Extract from The Star (Johannesburg): “The situation is absolutely under control,” Transport Minister Ephraem Magagula told the Swaziland parliament in Mbabane.

“Our nation's merchant navy is perfectly safe. We just don't know where it is, that's all.”

Replying to an MP's question, Minister Magagula admitted that the landlocked country had completely lost track of its only ship, the Swazimar:

“We believe it is in a sea somewhere. At one time, we sent a team of men to look for it, but there was a problem with drink and they failed to find it, and so, technically, yes, we've lost it a bit. But I categorically reject all suggestions of incompetence on the part of this government. The Swazimar is a big ship painted in the sort of nice bright colours you can see at night. Mark my words, it will turn up. The right honourable gentleman opposite is a very naughty man, and he will laugh on the other side of his face when my ship comes in.”

If you have a travellers tale that your aching to tell. Then why not visit the “Travel Sized Bites” section of the Website and share it with the world. Travel Sized Bites

Flight Log Never let it be said that ground crews and engineers lack a sense of humor. Here are some actual logged maintenance complaints by QANTAS pilots and the corrective action recorded by mechanics.

By the way, Qantas is the only major airline that has never had an accident. P – stands for the problem the pilots entered in the log, and S – stands for the corrective action taken by the mechanics.

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They have got to be the most annoying junk mail that the Beetle receives….ever! You must have received one at least: you know, it's a long e-mail bemoaning the death of a supposed husband, father, uncle etc. who has millions of $ trapped in a bank account. In exchange for a small investment – and you have been chosen for this very exciting opportunity (not!) to receive a commission for helping to release these funds by transferring a few thousand dollars of your own to a named bank account and in return, you receive 30%, or some variation on the theme. But have you ever wondered who these people are, that send out these blatant scams? And why? And do people really respond?

Frank from the US sent the Beetle a piece called The Nigerian Nightmare – Who's sending you all those scam e-mails by BrendanI.Koerner.lnk. In this, the author explains that the e-mailers behind these e-mails are almost always Lagos-based con artists looking for people greedy enough and stupid enough to spend thousands in pursuit of nonexistent fortunes. “They aim to lure you to Nigeria or to a nearby nation where you'll be cajoled into ponying up endless fees to secure the “riches”-$30,000 for a “chemical solvent” to disguise the money or $50,000 for “customs duties”. When you eventually wise up, faux police barge into your hotel and demand massive bribes in exchange for your freedom. Tapped out? Expect to be held for ransom or murdered”.

This is a scam known as a 419, named after the penal code making it illegal. According to the anti-spam software vendor Brightmail, 419 scams are the Web's second-most common form of junk mail, (ranking behind only those “herbal Viagra” ads). Believe it or not, an estimated 1 percent of recipients actually respond. Of that number, enough people fork over enough cash to sustain an industry that ranks in Nigeria's top five, right up there with palm oil and tin. The U.S. Secret Service has estimated-conservatively, by its own admission-that the scammers net $100 million per year.

So, just don't……..

A recent UK survey for the Department for Education found that of over 1,000 adults found 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:

The Globetrotters Currency Converter — get the exchange rates for 164 currencies
The Globetrotters Currency Cheat Sheet — create and print a currency converter table for your next trip.

The US carrier Horizon Air, based in Seattle, is set to equip its entire fleet of 60 regional aircraft with defibrillators and medical kits to deal with in-flight heart attack emergencies.

Horizon is making the move two years ahead of a US Federal Aviation Administration deadline requiring any US commercial plane of at least 7,500 pounds and carrying at least one flight attendant to install the life-saving equipment.