{"id":1129,"date":"2003-05-27T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2003-05-27T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/2003\/05\/27\/meeting-news-from-london-7\/"},"modified":"2003-05-27T22:00:00","modified_gmt":"2003-05-27T22:00:00","slug":"meeting-news-from-london-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/meeting-news-from-london-7.html","title":{"rendered":"Meeting News from London"},"content":{"rendered":"

Globetrotters meeting
\n3<\/b>rd<\/sup> May by Acorn<\/b><\/p>\n

Our first speaker, Windy Baboulene<\/b> spoke to us
\nfor over 45 minutes, without slides or props, of his time
\nas a youngster in the merchant navy and some of the
\noutrageous escapades he got up to.<\/p>\n

His first story concerned his favourite safari hat, and
\nhow one of his children had thrown it out of the car window
\nwhilst in a controlled safari park in the UK; was he brave
\nenough to get it back? That would depend on whether his
\nstory of lone survival on the Serengeti Plains was The
\nTruth or not. He went on to tell us the actual events
\nbehind his Kenyan safari so we could decide for ourselves.
\nHe and his fellow shipmates had been on safari, but had not
\ntaken it seriously. They had played “dares”,
\nsuch as running away from the safety of the truck and
\ndancing – on the plains in the Rift Valley – around
\nan imaginary handbag, whilst the nearby wildlife watched
\non, amused. During Windy's turn at performing a dare,
\nhis 'friends' drove off and left him. Just for a
\nlaugh, you understand. Was he brave…?<\/p>\n

Another one of Windy’s stories was about being
\ncaught out boasting about his skiing prowess and being
\ntaken by helicopter along with some new found friends to
\nski from impossibly sheer cliffs in the Rocky Mountains of
\nCanada.<\/p>\n

Windy's story telling was not just funny – it was
\ninteresting and engaging too. To know more, you’ll
\nhave to buy his book, The 'Hilarious and often Bizarre
\ntrue story' (ABTA Travel) entitled 'Blue Road',
\navailable from Amazon – to take a look and to see
\nmore reviews, visit
\nWindy Baboulene's Blue Road<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

Our second speaker, John Harrison<\/b> spoke of his
\nseven canoeing expeditions up the Amazon. His slides showed
\nthe beauty and also the dangers of being in such an
\ninhospitable landscape. We saw how John and his travel
\ncompanions occasionally suffered the ravages of tropical
\ndiseases, including malaria when they swigged quinine out a
\nbottle – until they ran out – and
\nLeishmaniasis, (a horrible parasitic disease transmitted by
\nthe bite of some species of sand flies) that causes huge
\nsores. We also saw pictures of the Amazon, the river, its
\ntributaries, undergrowth, enormous spiders and insects, of
\nhidden tribes protected against explorers. John finished up
\nby telling us of the trouble he got into with the French
\nGuyanese authorities for having crossed over into French
\nGuyana without a visa – they had after all travelled
\nup the Amazon! The immigration officials in the capital,
\nCayenne gave him such a hard time, threatening all manner
\nof penalties, including a spell in prison, until he
\nrealised that French speaking John was actually British,
\nand being a part of the EU did not actually need a visa to
\ntravel into French Guyana!<\/p>\n

Coming up in June<\/h4>\n

Saturday, 7th June
\n
\nJACQUI TROTTER<\/b> A Year travelling in South America
\n– Jacqui, a regular London “Globie” enjoys
\na year travelling – sometimes with overland groups – and
\nsometimes “solo.”<\/p>\n

SIMON MYERS<\/b> China – Simon spent five years
\nin China before riding a Chinese motorbike and sidecar back
\nfrom Beijing to London. His first book “Adrift in
\nChina” has recently been published.<\/p>\n

London meetings are held at The Church of Scotland,
\nCrown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden at
\n2.30pm the first Saturday of each month. There is no London
\nmeeting in August, but we will be back in September. For
\nmore information, you can contact the Globetrotters Info
\nline on +44 (0) 20 8674 6229, or visit the website:<\/i> www.globetrotters.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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