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

The Beetle has bad memories about sharing a room with what seemed like a thousand cockroaches in Gilgit in Pakistan a few years ago and was afraid that they would fly on to her bed. (Before you ask, no, Beetles are not friends with cockroaches, they are sworn enemies, but we try and live and let live.)

Did you know that most cockroaches have wings, but they can only fly when temperatures are quite high. And what’s more, cockroaches are omnivorous, i.e. they will eat anything, including each other if there is nothing else available.

One internet source, maybe urban myth, states that a cockroach can live up to nine days without its head before it starves to death. They have amazing scuttling abilities: one US study showed that cockroaches are capable of running at 50 body lengths per second on a treadmill – the equivalent of Carl Lewis doing the 100-meter in 1.09 seconds!

Did you know that Nepal is home to a quarter of South Asia’s rhino population. The latest count of the population has shown that rhino numbers have dropped to less than 400 from nearly 600 animals in three parks in 2000 due mainly to poaching blamed largely on inadequate security caused by the long-running Maoist insurgency. Trading in the horn of the rhino is internationally banned, but experts say that poachers are encouraged by the big profit margin.

Did you know that there are estimated to be around 300 snail farms in former war torn Bosnia? One kilogram of snails is sold for four around euros (£2.70). France is the number one export destination, followed by Italy. The aim is for a snail farmer to produce around 3,000kg of snails in a year. That means an annual income of around 12,000 euros (£8,100) – around four times the national average wage. The British chief international envoy to Bosnia, Lord Ashdown, has made a priority of trying to encourage small businesses. He set up a so-called “Bulldozer” committee to smash through the red tape and old-style communist legislation that hindered the setting up of new companies. “Small and medium-size firms, like snail farms, represent the future of this country rather than the old pre-war industries, which are not coming back,” says Vedran Persic from Lord Ashdown’s office.

A joint A US and Egyptian archaeological team say they have found the largest funerary complex yet dating from the earliest era of ancient Egypt, more than 5,000 years ago in the Kom al-Ahmar region, around 600 km (370 miles) south of the capital, Cairo. Inside the tombs, the archaeologists found a cow’s head carved from flint and the remains of seven people. They believe four of them were buried alive as human sacrifices. The complex is thought to belong to a ruler of the ancient city of Hierakonpolis in around 3600 BC, when it was the largest urban centre on the Nile river.

So You Think You’re Well Travelled?

Here’s a little Beetle quiz based on capital cities. See how many you get right! Go on, have a guess!

What is the capital city of the following countries:

1. Chile
2. Finland
3. Kiribati
4. Israel
5. Comoros

For the answers, see at the end of the eNewsletter.

I am writing a book about a little known but stunning town in Australia called Airlie Beach. I am desperately seeking globetrotters who have visited this region. I am seeking submissions from them based on their time and experiences in the region.

Did Airlie Beach make an impact on your life? It’s the kind of place that is, ‘Once seen, never forgotten.’ I am looking for submissions from people, of all walks of life, on their favourite Airlie Beach experience. Everybody who has been there has one.

As a long time local, I have countless priceless memories, and nobodies amazing memories should be forgotten. Whether it is a funny anecdote, a poem you were inspired to write, a crazy story you heard, a picture of paradise you just can’t forget.

I am publishing a book and will consider: stories, poems, e-mails, snatches of conversation, diary entries, day in the life of, family history, dreams, artwork, photos, drawings etc.

Please contact me on: airliebeachkatie@yahoo.com.au

Whilst we are talking about insects: spotted by webmaster Paul, US Entomologists Quentin Wheeler and Kelly B. Miller recently had the task of naming 65 newly discovered species of slime-mold beetles and named three species after the US president George W Bush, vice president Dick Cheney and defence secretary Donald H Rumsfeld. The newly found beetles are respectively called: Agathidium bushi Miller and Wheeler, Agathidium cheneyi Miller and Wheeler, and Agathidium rumsfeldi Miller and Wheeler. Naming the beetles after Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld was intended to pay homage to them, said Wheeler, who taught at Cornell University for 24 years and now is with the Natural History Museum in London.