The still cameras flash, the video cameras turn, the crowd press forward – Old Compton St. in Soho half closed off. Nothing new about this – It could be an event anywhere anytime but it wasn’t. This was the unveiling of Westminster’s latest Green plaque – see picture right complete with a picture of the author himself! The plaque commemorates the original 2 i’s Coffee Bar – where Skiffle and early British Rock ‘N Roll was born (1956-1970).

This pack of cameras, were not pointing at some youthful stars or celebrities but at a grey brigade of the young at heart. Amongst musicians and singers were: Sir Cliff Richard, Chas McDevitt, Jim Sullivan, Vince Eager, Wee Willie Harris, John Pilgrim, Bruce Welch plus too many others to mention. Fans also came from as far away as Jersey to relive their days of youthful fun either playing or being part of the packed, hot, hand jiving audience – A death trap if there ever had been a fire and would not now be permitted by ‘Health and Safety’, but we loved it.

This day was so successful that the ‘Tales From The Woods’ Roots Music Magazine, has booked the 100 Club, in Oxford Street, for the 28th Jan. 2007 for a tribute to the 2 I’s and the Coffee bar scene in the 1950’s.

So I’m trying to track down some of the ‘Blue Jeans’ – see the photo left – and their fans and I know that some of them read the GT E-News in both California and Australia, because they have contacted me in the past but alas my computer has crashed many times and I have lost their addresses over the time. So I need to know – Where are they now? Guitarists, George Plumber, Bob Mills (Londoners) and Les Vas (Goa) are the last of the group to be contacted as Michael Fogarty (T-Chest Bass) and I (Drums) are already in touch.

As one of my friends says “You are only young twice” – So go for it and join us jumping and jiving at the 100 Club in Oxford Street – Let the good times roll as the rest of our big adventure continues into middle age!

About the author Tony Annis: Have camera will travel. Over the top but not yet over the hill. Past sixty five and still alive, my get up and go has not entirely got up and gone – like good whisky, I’m still going strong. Travelling through these global villages of ours is great adventure but to me it is the people that make this wonderful world, as well as the exotic places that I love to visit. See you over the next horizon, Tony.

Being ‘shaked, rattled and rolled’ round this exciting city in the 584 bus that seems to cover nearly all the main parts of the south of Rio at a breakneck speed. Laranjeiras to Leblon via Botafogo-Copacabana and Ipanema all for about 20p. A bus that stops to pick you up anywhere on route if it is at all possible and drops you as near to your destination as possible it can. The 584 does this probably to maximise the passenger’s numbers for its owners and it is no doubt against ‘Heath & Safety’ but I liked it! Another one I liked. The fact you can call collect, from the beaches and all round the boroughs by using the ‘Big Ear’ telephones (Orelhï¿Â½o). These telephones are to Rio, like the red tel. box is to London – So a mobile is less necessary than in London.

A magazine sent me to Rio a short time ago and I also made a private visit of four months last summer, so I thought I would let the GT Club members know of some of my favourite haunts.

Fruit Juice bars are around all over the place. Polis Sucos is one such place, in Rua Maria Quiterial, Ipanema open 6am to midnight. The bar staff vying with each other in trying to tell us their favourite fruit cocktails- Such as “papaya with orange” enthuses one. “Nï¿Â½o, mango and strawberry” shouts another. Livia, a customer joins in. Breaking away from her juice, this Carioca charmer says, “passion fruit and mango is where it’s at. Have we tried it? Can she buy us one? Are we enjoying Rio”? Adam Baines and I finally leave having bought four fruit cocktails and spent nearly £2-50. The staff of this bar are always trying to outdo other bars in freshness and service. Another favourite bar, in Leme – ‘Sindicato do Chopp’ (Union of draught beers) Avenida Atlantica 3806, opens early until very late. Not only great beer but also very good food at value prices just opposite the beach, a place, for locals, surfers, footballers and the bikini crowd gather to have fun, Carioca’s love to say, “The father makes the money in Sao Paulo and the son blows it on good times in Rio” all of course talking about everything except work that four letter word, that is like illness – It happens but why mention it? I have watched the dawn rise in this friendly bar, after many a night on the town, a good pit stop as I wound my weary way home.

The city built around large rocks by Guanabara Bay and its famous beaches. Looking down from the Sugar Loaf towards the metropolis, on the right, at the foot of this massif sheer rock, I once climbed it, way back when I was nearly young, called in Portuguese ‘Pï¿Â½o de Aï¿Â½Ãƒ¯Ã‚¿Ã‚½car’: are the still waters of the Rio Yacht Club and the fashionable, safe borough of ‘Urca’. Strike out to the left and after the small Praia Vermelha, then you pass Leme, one of my favourite beaches in a district that is of mixed incomes, like Notting Hill Gate (of a few years ago) but by the sea. Copacabana, where I grew up as a young boy with surfing and football on the beach has changed for the worst. Prostitutes everywhere and Large Five Star Hotels that dwarf the beautiful ‘Copacabana Palace’. More Police and private security than anywhere else, to no doubt protect the Tourist Trade! Arpoador, a big rock sticking out into the sea – Join hundreds of people and TV Crews from around the world watch the Sun go down over Ipanema, Leblon – Finally as the cloak of darkness spreads over you, hear the sound of the watchers on the rock clapping the gorgeous sunset. Ipanema and Leblon are two very good beaches. Ipanema, so very expensive because only two Kilometres in depth, has the great beach in front and a lovely lake with its cycle track all round it, right behind, then past that, the Statue of Christ and mountains. Leblon is the Knightsbridge of Rio, even richer than Ipanema, full of Bankers, business people and yet it is here – In the heart of rich man’s Rio that we find the altar of the poor man’s drink, ‘cachaï¿Â½a’.

Distilled from humble sugar cane syrup, it helps the poor forget the hell of their worst hours. Cachaï¿Â½a, mixed with ice, lime and sugar, it becomes caipirinha – A great drink to give you a lift before going out, clearing your mind or even blowing your mind if you drink too much! Academia de Cachaï¿Â½a, Rua Conde Bernadotte 26, open midday to 3am, this is very best place to have the best cachaï¿Â½a with a choice of over seventy different types and barmen who really know how to mix the cocktails.

A crowded cycle track, the sun beating down, tanned youths with surf boards attached to their bikes, the sound of waves breaking on the beach, beautiful people, cycling, skating and jogging all around me – In fact on Sundays a three lane highway is closed by the beaches to enable the thousands of Cariocas to have enough room to move about in their various ways. Stop to have a cold beer, coconut or juice or watch some volley, as you cycle along this thirty Kilometre track beside the perfect sandy beaches. To go to beaches further out in the Barra, take the Surf bus that leaves ‘Largo do Machado’ twice a day and drops you off at the beach of your choice past Leblon and then brings you back later in afternoon.

A lagoa (the Lake) behind Ipanema is just the place to go at night to have a low cost drink, meal and sometimes music in the various Kiosks near the water. But for a very special meal in a very good restaurant with ambiance and a perfect view over the start of Rio’s Jockey Club’s flood lit race track – with live music some days of the week – Three styles of food, Japanese, Pizza and European/Brazilian. Centro Gastronï¿Â½mico Victoria, Rua Mï¿Â½rio Ribeiro 410, Jockey Club Brasileiro, open from 2030 hrs, http://www.complexovictoria.com.br – Prices vary depending what you eat and drink but about average without drink 30$ a head. Less for Pizza than Lobster! Well worth a visit for a special night out. I love it and recommend it.

