Teddy Bear Centenary in London: the centenary of the teddy bear is being celebrated with a major exhibition at London’s Museum of Childhood, Bethnal Green (March 29 – December 31).
The exhibition features about 400 bears, from some of the oldest surviving examples to present-day models, plus ‘celebrity’ bears such as Winnie the Pooh, Paddington, and Aloysius from the TV series “Brideshead Revisited”.
The Museum of Childhood is a branch of the Victoria
& Albert Museum. It is open daily except Friday. Admission free (Some events carry a separate charge).
Nick from London says that he thinks that it does not really count if
you have only been to the inside of an airport in a particular country,
though others may argue this point. There are other brief visits I have
made to countries. For instance, a couple of years ago I was holidaying
in Thailand and took one of those long tail boat trips on the Mekong river
in the Golden Triangle. During the short journey the boat driver called
in at a jetty on the Lao side of the river for petrol.
Aha! I thought to myself, This is an opportunity to visit Laos! I leapt
off the boat and walked up the jetty and spent a couple of minutes on
the riverbank on the Lao side of the river. So I have had a very short
“visit” to Laos, at least I have stood on Laotian soil, but
of course I can't really say that I have been to the country in any
usual sense. Perhaps others have similar rapid drop ins on countries?
Write in and let the Beetle
know what you think!
A recent report in Cyber Diver News
says that tourists and scuba diver numbers have fallen by almost a third
to between 300,000 and 100,000 a month. This is serious stuff for Malaysia
as tourism is the country’s second largest earner of foreign exchange.
The fall in numbers was triggered by the Bali bombing but a particularly
hard line message that sunbathers should cover up (e.g. no bikinis) has
not helped.
Globetrotters meeting on 1st February by
Padmassana
David Abram was up first and gave us a very interesting talk
on Trekking in Corsica. David has spent long periods in Corsica
in order to research his Trailblazer
guidebook. He told us that the cheapest way to get there is to take a
No-Frills cheap flight to either Marseilles or Nice and then take a ferry
across to the island. David first showed us the easier coastal walks;
we saw the azure seas and waves crashing on to rocky headlands. The main
route for Trekking/walking on Corsica is the GR20, which winds its way
170 Km across the islands roof. The route has an altitude change of 19,000
Metres. David explained that although his photos of the route looked daunting
to all but experienced mountaineers, including parts where it was necessary
to use cables and ladders, most reasonably fit people can manage the route.
The GR20 route is for the most part well marked with waypoints. It is
divided into 16 stages, which most of the 17,000 people who do the walk
each year complete in around 12 days. David finished up with some Corsican
music and some of his favourite photos of Corsica. In next month’s
e-news we are lucky enough to have one of David’s stories about
his time in Corsica – look out for it!
After the interval our second speaker was Peter Nasmyth whose
talk was entitled Caucasusadventure. Peter kicked off with
photos of snow-capped peaks like Mt Elbrus and hilltop churches, lit by
the intermittent electricity supply. This region has many surprises for
the visitor; it’s a place where the locals drink toasts to Stalin
(he was a Georgian) and to Adolf Hitler (he fought the communists). Other
surprises were a bubbling carbonated lake, surrounded by red mineral covered
rocks. Tblisi is the Georgian capital, we saw old areas where balconies
over hang the streets and a tower block that was once the best hotel in
town, but is now a home to many refugees from the wars in neighbouring
countries like Ossetia and Chechnya. Peter’s photos of the local
people included traditional dress that has built in bullet holders and
knives in the waistband of trousers. The Caucasus is an area where it
is possible to go heli-skiing, by renting a helicopter and heading up
into the mountains, very popular with German skiers. Peter finished by
telling us about his charity, which helps the local children, who are
bright and well educated, but have little to channel their energies into.
Peter also helped establish Prosperos bookshop. The first English language
cafe bookshop, which according to Peter sells the best coffee in the Caucasus.
Coming up: Saturday 1st March
Leslie Downer – “Sadayakko and her amazing
journey around the World.” Sadayakko was a geisha and Japan's
first actress. In 1900 she enchanted audiences around the World from san
Francisco, New York, London, fin-de-siecle Paris, Vienna and St. Petersburg.
