Saturday 3^rd July

This month was the opportunity for the clubs members to show their slides to their fellow Globies. It was also our first meeting where we could try out our new digital projector, many thanks to Paul for making the technical side of the meeting run so smoothly.

We started off with six members giving traditional slide shows, Dan Bachmann kicked off with a talk on the island of Santorini. He was followed by Mike Dodd, who was the first recipient of the Globetrotters Legacy Award, Mike’s slides showed us a small part of his trip to South East Asia. Ernest Flesch showed us his Russian trip from Moscow to St Petersburg. We headed into Asia again with Phil Ferguson’s trip to the mountain kingdom of Bhutan. Across to Africa for Jeanie Copland’s walking trip to Morocco, taking in Berber villages and Marrakech. Last before the break was Helen Barnhill, who showed us faces of Angkor Wat, both human and stone.

The second half of the meeting saw the debut of our new digital projector as Dick Curtis kicked off with a geographical quiz. Tracey Murray took us to Texas and the spectacular Big Bend National Park. Nick Preston showed us Iguaçu Falls from both the Argentinean and Brazilian sides ending with a wonderful shot of the falls during El Nino. Japan was our next destination, as Francesca Jaggs described her retreat trip to the Shinto temples near Kyoto. We stayed in Japan for our next speaker, but this time to the southern Island of Kyushu as Kevin Brackley showed us the volcanoes and towns of the island. And finally Dick Curtis showed us some of the quirky architecture of Brescia in Italy. While the second half speakers had been talking the results of the quiz had been worked out, congratulations to Anne Dodd who won first prize. Many thanks to all the Globies who took the time to prepare and give us a great afternoon.

By Padmassana

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 visit the website: www.globetrotters.co.uk Admission members £2, non members £4.

What is it: altitude sickness is divided into three syndromes: acute mountain sickness (AMS), high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE), and high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE). AMS is the most common form of altitude illness and, while it can occur at altitudes as low as 1,219–1,829 m (4,000–6,000 ft), most often it occurs in abrupt ascents to over 2,743 meters (over 9,000 ft).

How do I get it: travellers whose itineraries who find themselves at an altitude of 1,829–2,438 m (6,000–8,000 ft) and above should are exposed to the risk of altitude sickness. This could happen for example by flying into a high-altitude city, by driving to a high-altitude destination, or by hiking or climbing in high mountains. High-altitude cities with airports are Cuzco, Peru (3,000 m; 11,000 ft); La Paz, Bolivia (3,444 m; 11,300 ft); or Lhasa, Tibet (3,749 m; 12,500 ft).

What happens if I get it: symptoms often resemble an alcohol hangover: headache, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, and, occasionally, vomiting. The onset of the most common form, acute mountain sickness is delayed, usually beginning 6–12 hours after arrival at a higher altitude, but occasionally more than 24 hours after ascent.

Diagnosis and treatment: the three rules that travellers should be made aware of to prevent death from altitude illness are:

1. Learn the early symptoms of altitude illness and be willing to admit that you have them.
2. Never ascend to sleep at a higher altitude when experiencing any of the symptoms of altitude illness, no matter how minor they seem.
3. Descend if the symptoms become worse while resting at the same altitude

For most travellers, the best way to avoid altitude illness is to plan a gradual ascent, with extra rest days at intermediate altitudes. If this is not possible, prescription drugs are available to prevent or alleviate the effect of altitude sickness if taken in advance.

How can I avoid getting altitude sickness: not everyone is susceptible to altitude illness, and there are currently no screening tests that predict whether someone is at greater risk for altitude illness. Susceptibility to altitude illness appears to be inherent in some way and not affected by training or physical fitness. How a traveller has responded in the past to exposure to high altitude is the most reliable guide for future trips but is not infallible.

Source: http://www.cdc.gov/travel/diseases/altitude.htm

There will be no July and August meetings, but back in the Fall, with a new format!

For details of forthcoming meetings email newyork@globetrotters.co.uk or register for email updates, click here at our website.

New York meetings are held at The Wings Theatre, 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 . Admission $8, non members, $10.

I read somewhere that two Australian women travelling in Africa to dissuade anyone taking stuff from their backpacks put rubber toy snakes on top of their stuff in backpacks.ï¿Â½ They heard Africans and others were afraid of snakes.ï¿Â½ (When I lived in Grant Bldg here at the Soldiers Home in Washington DC, pigeons would use the window sill outside my room as a toilet.ï¿Â½ I brought a similar toy rubber snake and put on the window sill.ï¿Â½ The pigeons took no notice and still performed their toilet all over it. ï¿Â½Ha!)