Finally, tucked into the arches of a viaduct at the bottom of Santa Tereza, that runs the last of Rio’s trams, that like the Routemaster in London, it will soon unfortunately disappear. So if you can – Take an exciting ride on this archaic yellow tram in the day time. This is also the bohemian/hippy club centre and a fantastic fun centre of music bars with low prices that goes on until whenever! Soon It’s 3am and how many caipirinias? So, do yourself a favour, don’t take the bus and be shaken and rolled !! – Pick up a taxi and get safely dropped back to where you are staying. That’s if you can still remember where you are staying?

About the author Tony Annis: Have camera will travel. Over the top but not yet over the hill. Past sixty five and still alive, my get up and go has not entirely got up and gone – like good whisky, I’m still going strong. Travelling through these global villages of ours is great adventure but to me it is the people that make this wonderful world, as well as the exotic places that I love to visit. See you over the next horizon, Tony.

This year I received quite an unusual Christmas card from Myrna & Gene, who I’d met whilst sailing aboard the Soren Larssen in the Pacific Ocean – they related some of their latest adventures and I thought I share some of them with you, as there’s plenty of travel related detail in what they had to say. The Ant!!

As we were in South Africa at Christmas, our greetings to all of you are a little late! We were gone from mid-Oct. until the end of Jan. sailing as crew from Madagascar to Mozambique through part of the Bazarito Archipelago and on to Maputo, the capital of Mozambique before heading to Richards Bay & Durban in South Africa. The sailing vessel we were on was a 40′ sloop named “Juno” captained by Tom Hildebrandt, who had been on the boat since he bought it in Australia in 2004. School teacher Frances from San Francisco joined us in Madagascar and participated as crew until we reached Maputo. We helped with all manner of jobs whilst on board – from sailing the boat, scrubbing decks as well as the sides of the boat, stood watch, baked bread, cook meals, washed clothes in buckets on deck and helped with repairs as directed by the skipper.

On a small boat quarters are cramped, water is at a premium and mainly used for drinking & cooking, refrigeration is very limited and provisions are shopped for & brought to the dinghy and taken to the boat at anchor. On boats there is always something breaking down…just in the time that we were aboard “Juno” the boom broke off the mast, the windlass for bringing up the anchor chain quit working, the water intake plugged and the engine overheated & part of it melted! As a result we stayed tied up to the wharf in Richards Bay for a month while most of the major repairs were made. During this time Gene and I took off for two weeks to explore inland. Lyn from Malule Safaris took us to some wonderful nature reserves and escorted us personally through Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park, Dumazulu Cultural Village, the greater St. Lucia Wetland Estuary & Reserve and Kruger National Park. We saw white rhinoceros’s, elephants, giraffes, zebras, wildebeests, cape buffalo, hippos, crocodiles, nyala, duikers, water buck, warthogs, baboons, monkeys, hyenas, elands, steinboks, lions, leopards, and a great variety of birds. We also went up to the pinnacle at Blyde River Canyon to see the spectacular view from what is called God’s window. The day after our tour was completed Lyn took us to the farm where she grew up to meet her mom and dad and they invited us for Christmas dinner. What a treat!!!

We spent 6 days and nights at Imhambri Lodge in Meerensee which was a delightful place to stay. From here we were able to walk to the Methodist Church close by for a Christmas carol sing-a-long and a potluck Christmas morning service. They truly made us feel welcome. Back to the boat by the end of December and after two weeks we reached Durban, where we again were able to tie up to the wharf. Here we made friends with a number of the other yachties and were able to take real showers at their club. We also took a couple of day tours – one to The Giants Castle in the Drakensburg mountains to see the San bushman rock art paintings from thousands of years ago and the other to explore historic Pietermaritzburg & Howick Falls. The big thrill was to be zip lined on a canopy tour over the Karkloof falls and forest – what a ride harnessed and zipping along on the cable to eight different platforms.

We decided to get off the boat on 16th January and caught the backpackers Baz Bus to Capetown, where we had a marvellous eight days in Cape Town and then two days in Simons Town on the beach. Our spots visited list included the top of Table Mountain in the Cable Cars, a winery tour and walk through the Kristenbosch Botanical Gardens. There are frequent power outages in Cape Town and one night the tourists in the cable cars had to be rescued by the Search & Rescue team by crawling out the hatch on the top of the car and then being lowered down in harnesses & ropes to safety far below! Eating conjured up a number of good restaurants – my favourite being “Mama Africa” where I had crocodile kabobs and Gene had springbok steak! Our last two days were spent near the beach at Top Sails lodge in Simons Town where The Boulders National Park, spending a delightful day on the beach with the penguins, protected by the large boulders so the wind which always blows wasn’t quite as strong.

Love and have a very happy New Year! Myrna and Gene

I realise that in my first edition I spoke of starting with six publishes a year… I have had good encouragement from a band of regular contributors and positive feedback from readers– this has led me to believe I can up the pace a little. However I’m not going to get all complacent because I need to immediately apologise to Chris Hampden for losing his article “Spotlight on… Hampden’s travel blog”, from the January edition. Somehow it went missing from the draft and failed to make it into the final publish !! Anyway read away and leave Chris your thoughts on his blog…

A sadder task is to note the death of Sir Edmund Hillary, who died on 11 January 2008. Many of you will have read a range of obituaries, some like the UK Guardian newspaper’s http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,2239122,00.html which painted a broader picture of his life or some like the BBC’s version, http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3740536.stm, which focused his Everest achievement. I didn’t know the man but like many I’m fascinated & envious of the being first to top of the world, and I was quite touched as the Royal Geographical Society observed a minute’s silence at the following Monday night lecture. Do any of you have any stories or anecdotes about EH that you’d like to share… on what you send me, I’ll try to include the most original ?

And what are your travel plans for 2008… Which destinations are firing you imaginations, causing you to spend hours surfing the internet or reading guide books & maps ? And why are you choosing these destinations – what is the attraction ? Let me know your thoughts & plans… if you need some additional help, we can provide via the eNewsletter. One such person who is after travel advice is Eleanor – see Write in (1)… in small groups by Eleanor H Borkowski for her requests.

Another person on the move is Tony Annis – long time and very active member of the Globetrotters Club ! Tony is organising a trip to Brazil this July and is potentially looking for a few more adventurous people to join his very individual & very local tour. As to what his trip is about, well in his own words:-

“Basic idea London to Rio de Janeiro, a couple of days in Rio before setting off to Brasilia to change planes to arrive Rio Branco in the State of Acre. The next day pick up air taxi to Marachel Thaumaturgo. Across the river is The Ashaninka College of the Forest. A few days there (Festival on the 24th July). Moving on down to the village by canoe – around the village and further up river for the more adventurous to a water fall (a couple of days camping under the stars in the forest). Back in Rio de Janeiro by 6th August and free time or I take you to sample some of Rio’s fantastic night life ( Not expensive).”

I understand that the three plus weeks of a unique insight into Brazil is likely to cost in the region of £2000 and will include international flights from the UK and most accommodation. Talk to Tony at tony@annis.co.uk for more exact details and the chance to join in something quite different.

Hot of the press – Walking the Amazon : the world’s largest and longest river !!