Part II of Leslie's geisha adventures. Geoff Roy –
“Great Wall of China” is the longest man-made structure on
Earth- stretching from the Yellow Sea to Tibet (6,700kms.) Geoff's
talk covers walking on restored, as well as un-restored sections of “wild
wall”
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 register for email updates at at our website (click here)
My partner and I (aged 55 and 65) went RTW for 12 months to April 2002.
She has written a book on it but is looking for a publisher. I went to
internet cafes to maintain a long journal. So rather than travellers'
tales here are some notes on how we did it. The RTW deal was from Star
Alliance, giving us 12 months, 15 stops and 39000 miles. A couple of times
when in dispute with an airline the Alliance link was useful. Their miles
include overland legs which seems unfair but it is still good value. They
allow backtracking, which we needed for India to China.
We flew to Brazil for two lazy weeks to get over the strain of preparations,
then to Lima. We took buses – we avoided 'luxury' or 'tourist'
buses -round Peru and despite being told it was impossible found a cheap
way to Macchu Picchu. Three-day trips to Colca Canyon and to the Peruvian
Amazon jungle. Bus and boat (aided by the Bolivian Navy!) to cold La Paz
then bus on 'the most dangerous road in the world' to lovely Coroico.
Flew to Costa Rica, which seemed very wealthy and grotesquely American!
But we had a wonderful time there – eco-tourism on the Caribbean coast
and in the cloud forest. I wrote a report on working conditions on the
banana plantations. Then buses through sad Nicaragua, tough Honduras (staying
with the Garifuna) and Guatemala with its staggering range of wealth.
We were in luxury after three months of back packers' hotels and crowded
but fascinating bus journeys. Then we bought a car in Florida and eventually
sold it in British Columbia. (One could write a book this, as on each
leg of the journey.) This was not as easy as it sounds – big problems
with driver's licence and insurance. But surmountable. Boat and bus
to Houston BC. Strange coming back to sophistication a few days after
9/11, a different world. Hawaii then fabulous Tonga. Real bliss as the
only visitors on an idyllic island, and time to think. Here my partner
discovered the magic of snorkelling.
NZ was surprisingly far nicer than expected, Sydney also amazes. We were
kept busy there and in Canberra and Melbourne giving talks. Thailand where
we made lasting friends, one a young man not half way through 25 years
imprisonment for drug smuggling. Don’t even think about it! Interesting
to contrast the type of tourists here with those in S America. Almost
a different breed. So to the jewel. Three months in India lived up to
all my hopes and dreams. A stopover in steamy sophisticated Singapore
(the night time zoo worth a visit) thence to Beijing, and onto the trans-Asia
train with stops including three weeks in Mongolia (hiring a jeep to traverse
the Gobi), Siberia (Lake Baikal), Moscow and glorious St Petersburg.
Stockholm was refreshing and spring time in England utterly delightful.
Total cost was less than £4,000 on fares, plus £400 a week
rent we got on our London homes. We ate local workers' food. We often
stayed in people's homes – fellow Quakers, a hosting organisation,
far flung family and friends. Otherwise in the better rooms in cheap hotels.
Motels (except some on Route 66) have no character but are great value.
Or ashrams. The only problematic visa was that for Russia, though others
such as India and China needed some care. I was surprised to find one
of the most irksome problems was telephoning – one needs to see if mobiles
can be adapted cheaply in each region. Only disappointments: despite three
weeks in most places we usually seemed to be in a hurry, and sadly I lost
several sets of slides.
Essentials include up-to-date Guides. We used Footprint guides for Latin
America because it avoids having lots of volumes; and for India as well
as Lonely Planet there and everywhere else. “Road Trip USA”
for the side roads. Take both Visa and MasterCard (and Maestro if possible)
as many areas take only one or the other. We had all the jabs recommended
except expensive encephalitis. We never resolved all the arguments for
and against anti-malaria tablets, and if so which ones. But insect repellent
from day 1, and a hat if you are bald like me. I had to have scalp pre-cancer
treatment on return. I was supplied with and shown how to use self-catheterisation
by the NHS. Never had to do it but without it I would not have dared go
to Tonga, or deep into the Gobi.
