The Beetle spent some time beetling around in Zanzibar last year and noted that unsuspecting travellers at the Dar es Salaam port were being told by unscrupulous individuals that they had to pay an additional $10 or $15 for port tax. This is completely untrue as port tax is included in the price of the ticket. You now know what to say to these vermin!
Category Archives: enewsletter
MEETING NEWS
Meeting news from our branches around the world.
Be On T.V.! Don't Be Shy!
Emma needs you!!! Only 8 people have replied to Emma so far and she needs 90 contestants!!! If you live in the UK, are knowledgeable about travel and countries, and would like to be a contestant on the Geo Quiz – it goes out on the National Geographic Cable Channel, then contact Emma: thomase@meridiantv.com or call her on 02380 712 118.
London:
Marion Bull gave us a great slide show and hints and tips about how to make good slides. For example, she advises photographers to take slides which do not have large expanses of background or foreground. We learned that travel editors usually want to see slides of people, and Marion gave us some hints and tips about this but showed us some of her favourites which were more slides of objects and landscapes. Marion can be contacted through her website:
Gina Corrigan gave us a talk accompanied by some wonderful slides showing the people and costumes of the Miau in South West China. We also learned a little about the efforts made by the Chinese government to try to preserve some of this amazing heritage. Gina is a photographer/traveller who runs specialist textile tours to China. Gina can be contacted by e-mail on: gina.occidor@virgin.net
Next on June 2nd
Martin Featherstone travelled to Namibia in February with the intention of seeing the elusive Desert Elephants. Whilst he found the elephants, he lost his bearings and spent two days amongst the beautiful coloured sands of the Namibia Desert. Having successfully extracted himself from that scrape, he was then chased by a bull elephant, which came through his campsite! Martin will show us slides from his Namibia trip in a presentation entitled The Red Deserts of Namibia – A tale of two Stupidities.
Jose Navarro will be talking about his epic journey across Mali entitled Two Wheels to Timbuktu – 2000km cycling across Mali. Jose did this rather amazing journey on his “Interactive Bicycle”. The “Interactive Bicycle” was awarded an “On the Line” Millennium Award by the Millennium Commission. On the Line is a registered charity founded by Oxfam GB, Channel 4 and WorldWide Fund UK with the aim of bringing together people and communities in the eight countries which lie on the Greenwich Meridian Line.
Universal Language
During WWII, Frank of Alabama found himself in Samoa and even today, he can still speak some Samoan. He paid a visit back in 1999 to Samoa and surprised a lady who called him something rude by returning the compliment back in her own language! The woman’s 350 lb daughter was not amused, but the mother laughed and said that she would watch her language in future!
Annual General Meeting of The Globetrotters Club
For anyone based in or within easy reach of London, the Globetrotters Club is holding its Annual General Meeting. It takes place at 1.15pm. Any Globetrotter member is welcome to attend. The Chair of the Globetrotter Club will be on hand to discuss events from the past year, achievements and what we hope to achieve in the coming year.
London meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, off Russell Street, Covent Garden WC2B 5EZ, (behind the Fortune Theatre) in at 2.30pm the first Saturday of each month.
Travel Quiz – Tahiti
We have a Berghaus Freeflow 23 kindly donated by Mike of the YHA Shop in Ludgate Hill (10m from St Pauls Cathedral), London to give away to the person with the correct answer to:
1. Ruahatu is the Polynesian god of what?
2. Gauguin’s intended patron, King Pomare V, suddenly died, a victim of many years of excessive what?
3. What are known as “spat”?
4. What is the name of the International airport in Papeete?
5. What is the French abbreviation for the currency used in Tahiti?
Your email address:
New York:
Bob Fisher, contributing editor to Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel online & Magazine had the undivided attention of our New York branch, writes New York Chair, Laurie Blumenfeld. He gave great insights as to how to break into the travel writing industry, as well as what to think about in terms of shaping a story when on the road. He then went on to share some fascinating stories about his life while living in Japan, India and London. The fun really began when a spontaneous round-table chat started about travelling in Asia. Once again, Bob gave some helpful hints: did you know you can buy an air-purifier to wear around your neck? Handy for the polluted roads in Nepal and India! Bob can be contacted on: email:BobHaru@aol.com.
Next month, by popular demand, Laurie will be holding a travel networking session so you can ask and answer each other’s travel questions!
New York meetings are held at The Wings Theater, 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 4pm.
Mutual Aid
Need help? Want a travelling buddy or advice about a place or country – want to share something with us – why not visit our Mutual Aid section of the Website: Mutual Aid
Ontario:
The next meeting will be held on Friday 25th May (the fourth Friday, due to Bank holidays and long weekends). Bruce Weber will be showing his slides on a road trip from California to Toronto and also a visit to Cuba. Sounds pretty good! Vera Blowers, one of the founding members will be holding the annual picnic in her back yard in July ~ all are welcome! For further information about Ontario meetings, please contact: Ontario@globetrotters.co.uk
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 Ontario at 8.00 p.m.