Best beach in the world (3) is Seven Mile Beach in Grand Cayman. Situated (strangely enough) in the west part of the island, about a 15 minute drive from the capital, George Town. Driving is British style, in other words on the left, and it is preferable to hire a car as the local minibus service can be cramped and infrequent, although cheap. It’s a great place to take children as it is a reasonably safe place. The beach itself is golden yellow is flat and gently sloping ~ no rogue waves here. Activities include sunning, swimming, snorkelling and diving. Most of the hotels and timeshare apartments are also in this area. The only downside is that it can be quite expensive to lodge, eat and drink.

Next month: The Beetle’s Top 3 Wreck Diving sites.

Meeting news from our branches around the world.

Marion Bull gave us a great slide show and hints and tips about how to make good slides. For example, she advises photographers to take slides which do not have large expanses of background or foreground. We learned that travel editors usually want to see slides of people, and Marion gave us some hints and tips about this but showed us some of her favourites which were more slides of objects and landscapes. Marion can be contacted through her website:

Gina Corrigan gave us a talk accompanied by some wonderful slides showing the people and costumes of the Miau in South West China. We also learned a little about the efforts made by the Chinese government to try to preserve some of this amazing heritage. Gina is a photographer/traveller who runs specialist textile tours to China. Gina can be contacted by e-mail on: gina.occidor@virgin.net

Next on June 2^nd

Martin Featherstone travelled to Namibia in February with the intention of seeing the elusive Desert Elephants. Whilst he found the elephants, he lost his bearings and spent two days amongst the beautiful coloured sands of the Namibia Desert. Having successfully extracted himself from that scrape, he was then chased by a bull elephant, which came through his campsite! Martin will show us slides from his Namibia trip in a presentation entitled The Red Deserts of Namibia – A tale of two Stupidities.

Jose Navarro will be talking about his epic journey across Mali entitled Two Wheels to Timbuktu – 2000km cycling across Mali. Jose did this rather amazing journey on his “Interactive Bicycle”. The “Interactive Bicycle” was awarded an “On the Line” Millennium Award by the Millennium Commission. On the Line is a registered charity founded by Oxfam GB, Channel 4 and WorldWide Fund UK with the aim of bringing together people and communities in the eight countries which lie on the Greenwich Meridian Line.

For anyone based in or within easy reach of London, the Globetrotters Club is holding its Annual General Meeting. It takes place at 1.15pm. Any Globetrotter member is welcome to attend. The Chair of the Globetrotter Club will be on hand to discuss events from the past year, achievements and what we hope to achieve in the coming year.

London meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, off Russell Street, Covent Garden WC2B 5EZ, (behind the Fortune Theatre) in at 2.30pm the first Saturday of each month.

Bob Fisher, contributing editor to Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel online & Magazine had the undivided attention of our New York branch, writes New York Chair, Laurie Blumenfeld. He gave great insights as to how to break into the travel writing industry, as well as what to think about in terms of shaping a story when on the road. He then went on to share some fascinating stories about his life while living in Japan, India and London. The fun really began when a spontaneous round-table chat started about travelling in Asia. Once again, Bob gave some helpful hints: did you know you can buy an air-purifier to wear around your neck? Handy for the polluted roads in Nepal and India! Bob can be contacted on: email:BobHaru@aol.com.

Next month, by popular demand, Laurie will be holding a travel networking session so you can ask and answer each other’s travel questions!

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 4pm.

The next meeting will be held on Friday 25th May (the fourth Friday, due to Bank holidays and long weekends). Bruce Weber will be showing his slides on a road trip from California to Toronto and also a visit to Cuba. Sounds pretty good! Vera Blowers, one of the founding members will be holding the annual picnic in her back yard in July ~ all are welcome! For further information about Ontario meetings, please contact: Ontario@globetrotters.co.uk

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 Ontario at 8.00 p.m.

By popular demand, here is a circuit of Eire beginning and ending in Dublin. The best time of year to go to Ireland is in June or September as it is less crowded than the peak months of July and August. The best way to get around is by car as this allows you to stop in places that are off the beaten track, plus many places are not connected by public transport.

This itinerary includes towns, castles, bogs, coastal scenery, mountains, valleys, streams, megaliths and remains of monasteries. To do this trip justice, you would at least 10 days, but you could cut it down to say one week. Each destination is not exhaustive ~ en route, you will see many signposts identifying interesting places that are definitely worth a look.

Dublin is a good starting point and you should spend at least two days here. It is a very walkable city and there is a great deal to see and do: museums, art galleries, shopping, a Guinness brewery, the castle etc. For those interested in tracing their ancestry, the Heraldic Museum is a must.