Ed Stafford & Luke Collyer’s aim to be the first men to walk the length of the Amazon unsupported and unguided. I think that these guys are tops this month for adventurous travels in 2008,so far ! Enjoy their experiences of their journey at www.walkingtheamazon.com and who knows maybe when they return we might be able to welcome them to a London Branch meeting to share more of their time & what they found. Hopefully in the next eNewsletter I’ll be able to print more details of the launch party and the guy’s progress…

Enjoy your eNewsletter and keep feeding back on what your read…

The Ant

Mac is still not very well but is still e-mailing strong. In this month’s Globetrotter e-newsletter, he writes about American Samoa, his friend Frank adds some of his reminiscences about British Samoa and other random thoughts on travels that we love to hear about.

Sending picture postcards to self. For a while when travelling overseas I would go to a department store or cheapest place to buy picture postcards or go to travel bureau and see if they hand any free ones.

I would usually put down name of cheap budget place I stayed and how much and anything else I might forget and would have the foreign stamp on card date etc. This was before e mail. Unfortunately I wrote so small on some of the cards that I can’t make out what pertinent information I wanted to save, but here’s some notes that I made that I can read.

Apia Western Samoa, November 20 1978. Stayed first night at Hotel Tiafu US $19.26 and then moved next door to Appian Way Nala US $11.6l. The owner of the budget place was the sister of a famous sister that owned a more famous more expensive place in Apia.

In WWII Michener met this sister and supposedly got the idea for one of his characters in his South Pacific tales. Anyway, my landlady told me of a trip she and sister took to Rome to have an audience with the Pope (one for the public.) A friend of mine here in Washington DC who was a travel agent had booked an around the world trip for one of the officials in Western Samoa and had asked him to look after me. Mr Pinata Ah Ling, ex member of Agriculture.

He took me to beautiful government sponsored Hotel Tusitala (teller of tales) and then across the island to a beach where some of South Pacific was filmed etc. We passed cattle under Coconut Tree project. Samoans dressed in white carrying bibles were on the way to church where they sing beautifully. I was told Samoa has the most churches per capita of anyplace on earth including Rome. There was a new brewery operated by a German brew master. Valima (pure water,) was the name of Robert L Stevenson’s home on W Samoa.

Later while on my own a laughing Samoan policeman told me that Samoans consider it discourteous to drink or eat while walking. He was not reprimanding me but using this piece of information to open up a conversation with me. An American was running the Returned Serviceman’s Club instead of a Samoan veteran. To keep club open, they took in associate members that had not been in the service. He told me that he taught the children of man that befriended me and that this gentleman was dying and that is why he took a trip around the world and why so much of his conversation was about religion and how we should all try to get along. I am glad I got to meet him. If you write picture postcards to yourself write more legibly than I did.

Frank, also an American retired serviceman adds to Mac’s e-mail: British Samoa was one of the finest places in the Pacific. I was there from December 1942 to May 1943, then went to American Samoa to June 1943 next to Wallis Island French Polynesia and then in October 1943 back to American Samoa for one month, then to Maui until January 1944. I left there and went to Marshall’s for combat etc.

British Samoa was a great place. Frank explains that the woman who ran the expensive place in Apia was Aggie Grey. She was the girl friend of MG Charles F. B. Price, CG of Samoan area. He used to send his PBY, (airplane) over Apia to bring her over to his place in Am Samoa.

I still speak a little Samoan. It came in handy in early 90’s when I was working in Hawaii. A lot of Samoans live there. When they found out I could speak some Samoan they couldn’t do enough for me. I like British Samoa better than any place I was in WWII. When someone died, there would be a feast and I would go out to the village Luemwinga, can’t spell it, that is a phonetic version. It was about two miles from airport. If I heard the drums being beaten, they actually were hollowed out logs, I could tell which were from Luemwinga. I would go out to the village and go in the bush and shoot a couple pigs for them. I always made it to the feast. I was sort of adopted by the village. Have never been back to British Samoa but have passed through American Samoa several times, last time in December 1999. I could tell you many tales about the place…

Mac is a huge fan of Lew Toulmin who wrote book The Most Travelled Man on Earth wrote about a rare British (Scottish) Medal, The Order of the Thistle which is granted to only sixteen distinguished Scotsmen, making it the probably the most exclusive order in the world.

In one chapter of his book, he wrote about the last Japanese soldier hiding out in Guam – seeing Guam the hard way, living twenty eight years in a hole. The ironies of his situation are amazing. While Yoki crouched in his cave, planeloads of Japanese tourists arrived every hour delighted to sun themselves on Guam’s beaches just miles from his cave.

Within nine months of his return to Japan he married a younger woman. They took their honeymoon where many Japanese couples do – on Guam. His call up letter in Japan had read, “Leave home as if you were going out for a stroll. Do not pack. Do not say goodbye to your family.”

Nearby Johnston Atoll is a chemical weapons facility southwest of Hawaii and run by the US government and Raytheon. The only way to really see the island is to get a degree in chemical warfare and join Raytheon.

One time I wrote a fan letter to a deal lady that travelled on her own in China and wrote book I Never Heard the Temple Bells. She answered that she was leaving that morning driving to California.

Another interesting nugget: I read somewhere that Paul Warren of Pitcairn Island descendent of Fletcher Christian has two necklaces that include nails from HMS Bounty.

If you would like to get in touch with Mac, he is happy to correspond by e-mail when he is well. His e-mail address is: macsan400@yahoo.com

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New regime, new management, new ideas! Only taking over the show from last November, so how did it work out? Did they rejuvenate it or did they blow it?

The Photographic competition exhibition was gone, bad news – good news the sound system was much improved in all the talk areas. Travel lecture open theatres, did well for Nomad and even attracted more audience. Not so good for lectures using slides but I’m told made little difference for the ones who used digital presentations.

Amongst Gap year, and the sports adventure stands were others that believed in sustainable tourism; in fact, now a days all companies say they believe in this type of tourism; some I believe more than others! Dragon Overland, Queensland and even Gap for grown ups, were among the many exhibitors.

Wanderlust Magazine, Editor in Chief, Lyn Hughes led from the front by not only by having her large stand but also by putting her travel Advice Theatre next to it and importantly kept the sides covered to concentrate attention on her speakers and it worked very well in her case.

The Globetrotters Club had their own Travel Advisor Stand, (see picture left with some of our members and committee members) a little bit more out of the way than usual but it received many visitors and I hope new members. Personally I spoke to several who said they would check out the web site and think about joining. Dick Curtis who runs the London Globetrotter meetings (see photo below right) as usual did sterling work and organized everything with the new management. The members and committee covered the three days, each of them with an expertise in some part of the world or other.

Guys and girls from Adez fruit juice kept us supplied with cold juice which made up for the fact that food and drink is so expensive at the show. As is the custom with the Globetrotters Club, after the event in the evening, Matt our chair, guided us to a fine pub behind Olympia, without the aid of GPS and a compass – later I rolled off my bus outside my flat and thought a good night was had by all.

The climbing wall and the diving pool were good to see but I think the show lacked a few visual events; otherwise it is too much like one stand after the other. All the exhibitors were on hand to help or cajole us into going on to some amazing trip or other. Plus presentations on nearly every place you could wish to visit.

Visitor numbers seemed a bit down, but the new regime (ATS Events, UK Ltd) is going to have a few more visitor participant companies in next year’s show, and that they will start to plan for this, as this year’s show ends.

How did it work out? I think the jury still out but as they only had from November to plan and as they are continuing the rejuvenation process, we will know by next years Adventure Show. Every show of every type, whether west end musical or travel show, needs a shake up now and again as nothing can stay the same without starting to look tired and the boring. Visitors need to think they need to come every year and not just once every five years or so.

