointment, the leader of the opposition, very jolly, who seemed to be largely revered because he had won a huge amount of money gambling… an Australian expat and local wife staying for a month or so on a budget, “doing a deal” on a timber plantation his parents used to own and lots of people who just dropped in for a beer and a rest.

Most expats I met were Australian – makes sense at it is so close. One regular visitor to the Magila, a wiry hardy man, originally from Cornwall, but a naturalised PNG citizen (on account of having stayed there for over 30 years) popped in from where he was working across the road to have a beer and meet up with his mates, introduced to me as local gold dealers and various bigwigs discussing all manner of business ideas and opportunities. He and his various friends were great company and told me lots of stories on how life really is, about rascals – a favourite topic of conversation, coupled with the amount and latest tales of bribery and corruption – some of it really quite shocking and a lot of it chuckle type common sense. While I was there last year, the local press ran stories about a large and prominent building in the centre that was started three times. The first two times, the building contract was awarded to a construction firm which ran off and stole all of the money before the work was even started!

A lot of bad news is written about Port Moresby, but I can honestly say that I did not at any time feel threatened, at risk or in danger. I had a great time and felt as if I had had the chance to talk with a lot of people, all of whom were fascinating (to me, with their different stories) and at the same time generous, kind and sincere. It’s the kind of place where people come down from the highlands or the coastal areas, looking for work; unemployment is massive, so, there are a lot of people with nothing much to do. This type of problem is not exclusive to PNG, and of course, as a visitor, you have to be streetwise.

There are some things for a tourist to see in Port Moresby, and my favourite by far is PNG Arts. It is an enormous warehouse, just crammed full of all types of handicraft, ranging from phallic shaped salt and pepper shakers to masks, ceremonial daggers to picture boards to tables, carved 2 metre long wooden crocodiles and more. All of the items are made by local people, from the Triobriand Islands (highly prized) to the Highlands, many of them are produced by co-operatives, so at least you know you are supporting the local economy. All of it was eminently affordable, although there were some quite pricey, beautifully carved and intricate pieces. I spent over than half a day just browsing around the dusty objects for sale and could quite happily have sent much more time there.

It is quite a magnet for the expats who come to buy presents to take back when they go home. I got chatting to one of the men who worked there. He was a fascinating Canadian man who has been in PNG for over 30 years, who went there as a bet, from his native Canada, back in the 1960s. He wryly told me about the bet, how all his friends should have gone with him, but one by one, they all dropped out, so he came alone, and has stayed ever since, dabbling in gold mining, timber and coconut plantation management and ended up at PNG Art. I couldn’t resist it, but I bought a whole load of souvenirs from PNG Art and had them crated up and shipped home. My friends (Padmassana included!) were extremely sceptical and joked that I would never see them. But 5 months later, 2 large wooden crates arrived by parcel post, incredulously delivered by a man who said he’d never handled anything from PNG before! It’s a great place, and sadly, it was very difficult to find souvenirs in Rabaul or Kavieng, so I was glad that I had made the visit there and had something to show and give to my friends from PNG.

Other things to do in Port Moresby include a trip to see the Houses of Parliament, there’s some botanical gardens, although I did not visit them, some WW2 remains.

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What is it:Schistosomiasis, also called bilharzia (bill-HAR-zi-a), is a disease caused by parasitic worms. They currently infect over 200m people each year, and the number of people infected increases.

Where am I most likely to catch Bilharzia? Africa: Southern Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Lake Malawi, the Nile River valley in Egypt, Latin America: Brazil, Suriname, Venezuela, Antigua, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Caribbean: Martinique, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia (risk is low), Middle East: Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, Yemen, Southern China, Southeast Asia: Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, Japan, central Indonesia, and the Mekong delta.

How do I get it: by paddling, swimming, washing or drinking fresh water. Fresh water becomes contaminated by Schistosoma eggs when infected people urinate or defecate in the water. The eggs hatch, and if certain types of snails are present in the water, the parasites grow and develop inside the snails. The parasite leaves the snail and enters the water where it can survive for about 48 hours. The schistosoma parasites can penetrate the skin of persons who have contact with the water.

