Many globetrotting travellers now regularly carry a GPS (Global Positioning System) with them when they travel. These superb little handheld devices can be bought for as little as £100, though prices do go up to several hundred pounds for the most sophisticated machines. They show your position on earth in latitude, longitude and altitude, via triangulation from satellites orbiting the earth.

To those of us not blessed with a great sense of direction, especially when exploring a new city, these devices are a godsend. Just “Mark” the co-ordinate of your hotel for example, wander all day and then your little machine will guide you back home in the evening. If you know the GPS co-ordinate of the sight you want to visit, these little boxes can save you time by taking your straight there, as depending on conditions they can be as accurate as 10ft.

Though GPS's are a great piece of kit to have with you they are used in more serious applications. For example Padmassana recently went to a lecture on volcanoes and the lecturer described how GPS's are being used to monitor the height of the land in volcanic areas. The land rising if only by centimetres over a period can signify that magma is building up underneath and indicate that an eruption is more likely and hopefully give the authorities an opportunity to evacuate the area.

To those who already have a GPS, most will know about Geocaching. A global game of hide and seek using a GPS. Globie Tracey introduced Padmassana to this “sport” on a Globetrotters weekend away. On the website www.geocaching.com you type in your postal code (in countries that have this system) and you will be taken to a page showing “Caches” within a 10-mile radius. The Cache is normally hidden and usually has the form of a plastic box with some trinkets in. Most Geocachers leave something and take something. There is always a book to record your visit and sometimes a throwaway camera for you to take a picture. Once back home you can go online and record your visit, this allows the person who planted the cache to know how often it is being found or not as the case may be. Some caches are just one location, but many are a series of clues leading to a final cache. For example you may be given the co-ordinates of a church, where you have to look for a particular grave, then transpose a date of birth into another set of co-ordinates, which take you to another clue and so on.

In some cache’s you may be lucky and come across a “Travel bug”, these are small metal dog tag beetles with a number on. If you decide to remove this from the cache you must put it in the book. Once you get home look up the Travel bug online and see what its mission is, some want to reach a particular destination, others just want to visit as many places as possible. Your mission once you have discovered what the bug wants to do is to help it on its way by planting it in another cache, which hopefully helps it get nearer to its goal.

Since the first cache was “planted” near Portland Oregon in May 2000, the worldwide number of caches has increased to over 90,000 and are hidden in 199 countries. In the UK alone there are around 3000 hidden caches. In just one 7-day period in March 2004, over 64,000 caches were logged as “Found”, which goes to show what a popular pastime this has become. (Figures courtesy of www.fingertech.co.uk)

Now this is where we want all you Globetrotters out there to do your part. I am trying to put together a database of co-ordinates of famous sights and monuments, for example: Buckingham Palace in London is located at N51 30.101 W000  08.487. 

We are inviting you to take part in geocaching in your area – please take two or three readings to make sure they are as accurate as possible, then e-mail the following information 1) The site 2) The address 3) Its co-ordinates 4) Your name to gps@globetrotters.co.uk  Once we have begun to build a database it will be made available to all Globetrotters to enjoy.

By the way, Padmassana released a travel bug on Monday, April 05, 2004 in the UK.   The mission of the travel bug is as follows: to travel far and wide, but my dream is to visit Iran.  I would like to visit caches in England, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey and finally Iran.

According to Conde Nast Traveller’s, the “Next Seven Wonders” of the world feature two concert halls, a museum, two stores, a church and a hotel.  They are:

• Tenerife Auditorium, a curving, soaring concert hall on Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
• The Kunsthaus contemporary art museum in Graz, Austria, a blue, other-worldly building with light flowing in from 16 nozzles, dubbed the “Friendly Alien” by locals.
• The six-storey Prada tower in Tokyo with a facade made from diamond-shaped grids of glass, some concave, others convex, illuminated from within at night.
• The Jubilee Church in Rome, comprising three concrete shells, soaring skylights and glass exterior walls that fill the church with light.
• The Selfridges store in Birmingham, England, a futuristic pod of a building with 15,000 glittering aluminium disks covering its wavy walls.
• Hotel Unique in Sao Paulo, a boat-shaped semicircle, complete with round nautical-style windows.
• Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, known for its acoustics and reflective stainless steel panels.

Is there anywhere you’d like to nominate as the next wonder of the world?  The Beetle would like to nominate the Gherkin, also known as the erotic gherkin, or more properly known as the Swiss Re Tower in the City of London.  Let the Beetle know and we will compile a list for next month’s e-news.