Medically we had very few problems, tummy bug twice, and chest complaints
in the Andes. I got shingles when in Thailand but was easily able to get
powerful drugs (for £50 – a fortune), which knocked it out. But
we had quite a few strains from lugging our packs (and from 3 days meditating
cross legged in a Buddhist temple!) We both had Karrimor wheeled rucksacks
and seldom had to hump them. My advice – just DO IT! Don't worry about
food and accommodation and robbery.
Ignore travel mags and ads. They make it scary so you'll use their
expensive services. Just GO! Details on the web site (at http://home.clara.net/spetter/sp/,
but sadly I don't have time and space to mention our lovely hosts
and the travellers and locals we met. To contact Stephen for any hints
or tips, please e-mail him on: spetter@clara.net
Sent in by Bretislav in the Czech Republic, spotted
on cbc.ca
ST. JOHN'S – A woman who fell asleep on a flight
to Newfoundland and wound up in England has been offered 15,000 bonus
aeroplan miles by the airline. Air Canada apologized to Catherine Coyle
late Monday and offered her the air miles for her troubles. The airline
also said she was partly responsible for falling asleep on the 90-minute
flight from Halifax to St. John's and not waking up on time. Last
Thursday, the Cole Harbour, N.S., woman was on a flight to visit her ill
mother. She fell asleep and woke up to hear the pilot announce a 4-hour
flight time. The plane was half an hour out of St. John's heading
for London. Coyle had apparently slept through the landing at St. John's
and a 30-minute stopover before the flight for England. No one had tried
to wake her up to check her ticket. The pilot refused to turn the plane
around and she had to continue to Heathrow airport, where she waited two
hours for a return flight.
Write in and tell us your jokes, anecdotes, mishaps,
funny things you’ve seen! Drop a line to the Beetle! E-mail
the Beetle.
Seeds of Peace
is concerned with sowing the seeds of peace among children who have grown
up with the horror of war. They will be back for an encore presentation,
following their first visit to the New York branch of the Globetrotters
Club on January 4, 2003.
Speaking will be: Jeremy Goldberg and Rebecca Hankin of Seeds of Peace,
an organization that provides an opportunity for the children of war to
plant the seeds for a more secure future. The program focuses on Arab
and Israeli teenagers from ten nations in the Middle East but has also
brought youngsters from Cyprus, the war-torn Balkans, India, Pakistan,
Afghanistan and other regions of conflict to its unique coexistence program.
Seeds of Peace has been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, The
Washington Post, Time Magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, The Wall
Street Journal, People Magazine and on ABC, CBS & NBC network programs,
including “Nightline” (twice) with Ted Koppel, “60 Minutes”
with Morley Safer, “Sunday Morning,” “The Today Show,”
“Good Morning America” and on CNN, PBS and NPR. Jeremy Goldberg
is the Director of Corporate Relations at Seeds of Peace, Mr. Goldberg's
experience includes time spent on Capitol Hill, as well as at the Center
for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington, DC-based
think tank. He is also the founder and former editor-in-chief of the Georgetown
Journal of International Affairs, a nationally distributed foreign affairs
publication. Jeremy is an honors graduate of the School of Foreign Service
at Georgetown University. Rebecca Hankin is currently Director of Media
Relations at Seeds of Peace, a position she has held since April 2002.
Since its founding, Seeds of Peace has graduated over 2,000 teenagers
representing 22 nations from its internationally recognized conflict-resolution
program.
For details of forthcoming meetings email newyork@globetrotters.co.uk
or register for email updates at click here
at our website.
New York meetings are held at The Wings Theater, 154 Christopher
Street (btw Greenwich St and Washington St), to the right of Crunch Fitness,
in the Archive on the first Saturday of each month at 4 pm.
February is a slow month in the Costa Del Sol. This is why you can get
some of the best deals during that month. The temperature goes from 16-10
degrees Celsius. So you can still be in shorts.