About the author Tony Annis: have camera will travel. Over the top but not yet over the hill. Past sixty five and still alive, my get up and go has not entirely got up and gone – like good whisky, I’m still going strong. I am always available for writing and photography commissions and still work professionally in journalism and broadcasting.

See you over the next horizon, Tony, e-mail: tony@annis.co.uk

While thinking of ways to celebrate Globetrotters’ Club’s 60th anniversary we came up with the idea of awarding people who have been members for 30 years or more, with a certificate. Our President, Janet Street-Porter has signed 17 certificates.

Using my own membership of exactly 30 years I was able to use my membership number of 1202 as a useful gauge. However, some members ended up with new numbers if they renewed slightly late at one point in our club’s history and the original numbers were destroyed. So, if you are one of these people and you know you joined before 1976 then please contact me: e11fdj@yahoo. co. uk We offer our sincere apologies to anyone omitted from the list below.

At our London meeting on 7th January 2006 we presented the certificates to those there, the rest will be sent out. One member, who was omitted deserves a special mention. She has been coming to our meetings in London for many years and has been a member since 1968. Joan McConn will receive her own presentation at a future meeting.

The list of long serving members:

• Norman Ford
• Jean Clough
• Betty Dawes (Browning)
• Joan McConn
• Susan Mew
• Anne Ross
• Isabel Ramsay
• Margaret Hayward
• John Baker
• John and Julie Batchelor
• Jill Dunisthorpe
• Sylvia McMaster
• Francesca Jaggs
• John Barnes
• Winifred Manders
• Malcolm Kier
• Irene Richards

We dragged ourselves ever upwards and onwards, I thought my get up and go, with the help of Guarana and good whisky was still going strong; but rather than over the hill – I was finding it difficult too even get up this hill! My friends and I were on a steep walk that was just short of being able to be described as a climb – fifty minutes of mud steps, not cut out but worn into the so called path by travellers over the years, always at least eighteen inches in height. We climbed through a rising rain forest of trees and roots that would make their way up to a cold pool that was fed by a lovely waterfall, the highest of two that finally spilled their waters into the rushing river below. The roots would act as handholds or footholds as we dragged ourselves up from the 35ºC at the start to a comfortable 27ºC at the top. This was the sort of tough but pleasant tramp that would be banned by Heath and Safety committees in the UK, but with care, no problem for anyone at all, not even for me! My companions were two lady lawyers, a female translator and a fit young man, arrogant and confident, much as I must have been at his time of life.

My brother had recommended me to visit Boissucanga, locally known as ‘Boi’ and stay in a lovely rustic house owned by ‘Jenny’ not far from the beach in this yet as unspoilt resort, used by ‘Paulistas’ as a weekend escape from their large pulsating city that is the driving engine not only of Brazil but also of the whole of South America. Around three hours drive from Sao Paulo or about nine from Rio de Janeiro, Boi is to the south, just passed Ilha Bella, near Sao Antonio. Boi comes after the fashionable towns of the ‘Costa Verde’, therefore much cheaper to stay, much less crowded and practically no foreign tourists. There is always a place to stay, whatever the size of your budget – Extremely well designed 5* small Hotels (for example Juquey Praia Hotel – R$ 300 [with breakfast] R$ 390 [with breakfast and dinner] per day); Pousadas [Guest Houses] (various standards of simplicity, from R$ 100 to R$ 200 per day) as well as Jenny’s very reasonably priced rustic haven (self- contained houses at R$100 per day).

No crowds on very different beaches, some with waves and some calm and the three Islands just offshore, make this just the resort to take some time out! Not to say there is nothing to do!

The three islands provide perfect picnic beaches, not spoilt by vendors of any type. We took our own beer, sandwiches, prawns and fruit. We swam, went snorkelling and generally explored the small area but mostly wallowed in the warm clear water. A short, pleasant, forty minute boat ride from the mainland and costing only about £6-00 a head to taken there and then to be picked up again in the late afternoon. Two days of my visit I spent enjoying myself on these relaxing three Islands.

Boissuganga, itself a small simple town but with a bank I was able to draw money out of with my plastic from its electronic cashier (Bradesco Bank). A curved empty beach, calm water, excellent simple bars right down by the water side with marvellous fish, prawns meals straight out of the sea and on to your table -The sound of the sea lapping on the shore, mixing with the gentle playing of guitars at the start of sunset. The splash of yellow and gold of the sky, reflecting off the locals as well as the water and the sound of their clapping as the sun went down and day turned into night.

This was the signal for the waterside bar (Parati), to awaken and the sound of Brazilian Popular Music, to drift across the moonlit beach. Brazilians love to party and as usual many of them joined in the singing – Dancing is something you cannot stop them doing once they hear the sound of exciting music.

Two of the evenings I thought I would pop out for a dance and though a small town, there were always three or four places one could go to dance. Music of all different types in Bistro bars round the town where I could dance the night away or least until the early hours of the morning, after which I would stagger home, not drunk, just exhausted from having such a good time with my lovely companions.

As I gathered my thoughts together, sitting on the bus awaiting it to start my journey back to Rio de Janeiro. I had made sure it was taking the coast road and I was sitting on the seaside of the coach so that I could see this lovely coast line as I made my way back north up the ‘Costa Verde’

Every now and again I discover or hear of a gem of a place, still not exploited or spoilt and I pass them on to the Globetrotters Club via the e-news or GT Magazine. So guys, Boissucanga is another such place – Why not, just go for it!

Send Jenny an e-mail for more information. jennym@uol. com. br & boijmr@aol. com .

All photos © by Tony Annis.

Meeting news from our branches around the world.

July’s London meeting took place on the other side of Covent Garden at The Concert Artists Association, due to the building work at our usual Church of Scotland venue. The September meeting will also take place there, as the building work continues. The meeting was an opportunity for 8 club members to take us on a digital journey around the globe.

Kevin Brackley started the show with a trip through Iran and Pakistan, we saw Tehran’s big square and the ex US Embassy before taking in the beauty of the Esfahan mosques, the now destroyed city of Bam and some interesting roads in Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan where he tried his hand at firing an AK47 Kalashnikov.

Sue Baker then took us east to Nepal, where she flew into Lukla and then trekked to show us wonderful mountain Monasteries and the Himalaya, including Mount Everest, staying in stone built mountain huts along the way. Sue finished in Katmandu, home to colourful Buddhist stupas and Pottery Square.

Sheila Nicholls showed us another high altitude destination, Chile and the Atacama Desert, visiting San Pedro, the regions main town, from where she saw brilliant red coloured volcanoes. The Atacama region is also home to blinding white salt flats, places making furniture from cactus wood and the spectacular El Tatio geysers.

Raymond Martin brought us back across the Atlantic to Romanian Danube delta. This corner of Europe squashed between the Black Sea and Ukraine is not connected to the European road system and as such is mainly only accessible by boat. No doubt it is this inaccessibility that has contributed to it being a world heritage area that is home to more than 300 types of wildlife. Ray showed us the navigable rivers including the 1991 shipwreck of The Vostock.

After the break it was Globies resident Aussie Jacqui Trotter to take us down under for a trip she made with her Dad from Darwin back to her home in New South Wales. Her trip was at the start of the wet season which meant she saw water cascading off Uluru and the Todd River in Alice Springs with water in! She also showed us Katherine Gorge and The Devils Marbles, huge roadside boulders in the middle of nowhere. Jacqui showed us the now running again Ghan train snaking its way along before ending back at the Blue Mountains in NSW.

