Our original speaker Matthew Leaming unfortunately had to
drop out at very short notice, so Dick Curtis filled
the gap with an interesting talk on a trip he made to
China . The talk was a bit random as Dick had 3 sets
of slides marked A, B & C, and the audience chose the
order! I was glad to see Dick produce photos not just of the
Great Wall and all the other sights you would expect, but
also photos of the people and landscapes of this vast nation.
Well done Dick.
Our second speaker was Amar Grover who gave us another
talk on Pakistan. We saw the Khyber Pass near
Peshawar, and then to the north to Gilgit to see photos of
the spectacular mountains. As with the previous talk we saw
the people, many are fair skinned descendents of Alexander
the Great's army, who came through the area over 2000
years ago. Amar also showed us rural life, including
colourful pictures of Apricots drying in the sun.
January 2005
Globetrotters first meeting of 2005 got off to a great start
as Martin Featherstone , showed us pictures of all the
exciting places he went to during his army days, then he gave
us a talk on Belgium! To be precise he showed us the
battlefields and cemeteries of WW1 and told us the stories of
some of the many allied servicemen who gave their lives. He
then showed us the battlefields and told some of the stories
from southern Africa, including Rourkes Drift, explaining how
a tiny group of Dutch settlers put their carriages in a
circle and managed to defeat more than 15,000 Zulu warriors.
Martin has a way of bringing these stories to life with such
as why a Zulu spear had a special name, it was supposed to be
the sound the spear made when it was removed from its victim,
well it made the front row wince!
Our second speaker was Kevin Brackley whose talk on
Sinai was hot off the press having only returned 4
days previously. His journey took him from Cairo, where he
took in the pyramids and Sphinx, under the fascinating Suez
canal where he watched ships in the desert and into Sinai.
Kevin showed us the wonderful, if chilly sunrise at Mount
Sinai, before he went camel trekking (KFC in Egypt stands for
Kentucky fried camel) and walking in the White canyon, before
chilling out on the Red Sea at Dahab.
After the interval we had a quiz, those who only got two
answers correct will not be named (but for this they should
send a donation to the Tsunami fund or else!), the winner of
the Wind up radio was John Goddard , congratulations
John.
Jayesh Patel was our third speaker and he took us to
the glaciers of Chile . Jayesh and his party trekked
into the windswept landscape, camping when there was no room
in the Inn. Jayesh showed us the spectacular glaciers,
icebergs and to prove how windy it was pictures of trees bent
over at right angles. We saw the wonderful Torres del Paine
National park in Chile with its fabulous rock towers.
Julian Webster arrived in the nick of time to give us
a quick tour of India , starting in the Himalayas,
then into warmer areas of Rajasthan, we saw some super
pictures of the rainy season and my favourite of all a
lifeguard in Kerala with a comical “Go-faster”
pointy hat! Julian's images brought the warmth of India
to a chilly London in January.
Many thanks to all todays speakers who helped to make our
first meeting of the year a great success. The day culminated
with the annual New Years party, enjoyed by all, thanks to
Nadia and her helpers.
We cannot finish without mention of the Tsunami that struck
on Boxing day. The days takings at the door of £157
have been donated to the fund.
Next month, on Saturday 5th March 2005, Matthew Leeming will
be giving a talk on Afghanistan and after the break, Terry
Richardson will be talking about Turkey's new 500km long
distance footpath “The St. Paul Trail”.
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