I recently just got back from Costa Del Sol. I took advantage of the
airline price war that is going on right now. Arriving at the airport
I noticed that the traffic was not as heavy as it was during the summer
but still a fair number of the people getting off those planes were from
the UK, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Germany. First things I noticed
was that I needed sunglasses and needed to take off my heavy winter jacket.
I just arrived from a Northern European country where that morning it
was -6 Celsius. It was also icy and snowing conditions.
I was smiling as I thought of my colleagues back home at work. I was
thinking that some of them do deserve their day in the sun. Some of my
colleagues had become as cranky as the northern weather in the northern
part of Europe and the sun would bring back their smiles. Productivity
would greatly improve.
The second thing I noticed is the smile on the Spanish people's
face. They seem that they were enjoying themselves. I thought what enjoyment
have I had before coming to Spain? In my Northern country I was stuck
everyday in traffic, I was driving 20 kilometres an hour on the highway
due to snow and icy conditions, I had 3 layers of clothes on because of
freezing temperatures. Coming to Spain I was no longer stuck in traffic,
there were no icy conditions to peril my well being, and I was taking
off my 3 layers of clothes in February!!! Therefore, I too had a smile
on my face.
Once in Costa Del Sol, you will be tempted to stop on the highway to
view the ocean. My suggestion is to drive west towards Marbella. Take
the coastal highway N-340 so that you can get the ocean view throughout
your journey. Stop somewhere where you can view the great ocean- like
the top of the Sitio de Calahonda. Calahonda is 36 Kilometres west of
Malaga and on the N-340. Once at the top there are bars and restaurants
where you can sit outside and see the breathtaking views. You will soon
forget your problems at work, your icy conditions, and your 3 layers of
clothes that you left back home.
About the Author: Fred Desrosiers lives in the coldness of the Swiss
Alps. He has been to the Costa Del Sol several times. He loves it so much
that he returns time and time again. He can help you if you’d like
to visit the Costa del Sol. View his website at Fred's Homepage
A recent UK survey for the Department for Education
found that of over 1,000 adults, 30% felt unable to compare rates in exchange
bureaux. A similar proportion said they were not comfortable converting
foreign currency into sterling. Over a fifth of those surveyed admitted
they had wrongly calculated how much they spent on holiday, with 12% saying
they had run out of money.
The Globetrotters Club has just teamed up with Oanda.com
to provide people with information about currency conversions and cheat
sheets. To translate currency or make a cheat sheet, visit:
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.
Iris is a British lady of considerable character and pluck, on a 23
week overland expedition from Quito in Ecuador to Caracas in Venezuela.
After this, she plans to do a 3-month voluntary placement in Ecuador,
and then visit Central America for another overland trip between Panama
City and Mexico City, ending up with perhaps another 2-month voluntary
placement somewhere in South America again. This amazing journey will
take Iris one year. Here is an extract from Iris’ journey notebook.
30th November: The Journey to Cuenca
I sent my last emails from Baños, was there 3 days and it was
a lovely little town but, as I say, that volcano was brooding over it,
which made things a little scary! One of our number said he had read there
are evacuation arrows in the streets showing the population the way to
run should there be an eruption but he couldn't find them which rather
concerned him! But we evacuated from Baños without any trouble,
but my, what a journey we had to Cuenca – right through the Andes at a
minimum of 2,000 metres, sometimes going up to well over 3,000 metres.
Everywhere – mountains that seemed to be almost piled one on top of the
other, with the occasional narrow valley plummeting down to the depths
with hamlets nestled in them. Scary at times as the road was just cut
out of the mountainsides and there were some really incredible hair pin
bends – looking over the side I was thankful we were going so slowly with
no danger of going over the edge because we would have all been killed
if we had crashed over the side – probably drops of at least 300 – 1,000m
in places with nothing but rock to fall on!
We saw lots of local people – mostly shepherds in the traditional Andean
garb of trilby hat, colourful (often red) shawls and brightly coloured
skirts, minding their sheep, goats, donkeys, pigs, cattle or llamas. Unfortunately,
the cloud was low and obscured what must have been some very fine views
but every so often the scene (rather than the sky) would clear and we
would see some awesome sights – steaming volcanoes, two or three of them
in a line; sheer precipices and steep mountains with their tops obscured
in cloud.