Rosalie Bolland’s fascination with waterfalls took her on an organised trip to see the Angel falls in Venezuela, we saw the actual aircraft that Jimmy Angel crash landed on top of the falls. Rosalie got some great views flying over the falls in a light aircraft and the taking a boat to see them from closer up, though the falls are so large she had difficulty getting them into one photograph.

Neil Harris took us back to the sub continent to visit Bangladesh, showing us that in fact it is not all just flooded as out TV pictures seem to show us there is some higher ground there, with markets and towns such as Cox’s Bazaar, where the people were fascinated by seeing their picture on his digital camera. Neil’s pictures showed us happy smiling people and some great beaches.

Ernest Flesch transported us to Yemen in the Middle East, we saw Palaces in the capital Sana’a, where the locals spend their afternoons chewing qat. Out in the desert of wadi hadramat we saw mud brick skyscrapers and mosques with red and white minarets and not forgetting camels. The men all carried arms and knives, which were on display in the shops, though don’t know how Ernest managed to sneak those back into the UK!

Many thanks to all the members who made it a very enjoyable afternoon.

By Padmassana

September’s meeting will take place on 3rd September at a change to our usual venue: Concert Artistes Association 20 Bedford Street Covent Garden London WC2E 9HP Start 3.00 pm

Jules Stewart will be talking about “The North-West Frontier and the Men who guard the Khyber Pass” Jules is a former Reuter’s reporter – now freelance and author of ” The Khyber Rifles: from the British Raj to Al Queda” and now working on a book about the Pundits.

After the break, Juliet Coombe will talk about “Sir-Lanka post-Tsunami – In a crisis, EVERYONE counts !” Juliet is a very busy freelance travel writer, photographer and publisher and more. She cleared her desk and flew to Sri Lanka to work as a volunteer with a charity group. A subsequent photographic exhibition was a complete sell out, and will build a heap of houses.

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

We are sorry to say that for the time being, New York meetings are suspended as Laurie really needs a helper. If you have some time to spare and are based in or near NYC, please contact Laurie on the e-mail address below.

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

New York meetings are held at The Wings Theatre, 154 Christopher Street (btw Greenwich St and Washington St), to the right of Crunch Fitness, in the Archive on the first Saturday of each month at 4 pm.

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.

Due to bereavement in Christina’s family, we regret to say that Texas meetings have stopped pending further notice. If you have time to spare and would like to take over Texas meetings, please contact the Beetle on: beetle@globetrotters.co.uk

If you enjoy writing, enjoy travelling, why not write for the free monthly Globetrotters e-newsletter! The Beetle would love to hear from you: your travel stories, anecdotes, jokes, questions, hints and tips, or your hometown or somewhere of special interest to you. Over 8,000 people currently subscribe to the Globetrotter e-news.

To see your story in cyber print, e-mail the Beetle with your travel experiences, hints and tips or questions up to 750 words, together with a couple of sentences about yourself and a contact e-mail address to Beetle@globetrotters.co.uk

When I told people I was going to Slovenia, the reactions I got were similar: “Where?” “What? Is that a country?” “Hmm, never heard of it” and “What is that near?” My mother asked if it was dangerous and my brother simply laughed.

If you don’t know where Slovenia is or you didn’t even know it existed, you shouldn’t be ashamed. It is one of Europe’s smallest countries with a population of less than 2 million. The capital city, Ljubljana, has fewer than 300,000 inhabitants. It is a “new” country in the sense that it has only existed as its own nation since 1991, when it became the first republic to separate from the former Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia.

Slovenia was fortunate in that it managed to gain independence without suffering from the war and genocide that befell its neighbours, Croatia and Bosnia. This is partially explained by the fact that Slovenia is ethnically pure relative to its neighbours: most people living in Slovenia are Slovene and Catholic. Further east, there was a patchwork of ethnic and religious groups that left no clear dividing lines.

After Slovenia’s plebiscite for independence yielded 88% in favour of breaking from the Yugoslav federation, there was a brief conflict with Belgrade dubbed the “Ten-Day War.” I asked for details, but Nikolaj (one of the Slovenes I befriended) told me it was not really a war. I wanted to know what it was like living through the separation, but he told me there were only a few skirmishes and less than 20 Slovenes died.

Nikolaj was extremely proud of his country and heritage. He insisted that he was “patriotic, not nationalistic,” although I began to doubt this assertion after he made a few comments along the order of “Slovenes only leave Slovenia to realize it is the best country and come back.” He was convinced that Slovene wine was better than French wine. He told me which of the songs playing at the bar were Serbian nationalistic anthems and which ones were Slovene folk songs.

He took me to a bar where there was a painting of Tito on the wall and the bartender forgot to charge us for our Laskov beers. Nikolaj insisted that I sample all of Slovenia’s drinks, including beers from the two national breweries (Laskov and Union) and several spirits distilled from blueberries and anise, whose names I would mention except they are utterly impossible to pronounce, spell, or even remember for that matter.

The beauty of the Slovene language is that it does not restrict itself with the requirement that words actually contain vowels. Words comprised entirely of consonants (e.g. trg, vrt, smrt) are fully acceptable, although Nikolaj tried to convince me that all these words contain “silent vowels.” Other words contain an unnaturally long string of consonants (e.g. odprto) or a fundamentally disturbing combination of letters (e.g. predvcerajsnjim).

I mean honestly. That looks like alphabet soup on crack.

The Slovenes are friendly people and many of them spoke to me. In fact, they are extremely engaging, to the point that you oddly feel at home in Slovenia and never want to leave Ljubljana. This is what happened to Diego, an American who I met through Vladimir, a Slovene bartender at my hostel. Diego came to Ljubljana and loved it so much that he kept on coming back. Finally he just decided to stay for good.

Diego and Vladomir took me to the nice bars in Ljubljana. Considering the city’s small size, there are surprisingly many. The hostel where I stayed (the Celica) is in the heart of the city’s alternative scene. When I read about the hostel in the Rough Guide, I was slightly alarmed because it mentioned the building used to be a military prison. I went ahead and booked a bed anyway because it was the cheapest place to stay. It turned out to be more of a cultural centre than a hostel, with music performances, art workshops, and a happening bar.

Outside of Ljubljana, the Slovene country is absolutely gorgeous. The scenery is stunning – lush, idyllic, and bucolic. Over half of the country is covered in forest and 40% is mountainous. There are alpine lakes crowned by cliff-top castles and island churches.

Slovenia is an easy place to fall in love with. It exceeded my expectations and the only disappointing part about my visit was that I had to leave Ljubljana. For now at least…

Trade Aid is a UK registered charity, which works with and supports Trade Aid Tanzania, a non profit-making Trust. Trade Aid supplies educational and material resources, and also volunteers from Europe. Our aim is to alleviate poverty in Southern Tanzania by creating educational and employment opportunities for the local community and assisting in the development of a sustainable tourist industry in Mikindani.

Below we describe a new seedling planting project we are helping with in Mikindani.

African Blackwood/African Ebony, Dalbergia Melanoxylon and African Ironwood are all names for the tree that is locally known as Mpingo. The uses of this tree are endless and for this reason Mpingo is now one of Africa’s most endangered trees. Our advisor, Mr Thomas knows all too well the importance of protecting our natural resources and therefore Blackwood is his choice of seed for this season’s project in the tree nursery. The children (see picture below) from Singino and Mnaida Schools have started the seedling trays which will be potted into plastic pods in a few weeks. By the Autumn the saplings will be distributed around the schools in Mikindani for the next tree growing project.