Silja was our roving correspondent at the ITW show in London in January.  We asked what were the most important travel tips she came away with after having attended some of the talks and walked around the show several times.  This is what she reported back on:

1 Insecticide evaporates quickly, so reapply frequently in heavily infested areas (Paul Goodyer, Staying Healthy on the Road).

2. Sponsorship can cost a lot of money to get, and may not be worth it in the end (James Greenwood, Global Ride on Horse Back).

3. Travel writers should have an angle, or put another way, why should they publish your work? (Travel Writing – Dream Job panel).

4. Whatever your injury check your insurance company will pay for treatment, and if you travel with a group and you go off alone, you may not be insured (Mr. Henderson, Getting the Most from your Grudge Purchase).

5. The three greatest hazards in the jungle are flood, dead trees falling on you and hornets (Ken Hames, Survive the Jungle).

6. Email your CV to yourself if you don’t want to carry copies, especially across borders (The Big Trip panel)

7. You can earn money abroad by taking a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) course (I-to-I TEFL Workshop: Travel and Earn).

8. If you send publishers sheets of transparencies, copyright and caption each one as they may get separated (Travel Writing – Dream Job panel).

9. If you video your trip, take care with sound as wind can obliterate voices (Tarquin Cooper, How to Make & Sell a Film of your Expedition).

10. A disposable nappy is a great dressing for a head wound, it even has holes for ears (James Greenwood, Global Ride on Horse Back).

Silja Swaby is a consultant marine biologist, runs her own business, travels, and writes.  Right now she is looking for a publisher for her book about travelling light, and is planning an expedition with a horse.  If you would like to contact Silja, her e-mail address is: siljaswaby@hotmail.com

Although, now perhaps ‘old news’ to those of us living and working in Mikindani we couldn’t let this event pass unreported. Last November The Old Boma’s reputation had had yet another shot in the arm! The District Commissioner invited us to prepare lunch for the Tanzanian Prime Minister and 30 of his party; approaching election time he was going to be making an official visit to Mtwara Region for 2 days. However it was not to be held at the Boma but at a Primary School in the remote village of Hinju some 50 km inland from here. The village is so remote that there are no facilities at all – no power, limited water and we would have to take absolutely everything with us. Initially they thought we would donate the entire cost! However, when I explained that we are a charity they agreed to give us a ‘donation’ to the cause which did just about cover the cost of the food.

Friday – the shopping trip to Mtwara took 5 hours whilst Esther searched all over town for enough chickens to feed this crowd whilst the goat in question was tethered outside the Boma bleating for a few hours. Saturday – kitchen a hive of activity chopping, cutting, marinating and counting bottles of water, soft drinks, plates, glasses, knives, forks etc. Last minute panic appeared non-existent – my own memories of the night before a major event of this importance were very different!

It was a very early start on the Sunday morning – but the excitement was tangible! On the unmade country roads there was no sign of a police or security presence -the only suggestion that the PM might be in danger was the Prime Minister’s Waiter hovering around ‘tasting’ the food whilst we were preparing it – he must have approved because he kept coming back for more!

We had originally been told that lunch would be at 2.00pm – then they changed that to 12.30 – as it happened the official party turned up at 2.15! But there was a lot of ‘on site’ preparation so several hours were required. We were given the headmaster’s office for preparation (including the barbecue – his office will never smell quite the same!) and the classroom next door was turned into a dinning room. The rest of the food preparation and the cooking was done in the open air on the other side of the school!

In the ‘dining room’ tables were arranged around the edge of the room in a ‘U’ formation and white sheets were used as table clothes. With the new Boma china, some hastily created green & black batik it all looked very elegant or at least as elegant as it could be in a classroom with concrete walls, a corrugated iron roof and a huge old blackboard on the wall!

The official party arrived in a flurry of dust as about 40 cars swept into the school ground. In the background was the celebratory sound of drums and chanting, and there were dancers that we could hear but not see from our corner of the school ground. Because they were so late we abandoned all attempts at ‘silver service’ and put a couple of desks in the centre of the room as a buffet and allowed them to help themselves. We were advised to do this so that we could not be held responsible for delaying them and influencing how long they took to eat!