We left Baños at 0745 (yours truly being the last on the bus,
not because I got up late, I was up at 0500 exercising and showering but
the restaurant which was supposed to open at 0600 was later opening and
then the girl who waited on table had to run off to the baker's to
get bread. But by the time we were all breakfasted (and some rolled in
in the early hours of the morning so had no breakfast as they were suffering
from hangovers) and I had collected my belongings and finished my ablutions
(the obligatory cleaning of teeth), I turned out to be the last on the
bus!
We then made our way slowly out of Baños to Cuenca some 366 kms
to the south but the terrain, coupled with the weight in our bus – full
water tanks as well as petrol tanks, and with two drivers and 22 people
aboard with all their luggage – we made slow progress up hills and all
sorts of vehicles were continuously overtaking us. We were ok on the straights
and downhills but on the downhill had to go slowly again because of the
weight being hurled down steep inclines and having to negotiate some hair-raising
bends.
We stopped for lunch on the roadside – our leaders/drivers (Heather
and Martin) had bought local produce at the market in Baños and
so we helped prepare a lunch of salad (lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, radishes,
avocado pear, onions) and rolls, butter, ham and cheese for us all. We
go through an elaborate process of disinfecting our hands, using a spray
disinfectant after using the toilet and then washing our hands again in
disinfectant water and rinsing them again in disinfectant water and shaking
them rather than wiping them dry. All table surfaces and pots and pans
are sterilised and then work begins at cutting up and buttering and putting
things on plates and in bowls on long trestle tables and canvas stools
are put out for us all to sit on. Meanwhile, the local dogs congregate,
sniffing out the food and looking longingly at us, as are the local shepherd
population.
In the site where we were there were a couple of shepherds (women) with
their children, and their donkeys and pigs. The children were wide-eyed
but rather suspicious urchins (suspicious of us) and refused all requests
to have their photos taken, but hanging around watching these strange
tourists in their shorts and long trousers preparing food they could only
dream about. We didn't encourage the dogs with any scraps and we certainly
did not stroke any of them (dirty little mutts), but they all seemed innocent
enough and quiet if not friendly, but after we had all finished eating,
the food over was handed out to the shepherds and their children in the
form of ham and cheese and salad rolls, and bags of lettuce and tomatoes,
and for the pigs, all the swill resulting from the lettuce and other vegetables
used in the salad. So everyone benefited, even the local hospice (just
a dirty brick building with a small shop and rather disgusting loos but
at least we were able to use them and rinse our hands under the tap, hence
the strict regime of disinfecting our hands every time we used the loos
when we stopped.
At one stage, we experienced the necessity of relieving ourselves without
the aid of modern conveniences. The men went one way in a small wooded
area and the women went the other. It is at times like these one wishes
one was a man and could just open our flies without having to strip ourselves
half naked and crouch in the undergrowth. Of course, yours truly had to
choose a place with some rather long stems of grass, which tickled my
posterior regions as I crouched so I made a rather ungainly spectacle
of myself jumping around every time something touched me in a rather intimate
place! Then the ceremony of the trowel – burying the tissue we used in
the ground so that we didn't pollute the local area of scenic beauty!
I am sure this is going to be the first of many occasions when we will
need to wander off, trowel in hand, to seek out similar places for similar
purposes.
If you’d like to contact Iris, whether to wish her luck with her
trip or to ask questions about her itinerary and places visited, I am
sure she would like to hear from you. She can be contacted on: irisej2002@yahoo.co.uk
#EndEditable
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#BeginEditable “sidebar”
Sidebar area
Maggie wrote in to say: “I enjoy reading all the
stories of travelling around the world. I am planning on walking the pilgrim
route to Santiago De Compostela starting in France at the end of May 2004.
Has anybody done this journey? Any advice would be more than appreciated”.
If you can have walked all or part of the pilgrimage
route to Santiago de Compostela and can help Maggie, please e-mail her
on: mechthild@InfoAve.Net
~~~~~~~~
Gary wrote in to say: “I'm going to be touring
England and Scotland on a recumbent bike later part of May and June '03.
