Hello all,
You might have received an email from me recently – apologising for being very late with this latest edition…despite my tardiness I hope you enjoy what we’ve put together, as it’s a catch up from many different aspects of our travelling worlds. Summer in London and the wider country has been thoroughly enjoyable
This time round we have quite an eclectic mix included…a bumper catch up on the London branch’s activities, a special offer from Footprint books and news from Channel 4 & Peter Gostelow. We’ve also got an update on the club’s travel award for 2009, including the announcement of a winner and we catch up with regular Mac as he wanders to Tonga
One final item that I’d like to share with you. It is now over a year that Everest conqueror Sir Edmund Hillary passed away and one of the many commemorations is an announcement that The Sir Edmund Hillary Medal will next be awarded in 2010. This medal was authorised by Sir Edmund and is a project of Mountain Legacy, a Nepalese non governmental organisation – it is awarded to those engaged in projects perennially constrained by limited funding, as way of offering crucial support. More details can be found at http://www.hillarymedal.com/, including a history and ways to get involved. A fitting tribute to a man and a country he was thrilled to be part of..
That’s all for now… your summers and feel free to send through your news, articles & anecdotes…we’re always looking for more to talk about
The Ant
Luke Freeman – A Drovers view of Madagascar Luke’s talk was based on the time he spent with the cattle drovers, who take the long horned cattle from the highlands to markets on the coast. Cattle are currency in Madagascar, they can even be seen on the bank notes. These young men hope to earn enough from this hard existence to set themselves up in life. The Drovers carry only the basic’s, a blanket, polythene sheet which they use when it rains and as a shelter at night, cooking pot and some clothes. They buy food from markets along the way, though often end up having to pay for what their cattle steal from the same markets as well. As well as the obvious hardships, the Drovers also have to deal with local bandits, who raid villages. The Police also have check points where they check the cattle’s “Passports” and paperwork, each cow has its own document and woe betide the drovers if it doesn’t all match up. Luke is an Anthropologist and has come to the conclusion that in many ways the drovers of Madagascar are responsible for helping maintain the country’s cohesion and common language, despite the diverse ethnic make up of the country. One surprising fact about Madagascar is that its population eats more rice per person than any other country on the planet. 
Our second speaker was Ed Gillespie whose talk was called “Around the World without the aluminium sausage!”. Ed set out to travel around the round with his girlfriend emitting as little carbon as possible. His original idea was to parody Phileas Fogg and go “RTW in 80 ways”, but he soon realised this would involve lots of animals! But in 381 days Ed managed to travel 45,000 miles via 31 countries emitting just 1.8 Tonnes of carbon. He left the UK by ship for Spain, then travelled across Europe by train to Moscow, across Russia to Irkutsk where his Scottish girlfriend was delighted to find Irn Bru being in a supermarket! Through China and then by cargo ship to Japan and Hong Kong, before resorting to buses on the backpacker routes through south east Asia. After a stop in New Zealand to visit his cousins, he travelled by rust bucket across the Pacific to Mexico and buses through Central America, before finding a container ship heading for Dover and home. 
Regular contributor Mac ruminates on the world of travel & some of his adventures along the way J This time round he answers some questions on his various travels and what has stuck in his mind along the way…