The menu

Roast Goat (marinated with ginger and then cooked on the BBQ)
Marinated Chicken (with garlic and lemon, also cooked on the BBQ)
Beef Curry
Vegetable Curry
Pilau rice / Plain rice / Ugali / Salad
Fresh fruit – (as the PM does not eat any fruit that is already cut – it was just bananas!)

After they had eaten the District Commissioner invited the whole Boma team into the room, introduced us and gave a short speech of thanks for providing such a wonderful lunch. He acknowledged that the Boma is run by Trade Aid and proceeded to thank Trade Aid for providing this opportunity for employment and the development of tourism in the Mtwara Region. The Prime Minister's photographer recorded the event and held a photo shoot taking a number of pictures on the Trade Aid digital camera.

Once all the clearing up and packing up was complete we set off back to Mikindani. ‘Tired but happy’ is a phrase that comes to mind! PS -  all the Boma China that went to Hinju came back intact! Well done! to the team once again.

The summer is soon here and that reminds us of our romantic honeymoon we had last summer. We want to share our memories with you.

We got married last summer outside Brighton, UK, after 10 years together and we had a fantastic wedding with all our friends, 110 persons. On our honeymoon we wanted to start with relaxing on the countryside and then some city life. We choose Sweden and Stockholm,  not far from London, and with fast direct access. And we found a tour operator, Peace and Quiet Travel,  offering what we were looking for.  Three nights in the beautiful Mälar Valley and two nights in Stockholm! The week after our wedding we were on our way.

After picking up our rental car at the airport and after some looking on the map we found Surahammar Manor. A fantastic place in the Mälar Valley with romantic surroundings! And such a family atmosphere! The owners themselves welcomed us and we got a high standard room facing the parkland. All rooms are  individually decorated with elegant antique furniture. And we really enjoyed the welcome dinner with Swedish schnapps. In the evening we went early to bed, talked about our wedding and revelled in that pleasant tired feeling in your body and serenity in your heart that only a great day can  bring!

And what did we do in the Mälar Valley?  After breakfast we went canoeing and brought our own picnic lunch with us. Total relaxation and what a scenery, unspoilt and beautiful!  In the afternoon we decided to go fishing, a new experience for both of us. We hired the equipment and thought  that we had to go far away,but not. We were fishing from the Manor’s park! After some hours we had got four salmon trout and thought it was enough. In the evening we prepared  them together with the cook. Never has a dinner tasted so good!

Next day we decided to be a little cultural so we went to Tidö Castle, a well-known Mälar castle. Tidö is from the 1600s and famous in part for its 43 magnificent carved doors with wood inlay and also for a comprehensive toy museum. We enjoyed a romantic walk, before dinner, in the Manor’s flower-filled parkland, along small paths, over  small white bridges, and watched carp  swimming in the pond. Our last day we tried horse riding, new for me but not for Mary. The stables were just five minutes away and an instructor took care of us  and gave us a riding lesson and then we went out in the  countryside in a slow pace. Both relaxing and exiting! The service at Surahammar was very high, they suggested excursions and helped us in every possible way.

Stockholm city life: We checked in to our double room at hotel Terminus, located in the very centre of Stockholm. The hotel  opened in 1909 and is well-known  for its traditional atmosphere and personal service.  Near to all that Stockholm offers of restaurants, theatres, shopping, historic buildings and other attractions. In the afternoon we enjoyed a walking tour in the Old Town and visited the Royal Castle. In the night we went to Spy Bar and mingled with Stockholm’s glitterati!  The day after we took a guided boat tour under the bridges of Stockholm.  And visited the Vasa Museum, a 17th century pride of the Swedish fleet, resurrected 333 years after sinking and the nearby Skansen, a zoo and the world’s first open-air museum. In the evening we just relaxed  in one of Stockholm’s open-air cafés and enjoyed the city nightlife.  Before leaving to the airport we just had a morning of leisure.

If you are interested in spending some time in the Mälar Valley, contact Eva at Peace and Quiet Travel, a Swedish tour operator, offering all sorts of packages to the Mälar Valley and combination Stockholm city and countryside.  Eva can be contacted by e-mail on: info@peaceandquiet.co.uk or take a look at their website:

Sciacca is not really on the tourist trail although it is extremely pleasant and some of the upper town is really picturesque. There is no really cheap place to stay, though the Paloma Bianca in Via Figuli was not really dear. The main appeal of Sciacca for me is the fact that it is an ideal place for an excellent bus trip to the hill village of Caltabellotta. Sicily has so much to see [I missed the lovely west coast and most of the interior, including a terrific Roman villa] that I suspect a lot of people never make it to any of the smaller towns. Even though I obviously saw them at the cost of some better known larger places, Erice in particular, I feel that it is a pity not to sample some and this is a beaut. From my knowledge of Sicilian hill villages I would say that somehow they are less picturesque from a distance but quite as good when inside them as those of the mainland. On the ride to Caltabellotta it is going up high, rather than heading for the village, which gives the pleasure and you need to be well up in the village to see it at its best.