What happens next: within several weeks, worms grow inside the blood vessels of the body and produce eggs. Some of these eggs travel to the bladder or intestines and are passed into the urine or stool.

What are the symptoms: symptoms of schistosomiasis are caused by the body’s reaction to the eggs produced by worms, not by the worms themselves. Within days after becoming infected, you may develop a rash or itchy skin. Fever, chills, cough, and muscle aches can begin within 1-2 months of infection. Most people have no symptoms at this early phase of infection.

How do I cure it: your doctor will ask you to provide stool or urine samples to see if you have the parasite. A blood test has been developed and is available but for accurate results, you must wait 6-8 weeks after your last exposure to contaminated water before the blood sample is taken. Safe and effective drugs are available for the treatment of schistosomiasis. You will be given pills to take for 1-2 days.

How can I prevent getting Bilharzia:

• Don’t swim in infected water
• For washing or bathing, use water that has been heated to 50^oC or more for at least 5 minutes or water chemical disinfected.

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Meeting news from our branches around the world.

A recent New Zealand study of almost 900 passengers has shown that up to one in 100 long-haul fliers could develop blood clots, and wearing compression stockings, taking aspirin and travelling business class may not help.

The press release says: “New Zealand researchers tested almost 900 passengers who took long-haul flights over a six-week period. The subjects travelled for at least 10 hours and each flew an average of 39 hours. They discovered nine cases, four of pulmonary embolism and five of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which involves the formation of blood clots which can cause death if they invade the lungs or brain.

Seventeen percent of the passengers in the study by the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand wore compression stockings to aid circulation. Thirty-one percent took aspirin to thin the blood and reduce the risk of thrombosis”. The conclusion is that all air travellers are at risk and not just those in economy class. The team carrying out the research even suggested renaming ‘economy class syndrome’ to ‘traveller’s thrombosis.’

During recent court action, victims have blamed cramped aircraft cabins for their blood clots and argued that airlines have known of the risks for years but failed to warn people. A British court recently agreed with the airlines, which claimed that DVT was not an accident under the 1929 Warsaw Convention that governs international air travel.

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Meeting News from London

London meeting Saturday 6th March 2004 by Padmasana

This month our first speaker was Anthony Lambert, who talked to us about “Railways on the wild side”. Anthony took us on journey around the globe starting in Patagonia. In Peru we saw trains that travel at altitudes where oxygen is carried on board for the passengers. The train across South Africa’s Garden route may not be that wild, but is certainly beautiful, Padmassana was there at Christmas. The Hejaz railway in the Middle East is certainly wild and until a few years ago a bit lawless. Anthony showed us trains of India serving remote tea plantations and probably the wildest of them all in Pakistan up the Khyber Pass.

Our second speaker was Globetrotters own resident Aussie, Jacqui Trotter. This was part two of Jacqui’s year long trip around South America, where she travelled for the most part with a group by overland truck. This time she showed us Argentina, firstly in Buenos Aires, where she visited Eva Peron’s tomb and explored the colourful Boca area, famous as Maradona’s birthplace. She was lucky enough to visit the fabulous Iguaçu Falls from both the Brazilian and Argentine sides, before visiting a very non descript Brasilia. Jacqui showed us Rio de Janeiro, the Sugar Loaf mountain, Christ statue and the Rio carnival where she partied until 3am with the locals. Her journey continued through Brazil and finally into Venezuela from where she flew back to reality and the Globetrotters committee!

Next month, on Saturday 3^rd April, John Douglas will be talking on Norway’s Arctic Highway, followed by Karen Neale after the break talking about an artist’s journey through World Heritage cities and a 5 month Churchill scholarship on drawing and painting.