Conserving trees such as Blackwood is an essential practice if we are to benefit from its many uses:

• Beehives- the tree is used as a hive. The honey produced is dark amber and strong flavoured.
• Building materials- it is an extremely durable wood, also ant and beetle proof.
• Fuel- the heat generated from Mpingo fires is so high that it can melt cooking utensils.
• Crafts- nearly all Makonde carvings will be designed out of this wood.
• Domestic use- clubs, hammers, spears, sticks, chess pieces
• Dye
• Fodder- the pods and leaves are used as animal fodder
• Land improvement (green manure, mulch and nitrogen fixing)
• Medicine- the roots are used to treat abdominal pain, diarrhoea and syphilis. The wood smoke is inhaled to treat headaches and bronchitis.
• Musical instruments- piano keys, clarinets

‘By wise planning now we can insure that this valuable natural resource will maintain its vital role in the local ecosystem and be available for the future harvesting of mature trees for woodwork purposes.’

Back in January 2004 Martin Wright, one the club’s most sociable regulars at the London Meetings, royally entertained a packed Crown Court with tales of his marathon cycle ride to Australia. Many in that audience will remember his great photos, distinctive narrative style and his thirst for adventure. Well Martin is at it again – this time he’s go back to the land down under to ‘pick up his bike and have a look round’. I think too many cold winter nights provided the motivation to get back on the road! This is the fourth in an occasional series, based on Martin’s emails, and charts his offbeat approach to the road ahead.

5 May: Hi all. Have made it as far as Ayutthaya, 60 kms north of Bangkok. Previously I had spent a few days in Kanchanaburi – 120kms west of Bangkok and infamous because of the death railway and the bridge over the River Kwai. In the meantime I took a train to Bangkok to apply for a new passport as the old one was full. At the British Embassy, a huge building in a compound which seemed to take up half of Bangkok, I was given the necessary form to fill in and then had to part with almost 70 pounds sterling! Also had to wait five working days, which because of the bank holiday turned out to be six. If the buggers back in the U K had given me a 48 page passport which I paid for when I last applied I would have saved myself time and money.

While in Bangkok I stayed in a hotel in Chinatown overlooking the river – very nice, quiet and at night there was a cool breeze. During the daytime it was sweltering and I’ve found that it is much easier to cycle than walk in this heat. This all made a great change from the Khao San Road area which resembled a zoo although none of the animals are on the endangered list!

Chinatown was a great area for wandering around especially at night when the food stalls were operating. Found an eating place next to a Chinese temple where the food was delicious and the beer cheap – ate here three nights in a row and met the same people. One fellow was the local drunk who always had something to say, although I understood nothing I am sure he thought otherwise.

On Monday I left Kanchanaburi and cycled through Suphan Buri on to Ayutthaya where I arrived on Tuesday. Wednesday saw me back on the train to Bangkok to collect my new passport followed by a visit to the immigration department, which of course was some distance away to have my entry stamp put into my new passport. Back on the sky train, back on a boat, back on the train and back to Ayutthaya…glad to have this finished.

This morning I decided to make coffee in my room on my Trangia stove…not a good idea as it turned out. A Trangia burns methylated spirits and while I put the water on to boil I hung my washing out to dry. This took longer than expected, and when I returned the bedside cabinet was on fire! A bottle of water put out the flames and of course made a horrible mess – a clean up operation was in order and hopefully I have left no trace of my attempted arson. I still had enough water in the pan to make a cup of coffee thankfully. I am going to throw that Trangia away as it is the first time I have used it since leaving Australia, and it is bulky & heavy. Anyway the coffee from the hawkers is far better stuff! Am heading towards Cambodia where I should arrive in about one week…hopefully I will arrive without having burned down somebody’s guest house!

9 May: On leaving Ayutthaya my intention was to cycle in an easterly direction towards Cambodia but as I arrived at the relevant junction I was offered the choice; turn right for Cambodia or go straight ahead and visit northern Thailand! As I had not visited the north before I thought, ‘bollocks to Cambodia for now I like the look of the road on the map which runs along the border with Myanmar.’ It does present me with a slight problem as I will have to find a crossing point into Myanmar for a five minute, one hour or one day visit but on re-entering Thailand I will be given another 30 day stamp! This should give me plenty of time to reach Chiang Rai in the north before following the Mekong all the way back down to the Cambodian border.

At present I am in Sukhothai staying in a very quiet and peaceful guest house next to a river. My intention was to spend two nights here with one day for resting, however I will now be having at least three nights and two days here as I would like to ride out to old Sukhothai to visit the very old capital city. There are of course many good eating places; night markets and small restaurants where the food is of course brilliant and cheaper than chips! As yesterday I cycled further than I normally would in a single day, it was cool and I had a tail wind, I thought I might as well make the most of it, as it is the first day in Asia when the temperature did not reach 30c. It was a very cool and pleasant 29c. Soon after I reached the guest house a strange thing happened – it rained…not the English rain whereby it takes all day for one millimetre to fall. This was good old tropical rain and after one hour of rainfall the roads are like rivers. Soon after the sun comes out and within a short time it is blue sky and no sign of any rainfall.

On that note good bye to you all and have a nice day. Martin

Trip duration: 11 days Trip miles to date: 2,017 Miles since last update: 2,017

As I’m writing this I’m drinking an extremely strong coffee in Rio Gallegos (no, I’d never heard of it neither), about 1,750 miles south of Buenos Aires and about 300 from Ushuaia. This is me, on the right of the picture.

These first few days in the saddle have been a gentle introduction, I think. The southern Argentinean roads have been unbelievably straight, set within a dead-flat terrain with strong winds and little traffic. The sense of distance (from home as much as Buenos Aires) has accumulated every day.

First stop-over was courtesy of a tip from a fellow traveller (thanks Mick!) in Azul , 235 miles from Buenos Aires. The thermometer on the handlebars suggested 34 deg, verified by the perfect blue sky. I tried out the ‘helmet-cam’ on the way out of BA but I fear I’ve accidentally recorded over the footage……oh well, I was riding like a dork anyway.

I pulled into Azul about 5.30pm, and began searching the streets for a garage with an 8ft painted BMW sign, coupled with an 8ft Yamaha sign. I had no right to find it but these things have a habit of working out and sure enough, along a quite residential street I found “La Posta Del Viajero en Moto”….a mecca to adventure motorcyclists and charitably run by Jorge, his partner Monica and chief translator, daughter Polly. A “donation-box” exists on the wall, but no mention was made and I was left to discover it for myself.

I’m almost sad I found Jorge and his family at the start of the trip, as I fear I won’t enjoy such a genuine and warm welcome anywhere from here to Alaska. I turn up unannounced at 5.30pm on a Wednesday and greeted with excitement, interest and treated to an amazing asado (meat feast!) with the family. The bunk-house is covered in graffiti from previous residents and the visitor’s books (there are 3, and counting!) and all stuffed with the same sentiment. I feel honoured to have left my mark and signed “Brits Corner”…..

The next couple of days were spent speeding down to Viedma (pretty coastal resort town), then Commodora Rivadavia where I stopped an extra day to cruise around the Peninsula Valdès – a huge national park and home to several thousand elephant seals and penguins. Whale watching tours are popular here too.

The Argentineans are extremely friendly. I stopped for a coffee in Puerto Piràmede – see the picture left, and a chap excitedly introduced himself as Ernesto Scotti. It transpires his son is a fellow R-T-W bike and is in the Guinness Book of Records for a related record. We chat and gossip for a long time and it’s refreshing to be reminded that we are all basically the same, “citizens of the world” as Ernesto described it much better than I.

