Hello all,

Welcome to the new season of the Globetrotters Club at its London branch. As you can see below we’ve kicked off the new season with a good couple of speakers and a new voice on the lectern !! I’ve also included plenty of input from regular contributors such as Mac, Harold Dunn and Padmassana…these guys are the main stay of the eNewsletter. And whilst I am in contact with a regular pool of contributors, I’m always looking for new material including photographs – see feel free to try your hand and get in touch.

This time round we have some sadness to talk about as well. Another long distance cyclist, Ian Hibell, has been fatally injured by an unforgiving motorist whilst on the road and Fridgey has experienced the rough arm of AustraliaÂ’s customs officials. Whilst not comparable, both episodes show what the travelling community endures as it goes about its businessÂ…sometimes itÂ’s a tad too sad for words.

To close on a happier note though, weÂ’ve also details on Rosie Swale Pope completing her round the world epic and news of the Independent Travel Show happening in London in 2009.

ThatÂ’s all for nowÂ…stay safe whilst you travel,

The Ant

theant@globetrotters.co.uk

With host Jeanie Copland at the lectern and with Jacqui Trotter reporting queues to get into the Church of Scotland venue, the new season got off to a fine start with:-

The front cover of the last Globe featured Katie Fahrland and her Wm Wood legacy trip to Mali. The September meeting began with Katie giving a talk on her trip and the 3 day music festival that takes place at Segou on the Niger River – the legacy gave Katie the chance to make a dream come true and visit the festival. Katie was thrust into Mali life from day 1, pushing and shoving her way onto a bus to reach Segou. The music festival attracts 14,000 people, who enjoy the music from the stage that is almost in the river. The visual effects being provided by one box with a stream of wires coming out that just sits on a chair. After the festival Katie took the opportunity to see some more of the country, showing us sights such as the Great mud Mosque at Djenne, which has to be patched up after rainfall. She also made a side trip on a motorbike with a guide into Dogon country, seeing a village that makes pottery and fires its pottery by literally having a big fire. Katie’s trip has prompted her to enrol for a Masters degree at SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies http://www.soas.ac.uk/).

Our second speaker was Fran Sandham who talked about his walking trip across Africa. He explained the whole idea came during a drunken New Years eve party, when he decided that if he was going to make a New Year’s resolution it was going to be a big one ! January 1st dawned, despite the hangover and the cold light of day he decided it was still a good idea, so he spent the next year working every hour to save up the money to make it possible. His walk took him from the Skeleton Coast in Namibia via Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania, finishing in Zanzibar. The 3000 mile walk took him a year, it would have been quicker but for an abortive idea to get a donkey to carry his pack, the donkey refused, he then got a mule, but the mule arrived on a van that it had kicked to pieces, so Fran abandoned that idea as well ! He downsized his pack and carried it himself, avoiding Lions in north Namibia and narrowly avoiding treading on a lazy Puff Adder that was sitting in the middle of the road, surprising himself at how high he could jump carrying a 30kg rucksack ! He arrived in Zanzibar a year after setting off 3 stones lighter and wondering what to do next. He has written the book, so if you want to read more about Fran’s trip visit www.traversa.co.uk or check it out on Amazon.

For details of the forth coming meetings of the London branch, September 2008 through to July 2009 – http://www.globetrotters.co.uk/meetings/lon09it1.html.

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, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend. There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh in September. For more information, contact the Globetrotters Info line on +44 (0) 20 8674 6229, or visit the website: www.globetrotters.co.uk.

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.

Ontario 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.

In sad echoes of how long time GT member Martin Wright met his untimely & tragic death in mid 2007, renowned round the world cyclist Ian Hibell perished in awful circumstance. I understand how accidents happen but how does any driver not see a fully laden cyclist and then drive off when something does go wrong !! It beggars beliefÂ…

The following article was printed in the Daily Mail newspaper on 4 September 2008

The Ant

A British ‘Marco Polo’ who travelled the world on his bicycle for 40 years has been killed in a hit-and-run road crash in Greece. Ian Hibell, 74, was dubbed a “cyclist extraordinaire” in the long-distance touring world and rode across every continent and some of the most remote parts of the planet. He undertook countless expeditions over 40 years that were classed as ‘world firsts’ including an overland Trans-Americas expedition from Cape Horn to Alaska, between 1971 and 1973. During his 250,000 miles of cycling across deserts and glaciers he was shot at by bandits, nearly eaten alive by tropical ants, stuck in mangrove swamps, chased by rogue elephants and once faced down a hungry lion. He enjoyed the hospitality of an Eskimo princess, a Dyak headman in Borneo, African chiefs and missionaries and once asked for a two-year sabbatical from work – only to return ten years later.