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 Globetrotters Info line on +44 (0) 20 8674 6229, or visit the website: www.globetrotters.co.uk

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I decided to go on a safari in Africa – not so unusual. However, all of the travel information I was able to dig up in preparation for this life experience talked about the game drives during the day and the typical you’ll see this many giraffes, this many zebra, this many lion, etc. I was not able to find information on what it was like being out there in your tent in the middle of the night. But I went anyway – not knowing. As it turns out that was my favourite part of the trip.

It’s October, we arrive in Tanzania and eventually make it to our camp deep in the Serengeti – Kusini Camp run by Fred and Carol, who are two of the coolest people my husband and I have ever met. We go out for some game viewing which is great fun, as expected. Evening starts to roll around, we have a great dinner, and then relax by the fire. As we are sitting around the fire listening to Fred’s crazy hunting stories we hear a slight noise to our right. As we look over, the Masai tribesman, who is monitoring the perimeter of the camp for wild animals shines a light on the stone bird bath not but 10 feet away. There is an enormous Cape Buffalo drinking from the birdbath. A magnificent sight up so close. This is when I knew that night time was going to be the best.

Shortly after, the Masai tribesman with rifle in hand, escorts my husband and I back to our tent – fully equipped with a small walkie talkie in case of an emergency. As we settle down for sleep we notice the unbelievably unique quiet surrounding us. It’s deafening quiet, however amongst the quiet you can hear the sounds of Africa. I can’t stand it anymore. I jump up, grab the spotlight provided, and start to survey the land around us through the thin mesh windows of the tent that separate us from them. Under the magnificent light of the stars in the black sky I am able to see an elephant slowly moving toward our tent. He arrives in only a minute or two to graze on the grass surrounding our temporary canvas residence. He is loud when he eats and a bit clumsy fooling around in the bush. But graceful and so close I could smell his dank leathery breath. I know he could charge at any minute if I went out and got in his way, but I feel safe inside and am able to watch him from only a few small feet away.

Later, I wake up to what I consider a roar, and it wasn’t my husband! This immediately provokes me to get out the spotlight again. This time I cannot see anything, not even a set of yellow eyes, but I can hear the roar from time to time. You just know he’s there. I set up shop by the opening to my tent waiting for him to emerge. I slept right there on the wooden floor but never saw him. In any case, this was surreal enough.

The next night I could barely wait to head back to the tents. This time I was ready and wanted the entire wild kingdom at my doorstep. While I lay there I could hear a lion again. I think he came back – maybe he liked it there as much as I did. I kept listening until I finally fell asleep. Fred was able to confirm my suspicions in the morning – there were lions in our camp.

We headed on the 4^th day to a different camp in the Western part of the Serengeti – Kira Wira camp on the Grumeti River. During the night at Kira Wira I was also able to feel the excitement of being out in the wilderness. Again I awaken halfway into the night. This time to watch a hippo casually stroll by our tent and then head over to my Aunt’s tent nearby. The big fellow sauntered through the bush. I couldn’t believe it – up until this point I had only seen their heads in the water.

In the morning our Kira Wira friend came to wake us up with our usual coffee and tea just at sunrise. As he began to leave our porch he was confronted by a small herd of about 10 Cape Buffalo that came to graze by our tent or try to stay safe from the lion and lioness that may start to get hungry again. We were able to watch these buffalo in the faint morning light. They were only a few feet away looking falsely harmless and eating their breakfast.

Our last night we began our tent ritual by sitting on the bed with all of the tent windows zipped open looking out at the darkness. A large bat landed on the meshy “front door”. As it hung out there we watched its quick tiny movements. All of a sudden a long very furry blob leapt up on the door and grabbed the bat, whisking it away into the night. It all happened so fast we are still not sure what kind of 3 foot Civet or Janet it was that had been lurking nearby but it was an amazing close to our last eerie evening.

While the game drives were awe-inspiring across Tanzania, as I am sure they are all over Africa, I have to say that by far the most exciting part of the trip was not knowing what kind of visitor I would have each night and how close they would venture to mingle with this crazy New Yorker.

Kusini Camp info:

P.O. Box 427, Arusha, Tanzania

tel: +255 27 2502143

fax: +255 27 2508273

kmkjmz@optonline.net

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