I'm going to stay in B&Bs' and youth hostels. I'll be
flying into Heathrow Airport. What's the best way for me to get to
Colchester from London airport? 1) Bike from airport and figure out a
way to stash my bike box. Or….
2) Catch a train from the airport and unbox my bike
in a B&B in Colchester and hopefully store my bike box their for my
return trip. My plan is to bike up through the Shetland Islands and then
return back to my bike box in late June. If there is anyone who would
like to visit with me or ride part of the way, drop me an email on: garyleffler@hotmail.com
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Need help?
Want a travelling buddy or advice about a place or country – want to share
something with us – why not visit our Mutual Aid section of the Website:
Mutual Aid
Our speaker last month was Norman Ford (Founder of the Globetrotters
Club) who gave a wonderful presentation about present slides from his
cycling trips. Plans for the Copper Canyon trip where also discussed.
Everyone had a blast.
This month on March 18th Joei Carlton a travel writer,will
share her adventures with us.
For more information about the Texas Branch: please Contact texas@globetrotters.co.uk
or call Christina at 830-620-5482 or register for email updates at click here
at our website.
PLEASE NOTE NEW LOCATION
We will meet at the VFW Hall on Peace Street
instead of the library on Common St.
The hall is across from the entrance to Cypress Bend Park where the April
2002 picnic was held.
Peace Street is between the library and the river off Common St. Turn
on Peace Street – the Fairgrounds are across the street so you can
only turn one way. There is a sign for the VFW hall on the corner. Go
to the dead end (cemeteries on both sides) and turn right into the parking
lot for the VFW hall.
Mark your calendars – Dates of future meetings: April 12th,
The VFW folks will open their bar so we will not go to the Hoity Toit
after the meeting. If you like, bring some nibbles to share for conversation
time following the meeting – since we will miss the peanuts from
the Toit.
For more information about the Texas Branch: please Contact texas@globetrotters.co.uk
or register for email updates at our website (click here) or call
Christina at 830-620-5482
If anybody would like to enquire about meetings or help Christina, please
contact her on: texas@globetrotters.co.uk
Another global warning on terrorism has been given to
Americans travelling abroad by the US State Department. This one is dated
7th February.
The worldwide caution replaces a similar warning made
in November and reminds people to be aware of the dangers of a terrorist
attack.
It asks travellers to remain vigilant due to a heightened
threat of terrorist actions that may target civilians, including the possibility
of attacks by non-conventional weapons. It also reminds American citizens
travelling or living overseas to avoid demonstrations.
US citizens and interests are vulnerable to attacks,
including those by groups with links to Al-Qaeda, says the government.
Terrorist actions may include, but are not limited to, suicide operations,
assassinations or kidnappings.
The State Department goes on to say that while conventional
weapons such as explosive devices pose a more immediate threat in many
areas overseas, terrorist use of non-conventional weapons, including chemical
or biological agents must be considered a growing threat.
These individuals and groups have proved that they do
not distinguish between official and civilian targets. Because security
and security awareness have been elevated within the United States, terrorists
may target US interests overseas. Private Americans should remain vigilant
with regard to their personal security and exercise caution.
Attacks on places of worship and schools, and the murders
of private American citizens and other westerners, demonstrate that as
security is increased at official US facilities, terrorists and their
sympathizers will seek softer targets.
These may include facilities where Americans or possibly
other foreigners are generally known to congregate or visit, such as residential
areas, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, schools, hotels, outdoor
recreation events or resorts and beaches. Americans should increase their
security awareness when they are at such locations, avoid them, or switch
to other locations where Americans in large numbers generally do not congregate.
There is a possibility that American citizens may be targeted for kidnapping
or assassination.
Demonstrations in many parts of the world may have an
anti-American character. Even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can
turn into confrontational situations and possibly escalate into violence.
US citizens travelling or residing abroad should avoid demonstrations
and take commonsense precautions.
Marcin, from Poland, but alliteratively travelling in Panama sent the
Beetle this message: Hola Hombres, after only 3 hours in Panama, my host
Johnny from Haiti and I went to the demonstration against the war in Iraq.