Ian used over 800 cycle repair kits during his travels and refused to use standard pannier racks for carrying items – insisting instead that custom-made racks be welded onto his Argos bike frames. Ian, of Brixham, Devon, wrote numerous books about cycling and was also a regular on television shows such as BBC’s Blue Peter where he regaled generations of children with his tales from the saddle. He once estimated that he cycled an average 6,000 miles a year for 40 years – the equivalent of cycling to the moon.

But he died while cycling on the Athens-Salonika highway on August 23 after he was in collision with a car which was racing another vehicle. The driver fled the scene but eyewitnesses took its registration and he was arrested two hours later and is facing charges of causing death by dangerous driving. Friend Nicola Henderson said: “He died after he was involved in a hit and run incident whilst cycling in Greece. “ At the time he was doing what was his life-long passion of cycle-touring. He had been touring the world more or less continuously for over 40 years.

Ian began his journeys in 1963 when he asked for a two-year break from his job at Standard Telephones and Cables in Paignton, Devon. But he went on to the circle the globe for ten years and returned in 1973 with a “murmured apology” for his bosses. His journeys included the only non-motorised crossing of Colombia’s Atrato swamp and Panama’s notoriously marsh ridden Darien Gap. He once rode from Antarctica to the Amazon and from Alaska to Indonesia and in 1984 wrote a book about his voyages called ‘In Remote Places’. But despite his travels Ian often complained the most dangerous stretch of road in the world was between ‘Windy Corner’ and the ‘old Nortel site’ in Brixham.

Friend Nicola described him as a “world famous” rugged terrain cyclist, adventurer, photojournalist and lecturer who inspired bikers around the world. She said: “He gained a taste for travelling during his RAF service in the 1950s. He has pushed, dragged or carried his bike from the fringes of the Antarctica to the jungles of the Amazon, from the Arctic to the remoter islands of Indonesia.”

Ian, a bachelor, died at the scene of the crash and arrangements are underway for his body to be flown back to the UK for a family funeral in South Gloucestershire.

Speaking about his passion in 2005, Ian said: “Every so often a bird gets up and flies some place that it’s drawn to “I don’t suppose it could tell you why, but it does it anyway.” Tributes were today being paid to him on various websites. One – from his nephew – said: “He was a cycle tourist extraordinaire. I grew up hearing the tales from his latest trips to countries I had never heard of. “I always looked forward to seeing him so I could hear his latest adventures from escaping from armies of soldier ants as they ate his tent, to encounters with exotic tribes that had never seen a white man before, much less one on a bicycle. “He was an extraordinary man, and will be sadly missed by us, as I am sure he will by others in the cycling fraternity.”

Ian was honoured by the League of American Wheelmen and by the UK’s Cyclists Touring Club for his ‘trail-blazing’ tenacity. In the 1990s he was also invited to address Yale University and subsequently lectured on both sides of the Atlantic.

Hi Ant,

Whatever happened to your planned Antarctica trip? If I’d had a choice, I, too, would’ve chosen Brazil. Sounds like a great trip!

My passion is exploring the backwaters of other cultures, places where nobody goes. I’m planning a trip now for early ’09 to the canyons of northern Mexico. Though I plan to go alone, I would be willing to take others along with me. I’ve explored several of the canyons of that area, and lived at the bottom of one of them for several months. My home there was in Batopilas, Chihuahua, which is on the river, 6000 feet below the canyon rim. The town then was a ten-hour drive from the nearest paved road in Creel, Chihuahua, a major stop on the Copper Canyon Railroad. Today it’s only half that far from pavement, with buses three times a week. Yet back in 1970 there was no road at all. It was a 3-day mule ride to the closest dirt road! The town has about 1000 inhabitants now, but once was the largest city in northern Mexico. Silver was discovered there in 1590. The mines are shut down now, but hundreds of miles of old tunnels remain to explore. Some are safe, others not. A friend of mine lives in a house built in 1630, the oldest in town. So Batopilas will be my first stop, to relax a few days and catch up on the local news.