Yesterday I completed the biggest day in the saddle, about 500 miles down to Rio Gallegos. The terrain has changed subtly, and the sense of remoteness increased, but this is no third world region. The standard of living is still pretty high, especially anticipating what is to come in Bolivia and Peru.

The bike is running great. I’m slightly concerned with the speed of wear on the front sprocket and the rear tyre is also wearing quickly. I think both of these symptoms are a consequence of the extra weight the bike is carrying. Naturally I’ve packed too much crap and will shred as I go.

One last note – as I parked up last night in the secure hotel car-park I was pleasantly surprised to find another travellers bike with a Brit number plate. It belongs to Jeremy Bullard (http://www.fowb.co.uk/) who I believe is taking a break back in Blighty…..

Oh well, tomorrow I strike for Ushuaia and the end of the world.

If you want to know more about Greg’s travels: http://www.unbeatentrack.com/

Comprising of around 50 islands (750 if you count the archipelago of the Bahamas), the Caribbean is a real treasure trove when it comes to cruising. A rich variety of vistas, people and places await, along with swaying palms and idyllic beaches of golden sand. The network of islands in the Caribbean is in fact so extensive that it is possible to book several Caribbean cruises and avoid going to the same islands twice!

There are four basic Caribbean cruise routes used by cruise operators:

1. Western Caribbean Cruise Route – Departing from seaports in Texas, Louisiana and Florida, the Western Route takes in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, the island of Cozumel, the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, and any number of islands off the coasts of Honduras and Belize.
2. Eastern Caribbean Cruise Route – One of the most popular Caribbean cruise routes, the Eastern Route typically departs from Florida and other seaports along the eastern seaboard of the United States. The route calls on destinations such as Key West, The Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands the Virgin Islands (including St. Thomas and St. Croix), and Puerto Rico.
3. Southern Caribbean Cruise Route – This route normally commences at San Juan in Puerto Rico, and takes in many possible destinations along the Lesser Antilles and the Netherlands Antilles as far west as Aruba.
4. Exotic/Long-duration Caribbean Cruise Route – This route takes in any/all of the above destinations, and can sometimes end in a different place to where the cruise started.

Given this broad assortment of destinations available in the Caribbean, it can be a bit overwhelming when trying to make that crucial decision on which islands to fit into your itinerary. After all, you don’t want to miss out on some true Caribbean gems, do you? So, whether you’re planning a short vacation or a longer cruise break away from home, here is a selection of ‘must-sees’ & ‘must-dos’ on your Caribbean adventure.

• St Croix (Virgin Islands) – Take a night kayak trip in Salt River National Park and visit the first landing site of Christopher Columbus on his voyage to the New World.
• Grenada– Although ravaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, Grenada is still well worth a visit for its scuba diving. You can explore the largest shipwreck in the Caribbean here and see an underwater volcano.
• Virgin Islands – The Cinnamon Bay National Park offers excellent snorkelling opportunities. You can see a wealth of underwater life in the shallow waters around St. Thomas.
• Jamaica – Why not try your hand at bamboo rafting in Montego Bay?
• Puerto Rico – No Caribbean cruise would be complete without a visit to the world famous Condado Beach on the island of Puerto Rico.
• Aruba – Want to find Caribbean paradise? How about relaxing on one of the 365 beaches that surround the Dutch island of Aruba.
• St Kitts – Swim with the turtles in the waters around St Kitts and then relax on the pink sand beaches on this beautiful island.

Good luck with planning your trip and happy cruising. Metty Metcalfe is the webmaster for A to Z Cruises which is the No1 resource for Caribbean Cruise related Information on the Internet. Be sure to visit his site here:

The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), in partnership with BBC Radio 4, offer you the chance to make that journey and to tell the world about it in a memorable piece of radio documentary-making. Each year the RGS-IBG and the BBC award the best idea for an original, exciting, and exceptional journey and we’re inviting you to join the great travellers who’ve already fulfilled their dreams. It’s important that the project takes you somewhere fresh, different and original – not just a holiday to the Greek Islands! It’s also a good idea to bear in mind where the five previous winners have been (such as Ladakh in 2005 and Madagascar in 2004) as we won’t award similar journeys this year. More details on the RGS-IBG website.

Your journey needs really to matter to you: we need to feel your passion and enthusiasm and Radio 4 listeners need to be fascinated. Bear in mind that the BBC already broadcasts a lot of documentaries about faraway places (listen to Crossing Continents and From Our Own Correspondent, for example, in order to gauge the style of Radio 4’s regular foreign reportage). When thinking up your idea, make sure it’s the sort of thing journalists rarely have the time to cover. Most reporters can only afford the time and money to make short visits to meet important people and don’t often get under the skin of local society.

The programme you’ll be making needs to tell your story – and that of the journey and the place you’ll be visiting (the tourist trail isn’t likely to be top of the judging panel’s list unless you can put an interesting new spin on it) – in a graphic and attractive way. Think of the audio potential in the idea – not just indigenous music and sounds (in reality they rarely sustain more than a few seconds), but how you are going to find interesting sounds within the substance of the journey (by keeping an audio-diary, for example). Radio is very good on atmospherics and imaginative pictures, but you need to think about what your journey and your destination offer to create those pictures.

Conditions

• You’ll be travelling between January and July 2006.* We welcome travellers of all ages, but you must be able to travel safely and responsibly.
• You must have a permanent UK postal address.* Interviews will be held in early December in London. You must be able to attend these interviews in person.* Applications from small teams rather than solo travellers are also accepted, but please make clear in your application if this is the case.
• The award is for independent travel. We will NOT consider any journey joining a commercial expedition or pre-paid tour, including organised charity fundraising tours.
• The final deadline for pitches is Tuesday, 27 September 2005.

Please send your pitches, either by email or by post, to: The Grants Officer, Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)

Email: grants@rgs.org Address: 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR Tel: 020 7591 3073 Full details are at http://www.rgs.org/category.php?Page=maingrants

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We are sorry to say that Mac is not very well, but he is still e-mailing strong and recently sent the Beetle a collection of travel reminiscences. This, and next month is about China.

One of the times I went to China I did not hide my military connection but someone along the way before I left the states changed my category from retired military to “teacher”. I was travelling with an American woman who was actually a teacher in the Military Dependent Schools in Korea. She told me she taught Home Economics, health and sewing. When I was asked what I taught my mind went blank and then I recalled what she taught and I said: Home Economics, heath and sewing. My real teacher travel companion was asked her what she taught. She smiled and said: football, soccer, and wrestling. We were by then both laughing and the immigration inspector shook his head at us and left us.

Before we got on plane for China we were told to turn over any U.S. Military identification we had on us and to not take it into China. I hesitated to do this in case it could be reproduced and didn’t like giving it to someone I did not know, but had to make a decision in a hurry and nothing was going to stop me from seeing the Great Wall Of China. Someone later asked me if I had walked the whole distance of the Wall. (It is 4000 miles long!) It is wide enough for five horses (some say six as that is a lucky number in China) to pass and is 2000 years old.

In Hangchow, Mr Wu showed us a painting on the wall of at temple for famous Chinese General Yue Eeti as a young man. The painting showed his mother with a knife carving on the lads’ back the admonition in Chinese letters: “Always be true to your country.” Juanita, my friend, whispered to me: “That must have made a lasting impression” Ha!