I don’t know how accurate this is, but I read that if you pay for airline ticket with a credit card the credit card number goes on the airline ticket.ï¿Â½ I know many recommend you pay for airline ticket with a credit ca rd in case they go broke you are covered etc. But this adds a new dimension.

Someone suggested that when you go to the beach you put your valuables in a plastic bag and bury in sand and cover with a blanket while you swim. Someone else suggested a waterproof bag you could take in water with you.

Years ago I met a couple in Rio De Janeiro travelling around the world. ï¿Â½They took their airline bag to the beach and she used it as a pillow while he swam. A big wave came up and she lifted her head to see how he was doing and when she put her head back her pillow was gone.ï¿Â½ No one saw anything but interesting enough there were two undercover policemen just wearing bathing suits that took the couple up in the hills nearby to see if anyone was carrying their airline bag. This was unsuccessful so they returned to the beach and someone said they saw some little boys burying something in the sand (supposed to come back at night andï¿Â½ retrieve).ï¿Â½ They found the bag intact and the grateful couple dispensed money to all.

If you would like to contact Mac, he is happy to answer e-mails: macsan400@yahoo.com

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

What are they up to now? In yet another bid to save more money, Ryanair are trying to reduce the amount of luggage passengers check in. They say that passengers with checked-in baggage may be asked to pay a fee for each checked-in bag to reflect the cost of providing check-in and baggage handling services. Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary said that he hoped to introduce charges of up to £50 a bag next year, with a view to phasing out hold luggage. “The purpose is not to make money from checked-in luggage – the purpose is to get rid of it altogether.” In future, he said he wanted passengers to print out boarding passes when they booked tickets on the internet, allowing them to go directly to their departure gate on arrival at the airport.

So, be warned, you are encouraged to carry your luggage with you and will be forced to pay an excess luggage charge of £4.50 per kilo above the new checked in limit of 15kg. From July 2004, Ryanair have made changes to the amount of luggage that can be a) checked in; b) carried on to the plane and c) increased the excess luggage charge, as follows:

· Increase in the personal ‘carry on’ baggage limit from 7kgs to 10 kgs per passenger (will there really be enough room for ever passenger’s 7kg bag? I doubt it somehow.)

• Reduction in the personal ‘checked in’ baggage limit from 20 kgs to 15 kgs
• Increase in the charge for excess baggage from £4.00 to £4.50 per kilo.

Ryanair has sacked two of its workers who sat in an overcrowded plane’s toilets for a flight from Spain because there were no other seats. The captain of the packed flight from Girona, near Barcelona, to Dublin Airport resigned after he gave the two cabin crew permission. “This is the first such incident of staff travelling on an already full aircraft in the 20 year history of Ryanair,” the company said in a statement.

And more legal spats: after legal disagreements between Ryanair and BBA who operate Stansted airport on fuel charges at Stansted, Ryanair have announced that they will invest USD$240 million to expand its second British base at London Luton. Ryanair accused BAA of overcharging on a fuel levy introduced in 1991 to pay for a GBP£12 million (USD$22.1 million) fuel hydrant system, saying the airport operator had recovered more than GBP£34 million (USD$62.7 million) in 14 years. “There is going to be the mother and father of all wars,” Chief Exec Michael O’Leary told reporters in London. “We are not prepared to be robbed at Stansted. It is a low-cost airport with a high-cost fuel-levy scam going on.” BAA said it was planning to sue Ryanair for GBP£1 million (USD$1.85 million) in landing fees which it said the carrier was refusing to pay in response to the fuel-levy dispute.

Our friends Ryanair have been criticised by the UK advertising watchdog for using the term ‘giveaway’ in an advert. The advert stated a ‘one million flight giveaway’ as long as customers paid taxes, fees and airport charges. The British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the advert which ran in the Daily Mirror newspaper was “ambiguous”. “If something is being described as a giveaway”. consumers shouldn’t have to spend a penny,” an ASA spokeswoman said. However, Ryanair argued that the term “giveaway” meant “to denote or bestow as a gift or prize” or “to sell very cheaply”. This is not the first time Ryanair has got into trouble with the ASA. In Feb 2004, the airline was deemed to have used offensive language in an advert – just before bonfire night in November, they had an ad depicting fireworks with the headline “Fawking great offers.” The ASA received 47 complaints from the public on the grounds that the wording was too suggestive.