If you’ve ever thought of going to San Francisco and weren’t sure, take a look at this: http://www.virtuar.com/ysf2/ – a virtual tour of San Francisco. It is so real, you almost feel that you’ve been there without the hassle of the journey!
Category Archives: enewsletter
Travel Quiz: Peru
The winner of last month’s Moon’s Guidebook on the Four Corners is: Paul Roberts. Congratulations!
This month, win a Rough Guide on Peru. See www.roughguides.com for info.
Country Stats:
Top 10 Countries by Murder by Capita of Population   Ã¯Ã‚¿Ã‚½ Country Description Amount  1. Colombia 0.63 per 1000 people   2. South Africa 0.51 per 1000 people   3. Jamaica 0.32 per 1000 people   4. Venezuela 0.32 per 1000 people   5. Russia 0.19 per 1000 people   6. Mexico 0.13 per 1000 people   7. Lithuania 0.10 per 1000 people   8. Estonia 0.10 per 1000 people   9. Latvia 0.10 per 1000 people   10. Belarus 0.09 per 1000 people
Continuing for this table: in 11th Place, Ukraine, 12th, Papua New Guinea, 13th, Kyrgyzstan, 14th, Thailand, 15th, Moldova. 16th, Zambia, 17th, Seychelles,ï¿Â½ 18th, Zimbabwe, 19th, Costa Rica, 20th, Poland.ï¿Â½
The USA appears in 24th position at 0.04, Canada, 44th with 0.01 and the UK in 46th position with 0.01 per 1,000 people respectively.
The top five countries with the least number of murders per 1,000 head of population appear to be Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Hong Kong and Greece.
Source: http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Crime/Murders/Per-capita
Virtual Tour of Nessebar, Bulgaria
The first virtual town web site for The Old town Nessebar in Bulgaria, in four languages, including English. Take a look at:
Answers to: So You Think You.re Well Travelled?
The capitals are:
- Tonga: Nuku’Alofa
- Albania: Tirane
- Latvia: Riga
- Argentina: Buenos Aires
- Ireland: Dublin
0 out of 5 – you need to get out more!
1-3 – not bad
4 – very good! You are a Globetrotter!
5 – are you sure you didn’t sneak a look?
Volunteer Corner
Many people write in to ask us about how they go about finding information on volunteering overseas. The following link is an excellent resource which allows you to say what type of volunteering programme you’d like to do, e.g. study languages, intern, eco-adventures, then you are taken to a screen to input preferred regions and country (if you have a preference), type of volunteering and duration. Take a look at: http://www.volunteerabroad.com/search.cfm
In the meantime, here are a couple of volunteer positions in Quito, Ecuador and another in Ghana.
Santa Martha Rescue Centre in Quito, Ecuador is a sanctuary for animals rescued from traffickers and other poor circumstances. Volunteers can care for wild animals confiscated from illegal zoos, homes and other illegal situations. The work includes gathering food for the animals, feeding, cleaning and repairing cages, building new cages, landscaping cages to make them more like the animal’s natural habitat, assisting in the rehabilitation of animals for liberation and medical care of sick or injured animals, as well as the transport of animals. The more exceptional duties include animal rescue missions, aided with the help of the police. If you are interested, email: santamartha@mail.com for more information.
Hosteria San Jorge Ecolodge located outside Quito, Ecuador is a former traditional Ecuadorian farm, now focusing on conservation. The Hosteria has over 25 rooms and facilities for conferences and a botanical reserve of over 30 hectares that is being used for conservation purposes. The Hosteria offers hiking, camping, biking, horseback riding and mountain biking on both the Reserve and surrounding areas. The Hosteria is in the process of replanting native species and identifying all native birds of the Reserve. It has a range of needs from helping to identify birds species, cataloguing native plants and trees, helping to develop and implement eco-tourism projects, physical improvements to the grounds, biological research projects, assisting with guests, assisting with tours and administering the web site. Projects will be developed with the skills of the volunteer and the time they can offer. Volunteers will be expected to work 8 hours per day. www.eco-lodgesanjorge.com. Email them.
Cultural exchange, home stay, small group general tours, traditional drumming and dances, teaching assistant, environmental preservation opportunities and many more for a period of 4 to 52 weeks in Ghana. ebensten@yahoo.com or see our website: World Voices
Globetrotters Travel Award
Under 30? A member of Globetrotters Club? Interested in a £1,000 travel award?
Know someone who is? We have £1,000 to award each year for five years for the best submitted independent travel plan. Interested?
Then see our legacy page on our Website, where you can apply with your plans for a totally independent travel trip and we’ll take a look at it. Get those plans in!!
Meeting News from Ontario
For information on Ontario meetings, please contact Svatka Hermanek: shermanek@schulich.yorku.ca or Bruce Weber: tel. 416-203-0911 or Paul Webb: tel. 416-694-8259.
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.
Harry Potter Movie Locations in the UK
The success of the Harry Potter films has resulted in a spate of tour operators organising tours of Harry Potter film locations – and don’t forget there’s a third Harry Potter film coming out in June 2004. There’s no reason why you cannot see some of these locations yourself without joining a tour. Here is where some of Harry Potter’s movie locations can be found:
Hogwarts school was shot in and around Lacock Abbey with some additional computer graphics to add to the mystery. Some of the scenes in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third soon to be released movie were shot around the narrow streets and stalls of south London’s Borough Market – a favourite movie set where much of Bridgit Jones was filmed.
Platform 9-¾ was filmed at London’s main line station, King’s Cross between platforms 4 and 5. This is where Hogwarts students catch the train to Hogwarts boarding school. These days you will see, as the Beetle did the other day, a simple Platform 9-¾ sign hanging on a brick wall in a corner of the station. The adjoining railway station, the Gothic-style St. Pancras, was used for exterior shots. Australia House in central London provides the façade for Gringott’s Bank.
Various sites around Oxford were used in the first two films. Christchurch College was a model for the Hogwarts dining hall. Parts of the Bodleian Library were used for Hogwarts school scenes (the Divinity School as the Hogwarts hospital wing; Duke Humfrey’s Library as the Hogwarts library. The cloister and other parts of 900 year old Gloucester Cathedral were used in Hogwarts scenes. Up in the north east of England, the exterior of Alnwick Castle was used for Hogwarts’ Quidditch games and flying classes.
- The British tourist office can provide information, including a map of some Harry Potter film locations (0800-462-2748) or go to www.travelbritain.org/moviemap).
- Warner Brothers’ official Harry Potter movie site has previews and more: www.harrypotter.com.
- The BBC has Web pages with useful information and photos on Harry Potter sets, including Lacock, Oxford and Gloucester. See: www.bbc.co.uk/oxford/harry_potter/index.shtml
Zimbabwe Internet Censorship
Be careful using the internet in Zimbabwe. President Robert Mugabe has suggested the internet, widely developed in Zimbabwe, is a tool of colonialists. The Zimbabwean government is in the process of asking the country’s internet providers to divulge details of e-mails deemed offensive or dangerous. They would be required, in the event of an investigation, to pass to government officials user details relating to material featuring anything from obscenity to “anti-national activities”. It is already illegal in Zimbabwe to “undermine the authority of the president” or to “engender hostility” towards him as well as to make abusive, obscene or false statements against him.