It’s good that Panama also want to show that something is wrong
in our world. There weren’t too many people but the atmosphere was
great and the first time I saw nuns, priests and old ladies with rosary
beads on the demonstrations walking along with young communists with Che
Guevara flags, Indians, feminists everybody in the same spirit and I hope
that our effort can make a change.
The Beetle attended the London march: who knows how many people plodded
along the London streets – the organisers say 2 million, the police much
less than that. It took three hours to walk from Blackfriars Bridge to
Hyde Park at a slow shuffle. The atmosphere was marvellous, people of
all age, race, shape, colour attended. Despite the cold and the bad sound
system, it felt like attending a historic moment.
A travel warning to American citizens in Zimbabwe urging
them to leave the African country has been issued by the US government.
The US State Department says that Zimbabwe's current
political, economic and humanitarian crises have serious implications
for security and it recommends that people should consider leaving.
The warning says: “All US citizens in Zimbabwe
are urged to take those measures they deem appropriate to ensure their
well being, including consideration of departure.”
The Zimbabwe government's appropriation of land
from farmers and suppression of political opposition has helped to fuel
a crisis, raising the possibility of violent protest.
Bill from Los Angeles wrote in to say that he took a flight legally
from L A to Havana to meet Dr Byron Barksdale and his Cuba Aids Group
in Cuba. All went – really well. The USA Customs officers treated me very
well and the Cuban people I met were most interested in talking with Americans.
There are many fine hotels to stay in at all price ranges and above all,
I felt very safe throughout my trip.
Havana is a must see before the embargo is lifted. I recommend
the trip to all your fine members. This prompted the Beetle to investigate.
Below is some more information from Byron about Cuba.
~~~~~~~~~~
Cuba, the “Pearl of the Antilles” and Havana,
“the Paris of the West” are becoming the destination site in
the Caribbean since the Papal visit several years ago. The Cuban government
has relied on tourism to fuel the Cuban economy after the collapse of
the USSR. In contrast to other Caribbean destinations, in Cuba, the traveller
can find local restaurants where beer is 50 cents US and hard drinks (rum
mojitos or daiquiris) can be purchased for $1.00.
The beaches in Varadero, Cayo Coco, and Cayo Largo are unspoiled and
the gentle slope of the shore allows easy swims and wading in crystal
clear waters. International arrivals are possible into Varadero, Havana,
Holguin, and Santiago de Cuba. USA citizens may travel to Cuba legally
through US Treasury Licenses for humanitarian purposes. An example is
humanitarian travel through Cuba AIDS Project, www.cubaaidsproject.com, which supports
Non Governmental Organizations (Monseratte Church, Caritas) in Cuba.
While in Cuba, travellers can find inexpensive lodging, which includes
breakfast ($10-$25/night) in local homes (casa particulars) and cheap,
but wholesome, meals at local family owned, private restaurants known
as paladars. If hotels are preferred, modestly priced rooms can be found
at Hotel Florida ($80/night) in Old Habana or Hotel Riviera ($75/night),
including breakfast, on the Seawall (El Malecon). Art, old books, literature
and music are available to enjoy and purchase in many “open air”
markets throughout Cuba.
The time to see Cuba is before the USA Embargo is lifted. Once the USA
Embargo is lifted, the innocence and mystery of Cuba will rapidly be overrun
by millions of USA tourists seeking business and recreational activities
in Cuba and Cuba may end up looking like South Miami Beach very quickly.
Until then, for Globetrotters, the Great Possibilities of Cuba can be
enjoyed for reasonable prices and uncluttered by too many USA tourists.
About the author: Byron L Barksdale grew up in South Florida and watched
ships sail back and forth to Cuba from West Palm Beach in the mid 1950s.
Currently, Byron is a pathologist in Nebraska serving small hospitals
and clinics in Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas. Only after he became a physician
could Byron find a legal humanitarian way to see and help the poor and
needy in Cuba through Cuba AIDS Project, www.cubaaidsproject.com HIV/AIDS
in Cuba is a public health concern for the USA since over 180,000 USA
citizens travel to Cuba each year and millions will go to Cuba after the
travel ban is lifted.