Drive west on the N4 and N6 from Dublin to Athlone, visit the castle there and make this your base for a couple of nights, to explore the Irish Midlands around the River Shannon and Lough Ree. You must visit the remains of Clonmacnoise, Ireland’s most important monastic site. From Athlone continue west on the N6 to Galway City on the west coast, and base yourself here for a couple of nights. Galway is a pretty city with narrow streets and a good nightlife. From here, you should make a day trip north west on the N59 to Connemara, a beautiful area of valleys, mountains, bogs, lakes and streams ~ chill out, relax and savour that fresh country air!

Another day trip or longer visit can be made from Galway City by ferry across to one (or all!) of the Aran Islands – Inishmor, Inishmaan and Inisheer. From Galway, drive south to Burren via Dunguaire Castle and prepare to do some walking. The Buren is an area, 25 miles wide and 15 miles long situated between Kilfenora and Kinvarra. Here you will find an amazing array of ancient walls, megalithic tombs, stone forts and beautiful glacial landscape. To make the most of this, by all means drive around in this area, but you must also get out of your car and have a good wander! You should also make a trip south to the Cliffs of Moher before heading south on the N85 and N18 to Limerick, a historic city (featured in Angela’s Ashes), on the River Shannon.

From Limerick, take the N21 southwest towards Tralee (don’t stay here), and to the Dingle Peninsula, Ireland’s western most point. Choose somewhere to stay so that you can spend time exploring mountains, valleys, streams, windy little roads, deserted beaches etc. This area is one of the Beetle’s favourite parts of Ireland. A trip to the Blasketts is also a pleasant way to spend a day. From the Dingle peninsula, make your way south on the N70 to Killorglin, the start of the Ring of Kerry which is 180 km and takes about 3-4 hours to drive without stopping, and ends at Kenmare. It’s all about the Mountains of Kerry, valleys, dramatic coastal scenery, castles and monasteries and is an absolute must! From Kenmare, continue up the N70, north to Killarney where on a good day you can see Macgillicuddy’s Reeks, Ireland’s highest mountains and stay the night. From Killarney, head east on the N22 to Cork, making a quick stop to kiss the Blarney Stone at Blarney Castle.

From Cork, head north on the N8 to Cashel to see the Rock of Cashel ~ a magnificent stone fort with 200ft high walls. From here, head east on the N24 to Waterford, home of the famous Waterford crystal. From Waterford, take the N11 back north to Dublin via Glendalough, set in the wooded valley of the Two Lakes. If you are a fan of the TV series, Ballykissangel, then you should also stop at Avoca before going to Glendalough.

Please contact Beetle@globetrotters.co.ukfor your suggested country itinerary although the Beetle regrets that she cannot draw up itineraries for individuals.

Evan recommends visitors to Britain to see the intricately carved 15th century ceiling beam (remnant of original rood screen) in the church in Llangattock Lingoed near Abergavenny, Wales. Visit the friendly owners, Alan and Liz Evans at the remote Star Inn, Llansoy, near Raglan, Wales, and to capture the mystique of Avebury, enter the monument along West Kennett Avenue. Evan also just completed a walk following Offa’s Dyke on the Welsh/English border. Despite the foot and mouth scare that is currently blighting our otherwise beautiful country, he says that although he had to keep to the tarmac, it was a small price to pay for a wonderful time.

For all those cyclists out there, the founder of the Globetrotters Club, Norman Ford is an avid cyclist and has a web site: www.ktc.com/~blodwen which urges readers to tour the world by bicycle on their own. To give some ideas, he lists reports on about a dozen bike tours or bike vacations he’s taken in the past 5 years.

But the real heart of the site is the menu link to “Helpful Websites for Bicycle Touring” which links to just about every website for self-reliant bike tourists he could find and covers the world.

Moreover, if you are interested in knowing a little more about the history of the Globetrotters Club, when you go to Norm’s web site, have a look at the link at the bottom called www.globetrotters.co.uk which gives you an idea of what he’s been up to since 1945! It’s great reading!

Norm is happy to answer e-mail queries except during the fourth quarter of the year when he is away travelling the world by bicycle ~ now there’s an offer! Norm’ can be contacted via his web site.

Arizona: Grand Canyon Nat Park, California: Redwood Nat Park, Yosemite

Colorado: Anasazi Indian dwellings at Mesa Verde

Florida: The Everglades Nat Park

Kentucky: Mammoth Nat Park

Missouri: Cahokia Mounds ~ pre Colombian civilisation ruins

North Carolina and Tennessee: Great Smoky Mountains Nat Park

New Mexico: remains of the Chaco culture (1020 to 1110), Carlsbad Caverns Nat Park now some 81 recognised caves!

New York: the Statue of Liberty

Pennsylvania: Independence Hall in Philadelphia

Virginia: Monticelleo and the University of Virginia – architecture of Thomas Jefferson

Washington State: Olympic Nat Park

Wyoming: Yellowstone Nat Park