Then off to the unknown. Don’t know where, but my heart draws me to three places:-

1) Topia, Durango, an ex-mining town much like Batopilas, yet with far fewer visitors. As a passionate photographer, I would expect it to be exceptionally photogenic, both the town and the mining ruins.

2) The lower canyon of the Rio Basaseachi, starting about 10 miles below the famous falls and walking downstream for a month or two, until I come to a road where the canyon ends, not far from the ocean. I’m 70 and have mild arthritis, so will likely do only about 5 or 10 miles a day. If the hip acts up too much, I would consider renting a horse, or more likely a burro to carry my pack. Ill be in no hurry, so might stop and hang out with the people wherever I feel welcome, maybe staying a month or more in one place, or shorter spells in several. Most of the way there’ll be no roads at all, though some 4WD tracks penetrate the canyon. So I’d expect the people to be living on isolated ranches and completely self-sufficient, a throwback to a century or two back. My goal is to meet new friends, capture some photos of a vanishing culture and outstanding scenery, and write another book. Yet nothing is a must. I’ll just do what I feel like at the time. No deadlines or itinerary.

3) The town of Lluvia de Oro, once a thriving mining village, now deserted. It’s the scene of part of the best-selling book, “Lluvia de Oro, (Rain of Gold),” by my friend Victor Villasenor. The town site is about a 10- or 20-mile hike from a road, and likely only worth a couple of days. But I’ve long wanted to go there.

Which of these would I actually do? Who knows? I’ll decide when I get there. The weather will be ideal in midwinter for hiking the lower canyons. Very little rain and not too hot. Up on the canyon rims, there’ll be snow–not my idea of fun. So I’ll take my camping gear, camera, and notebook, but keep my pack light.

So if anyone wants to take on a leisurely walk through lightly-populated areas where it never gets cold, let me know. Since my timing and actual destination haven’t yet been finalized, I would be somewhat flexible. I’ll leave no earlier than Jan. 1, 09 and return no later than April 15, 09 (the date when the bugs begin to become bothersome in the lower canyons.) At this time I’m only thinking of the deep canyons of northern Mexico, specifically in the states of Chihuahua, Durango, Sinaloa, and possibly Sonora.

If anyone is interested, email me at heyyouhd@yahoo.com I’ll get back to you within a week. If our goals don’t mesh, I could still direct you to some great places to explore on your own, anywhere in Mexico, since I’ve been to all of the 31 states and lived in several of them. And I know some fabulous canyons in the States, as well. The best are in Arizona and Utah, accessed thru Vegas. Some require rock climbing skills, while others are an easy two-hour ramble. I find it thrilling to be in a canyon that’s 4000′ deep and only 50′ wide–no place to walk except the river itself. I can go nuts with my camera.

Next year, the Colca Canyon of Peru, the world’s deepest at 16,000 feet..I’ve been there once, but want to hike to the bottom at the deepest spot. Then climb the 21K mountain on the rim. That peak might be beyond my abilities, but I can give it a try. Slowly.

Chow–

Harold Dunn

San Diego, California

Back in January 2006 The Beetle posted a story in a previous edition about her experiences of Australian customs office and since then other travellers have related to the pain Beetle went through…see “The Beetle Struggles with Australian Customs”. This time its FridgeyÂ…maybe someone can offer an explanation as to why, or is it that we just have to put up with this s**t ?