We went to the Sick Duck restaurant in Beijing. It is called Sick Duck because it is near a hospital. There is also a Super Duck Restaurant, a Baby Duck restaurant and a Ruptured Duck Restaurant (I just threw that in!) all serving Peking Duck (Beijing Duck does not sound right.) The cook brings out the duck on a platter and then you applaud. I don’t know if you are applauding the dead duck, the cook or who.

Eunuchs (and there were 70,000 of them) at the time of the Ming destiny who allegedly carried their testicles about with them in a little pouch in the hope of being reunited with them in death. (You heard it here!)

When we got off plane in Hangchow a guide came up to us and asked “Are you the group of six?” We were the six that had gotten our tour thorough USO in Seoul, Korea. When I told them I did not have enough money with me to make the trip they said I could write a cheque. He put us in a van and we drove into town. When we saw a bicycle rider carrying a huge white wreath we asked what is that. He said: “It is for warning”. He then changed it to: “It is for mourning.” Mr Wu said he had put on his “wish list” to return to Hangchow as a guide (they had him working all over China) as he had a three year old son in Hangchow. He said his son was born early in the morning so they named him Xu Chiao Ming which means “The cock that crows early in the morning.”

Our guide Miss Cha was late in getting to the airport at Beijing. She had gone to the wrong airport. She breathlessly rushed up to us and apologized and said, “It is a slow boat to China.” She then said, “If you do not understand my English you can lump it.” We quickly realized she had memorized phrases she did not know the exact meaning to. She was a nurse but they needed guides badly so she had been assigned us. She asked who was from Great Britain and said, “I hope I warm the cockles of your heart.” We grew fond of Miss Cha and a friend, Lisa gave her a present. She asked if she should unwrap it and Lisa said yes. She started to unwrap it and her face turned red and she quickly rewrapped it. It was a pair of silk stockings. When we went to leave Beijing we asked Miss Cha if she would have breakfast with us in the foreign only dining room. She said ,”No, I have other fish to fly.” We warmed to all our guides except on those that tried to feed us propaganda.

Kneehow (phonetic) in Chinese means hello. In China, Carol who was from England, and had a beautiful voice would sing slightly risqué Cockney songs and George would sing “My old lady and the lady next door went down the river on a barnyard door singing Ki Yi Yippie Yi ” and nonsensical songs. Miss Cha who was trying to learn English (she had taught herself) wanted to learn some of these songs so she could sing them to her next tour group. As some were risqué Carol said, “My dear I don’t think you really need to learn these songs.” Les would give his excellent imitation of Peter Sellers imitating an Indian and his accent was hilariously correct. We should have been a USO troop. We laughed all the way across China.

In response to last month’s article about Diego Garcia, Mac reports that a friend who was in the Seabees building airstrip on island of Diego Garcia has just shown me an old yellowed newspaper account of it dated June 25 1978. This is probably more than you want to know about this isolated island. 700 Seabees were sent there to built the airstrip.

A Portuguese armada sailing around the tip of Africa in 1512 stopped here. Settled first by French in the late 1770s the island was occupied alternately by France and England following the American Revolution. The survivors of the sailing ship Atlas which was wrecked here on May 30 1786 joined the British expedition settled on the island at that time. Slavery was introduced the following year.

In 1787 a businessman from Mauritius saw opportunity on Diego Garcia in the form of coconut oil lacking but needed by Mauritius located 1,l00 miles southeast of Diego Garcia. He received permission to harvest and export Diego Garcia coconuts to Mauritius. Slaves were sent to pick them. A band of lepers accompanied the slaves because it was felt that conditions on the island might be healing to persons suffering from the disease. (By 1824 however, a government report said this was no longer believed true.)

Emancipation was proclaimed in mid 1830s in all British possessions. Former slaves were reported by one visitor to have far better living conditions than on other islands. Island was later used as a coaling station for ships. Coal shipped to the island.

When the Japanese invaded Ceylon off the coast of India in 1942 during World War II the Allies set up an outpost on Diego Garcia to monitor Japanese activity. In the 1950s both England and United States were concerned about Soviet activity in the Indian ocean where “over one half of the world’s sea borne oil is in transit at any given moment according to a Congressional hearing.“

There was a photo stating Donkeys introduced to Diego Garcia about 1835 when the islands slaves were emancipated today roam freely over most of the island (I am afraid I have passed on to you more than you want to know about Diego Garcia. Ha. Information is from Sun Herald Daily Living, Gulfport Mississippi (where Seabees had their headquarters) Sunday morning June 25 1978.

Beside the Seabee (branch of Navy that builds and does construction.) I have received an e mail from a different retired Navy man living in Italy. He says the highest point on Diego Garcia was only about five feet high and during the Tsunami he wondered how island fared but said he saw nothing in the news.

If you would like to contact Mac, he can be e-mailed on: macsan400@yahoo.com

Ryanair’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary has threatened a U.K. based Web site with legal action if it doesn’t take down comments pertaining to Ryanair’s pilots. O’Leary described by one commentator as one of the most combative CEOs to ever run a public company, has launched abuse-ridden tirades against critics, airports, competitors and regulators. In July, he called the company that runs Stansted airport outside London a “bunch of overcharging rapists.”

Back in January, O’Leary labelled a European Union ruling that one of Ryanair’s airport deals was anticompetitive as “Stalinist”. Despite his ability and willingness to dish out ranting tirades against other people and organisations, he doesn’t seem to take kindly to any criticism aimed at him. When the Professional Pilots Rumour Network, PPruNe a Web forum popular with Europe-based pilots, posted a discussion thread containing a mixture of informed insights and um….interesting comments on Ryanair’s relations with its pilots, the company’s lawyers sent the Web site a letter demanding that it take down the thread.

The letter argued that the statements on the thread were “untrue, unfounded, malicious and deeply damaging to the good name and trading reputation of Ryanair.” The letter added that Ryanair would move to gain an “immediate injunction” against PPruNe and claim damages if the Web site didn’t remove the thread, which discussed pilot unionization and pilot pay major issues for Ryanair. PPruNe removed the thread, but a new thread has appeared on the Web site concerning unionization at Ryanair. Ryanair didn’t immediately comment when asked why it acted to remove the thread. PPruNe owner Danny Fyne said: “Tactics like this never work in the long term. If we didn’t publish it, someone else would.”

To find other ways of increasing its revenue, Ryanair has been doing all it can to cut costs and boost revenue. This has included a cost-cutting move of the fitting of non-reclining seats. But one move that is generating criticism, both among customers and in the market, is a wheelchair levy on every ticket that Ryanair said it was charging to cover the cost of transporting disabled passengers to and from its planes. The levy appears to still be in place and though it’s not clear if it is around 70 euro cents or 50 euro cents, but if it is the lower number, the levy accounted for around 22% of the increase in operating profits at Ryanair in its June quarter, compared with the year-ago period.

Some commentators say that the wheelchair levy is a clear sign of desperation, but so are moves to cut the most basic of pilots’ perks. One measure has Ryanair pilots buying their own uniforms. Ryanair management is currently trying to prevent pilots from opting for their union to represent them in pay negotiations. In a recent memo, a Ryanair manager at Stansted airport said that paying union dues would amount to a waste of money: “If you want to waste 1,000 pounds we recommend fast women, slow horses or even greyhound racing. At least you’ll have a few minutes of fun,” the memo said.

Experienced pilots who need to receive expensive top-up training to fly Ryanair’s new series of Boeings have been told that the company won’t pay for their training if they opt for union representation, according to a person familiar with employee relations at Ryanair.

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