Having said that, once you go up from the bus terminus to the very top, you will certainly want to find ways to other parts of the crest. In one place you can go through a tunnel to see the magnificent view from the other side – if you are fully fit you could actually get this from the castle. The wind that hit me from the other side as I came out made it feel about fifteen degrees lower temperature. No doubt this is a considerable exaggeration but it was a great feeling in the reverse direction! Here there are two fine churches just below vast rock outcrops, one Norman and one Gothic. I use ‘Norman’, rather than ‘Romanesque,’ as a descriptor because the Normans did actually get to and settle on Sicily, unlikely as that may sound. I really go for rooftop views as well and the town below looks far more stunning to me from up here than from below.

This was only my fifth night out of eleven but already lack of time was forcing me to adjust my plans. I had meant to go right around the island anti-clockwise and hopefully to do a trip into the Villa Imperiale inland. I now realised this was far too much to take on and I abandoned any notion of reaching the west coast or Segesta, a spectacular site to the west of the island’s capital, Palermo. This meant cutting from the south coast to the north at Palermo itself. I decided on one further southern escapade first – a trip to the ancient Greek settlement of Selinunte It was necessary to change at Castelvetrano from the bus bound for Trápani to the local minibus to Selinunte and the modern village of Marinellla which is little more than the accommodation for those going to see Selinunte. It turned out that the wait in this rather ordinary place [Castelvetrano] was going to be over an hour and a half, and then when the bus was quarter of an hour late.

This afternoon was well up to the standards of the very best parts of my trip. Not only was the sun shining warmly from a blue sky but the spring flowers were blossoming in profusion all over the site and beyond. The site itself is terrific – as good a set of Greek remains as that at Agrigento to my mind and I felt that to have missed it would have been unpardonable. There are three areas of particular importance: the eastern temples, the Acropolis area and, some distance away, the Necropolis. I concentrated on the first two. This in itself covered a considerable area and involved several kilometres of walking but I am sure the number of people I saw was not as many as eighteen.

The eastern temples were mainly erected in the sixth century BC and one of them, Temple E as it rather prosaically named, was reconstructed in the 1950s. Apparently this was and is controversial but I feel no qualms about it as long as some are left as they are found. Whatever, it is a magnificent building and I am sure a full size re-construction must be the best way of illustrating to children what these temples were like. The Acropolis area contains another five temples and most of the ancient living area as well as the remains of the great walls. These walls, however, are older than the rest of the remains, having been built after the city had been destroyed once by Carthage in order to defend the high ground from further destructions.

David was a keen walker, particularly on mountains before he developed serious heart problems in 1995. He has now adapted his holidays to what he is able to do and we are presenting his account of 12 days in Sicily over this and the coming months. Next two episodes: Palermo.

What is it: Rift Valley fever (RVF) is an acute, fever-causing viral disease that affects domestic animals (such as cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, and camels) and humans.  RVF is most commonly associated with mosquito-borne epidemics during years of heavy rainfall.

Where could I get it: RVF is generally found in regions of eastern and southern Africa where sheep and cattle are raised.  However, RVF virus also exists in most countries of sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar.

What happens if I get it: people with RVF typically have either no symptoms or a mild illness associated with fever and liver abnormalities.  In some more extreme cases, it can lead to hemorrhagic fever (which can lead to shock or haemorrhage), encephalitis (inflammation of the brain, which can lead to headaches, coma, or seizures), and eye disease.

What do I do if I get it: usually patients recover within two days to one week after onset of illness.  About 1% of humans that become infected with RVF die of the disease.  There is no specific treatment – just rest and taking plenty of fluids.

How can I prevent catching Rift Valley Fever: avoid bites of mosquitoes and other blood-sucking insects, so use of mosquito repellents and bed nets.  Also you should avoid exposure to blood or tissues of animals that may potentially be infected.

Which countries are represented by these flags?  For the answers, see at the end of the e-news.