The Ant

Hi Beetle, I am an Australian who was coming back from Fiji and was stopped in Brisbane International Airport and subjected to the rudest treatment I have ever had the misfortune of experiencing. It took them about 45 minutes to search 1 bag with my clothes in it, a computer bag and bag with cables and computer accessories. This Customs officer was smirking at me at all times trying to upset me which he succeeded. From the outset he was advised I am a diabetic and diagnosed as clinically depressed. He proceeded to lie to me and told me he had to search me because the x-ray machine showed I had organic materials right throughout my luggage which was a bald faced lie. He proceeded to read each and every document in my possession, read each and every business card I had on me (as if they were looking for something to change in identical business cards). After being subjected to all this crap they called the police and had me charged with obstruction of a public officer and I did nothing of the sortÂ…so now they have changed the charges to intimidation of a public official. The story goes on because I am now facing criminal charges because of this idiot and his mates who helped him to annoy me. At the end of the day they did not find anything illegal on me whatsoever despite what they said their x-ray machine said was in my luggage. These people have way too much power and they love to abuse their powers.

The following is about a trip I undertook with my friend Dom across the Southern Hemisphere during the winter of 1999. Rereading my journal about our amateur explorations makes me smile and remember things that had started to fade…anyway read on !

7 December 1998 and we began the walking odyssey we had initially set our sights on ! The Rhebuck Trail is a loop of 30 km round some of the most dramatic scenery that can be found in the Golden Gate National Park of South Africa, allowing hopeful spotters a number of chances to catch a range of wildlife – so we imagined anyway. Setting off from our base camp at the park entrance, our route followed outcrops and peaks with harsh sounding Dutch names – Die Brandwag and Bosklof stick in my memory. DomÂ’s measured pace seemed to be easy enough to cope with, despite the ever increasing sun light and a large pack set upon my back…

A yummy (!) chicken noodle lunch, eaten al-fresco on a hot little outcrop looking down out of our valley, gave us a view of where we were heading. We could see the Wilgenhof (youth hostel) and the Klein Caledon Rivier (Little Caledon for those non Dutch speakers), which we were unsure on how to cross. Recent flooding in the past months had swept debris and our trail downstream – lack of choice forced us to ford this river near to the main valley route of the R712. The final 3 kms up a side valley towards our overnight hut was uneventful enough to leave me feeling surprisingly fresh from what should have been a tiring day. A 30 minute foot dip in the nearby Ribbok Spruit felt almost as good as the oft desired long, cold lager ! Ominously my earlier bravado was weakening, as the earlier sunshine began to extract its own revenge upon my exposed flesh

Alone we sat in the darkening eve waiting for the impressive looking braal to fire our food, when the heavens opened with a wild thunder storm, hurling lightning and rain at all below it. Our valley was lit continually and our BBQ soaked thoroughly !! Along with trails of rain escaping ants, we sat in the hut munching on a gas heated gourmet alternative of tinned sausages and baked beans – Dom’s foresight again proving invaluable.

The next day was physically one of the longest dayÂ’s my life ! It began with us leaving the hut at 7.00 am and ploughing through the harsh undergrowth surrounding the Ribbok Spruit. My water cooled legs & feet failed to counter the stinging running across my upper torso and the mere thought of more sunburn forced drastic measures – a long sleeved top, a baseball cap and a somewhat smelly, old white t-shirt wrapped around my neck. Dom led me onwards through 4 sore kms and somehow away from the main trail – vegetation and flooding doing their worst once again. A tortuous alternative took us up and down the hills that surrounded the Generaalskop – a 2732 metre high and very cloud free mountain that sat looking contemptuously down upon us. We did spot Black Wildebeest and Eland as they scampered before our weary trudging but at this point I wasnÂ’t interested in making any sort of David Attenborough documentary ! With his experience of hiking, Dom suggested we move up the GeneralÂ’s flanks to find our elusive trail but a sullen 30 minutes on my part almost had me insisting that we took a more appealing trail that seemed to hug the contours of the lower flanks. Eventually this trail, probably created by a Rhebuck, reunited us with the trail proper and all my thoughts of doom & gloom fled ! Dom thought that we had sped our way through the remaining 3 kms back to base camp at Glen Reenen 90 minutes. I was on autopilot and ignored even the chance of a swim in the lower reaches of the Buffelspruit. Never did hut no. 1 look so appealing ! Would I undertake such a journey again ? Once I had rid myself of my various aches and as long as I was better prepared physically, I reasoned that the masochistic streak within me would argue yes ! The rest of me would just roll my eyes heavenward or rather Ribbokkop wards !!

For more information about national parks in South Africa see – http://www.sanparks.org/