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BP oil spill – the reality. TravelMole US Editor David Wilkening explains how misconceptions are causing further damage to tourism in the Gulf Coast. “Damage forecasts soon after the BP Gulf oil spill were bad. But then they got worse. Dead birds. Soiled beaches. The reality, however, is that the spill led to the deaths of less than one percent of the number of birds killed in the Valdez spill. The spill was enough oil to fill about one- sixth of the Louisiana Superdome. “That’s not exactly a drop in the proverbial bucket, but it’s a strikingly different image from one emblazoned in people’s mind by the early reaction,” writes USA Today in an editorial. Could there be unknown seabed damage? “So far, it seems the wildest predictions were just that — wild,” said the newspaper. The publication suggested the news media did a poor job of providing accurate information about the event. There were many exaggerations. Gulf coast tourism officials say the real problem with the spill has been perception. Read more at http://www.travelmole.com/stories/1143673.php |
Category: enewsletter
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Welcome to eNewsletter June 2010
Hello all,
Welcome to June and the inescapable football World Cup being held in South Africa. I realise that football isnÂ’t enjoyed by everyone, but personally I envy all those who are out there enjoying different parts of South Africa and mixing with fans from around the world. Despite its troubled history and its various inequities there is so much to enjoy…the wild life, the geography and the people – all do mix in a superb destination !
Enough of the reminiscing otherwise IÂ’m going to sound like Mac, who as youÂ’ll read is much better at recounting tales and stories ! In this edition we have news from the London & Chester branches, the second half of travel award winner Doreen TaylerÂ’s adventures in India and Lucy Melling introducing a spectacular.
Saving the best to last, we also have news and a competition from The Beetle…so get reading & get helping !
ThatÂ’s all for now and keep enjoying the summer & your trips…
The Ant
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June meeting news from the London branch
Lois Pryce : Adventure motorcyclist Lois returned to the club to recount her latest exciting journey…”Red Tape & White Knuckles”. In a detail filled talk, Lois held us riveted with tales of bureaucratic border nightmares, roads that were little better than rivers, minefields and near culture shock at every corner ! She also filled us the vibrancy of the people, the colours of life and the geographical magic of a very misunderstood & beguiling destination. I think Lois could have spoke twice as long and yet still had many questions to answer… If you still want to know more, see Lois’s web site at http://www.loisontheloose.com/
Doreen Tayler : As in May’s edition of the eNewsletter, Doreen recounted her travel award winning adventure “In the footsteps of Rudyard Kiplin’s Kim”. Never an immediate fan of India, Doreen however found herself inspired by Kipling’s Kim, and in particular trying to retrace his many journeys across the country in pursuit of the Great Game. For a first time speaker Doreen was knowledgeable, articulate and seemingly not daunted in standing in front of the regular London branch audience. Well done and here’s hoping she’ll inspire other applicants for future awards…
Details of the London branch’s forthcoming meetings, through to July 2010, can be found at https://staging.globetrotters.co.uk/meetings/lon10it.html
The London branch 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, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend. There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh in September. For more information, contact the Globetrotters Info line on +44 (0) 20 7193 2586, or visit the web site: www.globetrotters.co.uk.
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Meeting news from the Chester branch by Hanna & Angela
The meeting of Chester Globetrotters on the 22nd of May was again well attended and we had two very interesting speakers on that day. First Barbara Dickinson spoke about Kiev in Ukraine, she told us about the impressive buildings and squares of the city where people parade and get together. Barbara visits Kiev on a regular basis because her son lives there so she was able to tell us about local customs and what it is like for local people there. Afterwards questions were asked and a few people are thinking of a visit there, myself included.
After the break we had a talk about Uganda from Dan Bachmann, a fascinating talk about the forgotten tribes of Karamoja who live within a unique culture that has existed like this for hundreds of years, but is threatened by modern day living. Lots of questions for Dan afterwards and everyone had enjoyed the afternoon.
There are now quite a few regulars coming back for every meeting and we all enjoy the sharing aspect as well J
The next meeting is on the Saturday 17 July at the Grosvenor Museum at the usual time of 1.0pm meeting for a 1.30pm start. There will be two lectures, with the first on Southern India by Cheron & Roger Turner, entitled ‘A Temple Trail by Taxi – Tales of a Southern India Journey through Tamil NadhuÂ’. After refreshments David Atkinson will take us on to talk about Holidays at home : Wales and Cumbria.
Tickets £2 including refreshments.
Contact Angela or Hanna for further information of this & future events at Chester via email at chesterbranch@globetrotters.co.uk
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Meeting news from the Ontario branch
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.
The Ontario branch 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.
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Write in (June 2010)
I am currently working with Wigwam Press to promote Due South, a reportage of the worldÂ’s first helicopter flight from the North to the South Poles, documented with images taken by award-winning photographer Joanna Vestey who accompanied/co-piloted the helicopter alongside her husband, famed adventurer Steve Brooks, on the AmericaÂ’s length of the journey (from Alaska through to the southern tip of Chile).
DUE SOUTH: The epic story of the first helicopter flight from the North to South Poles. The subject of a very successful adventure documentary, premiered at the Royal Geographic Society and shown on Discovery Channel (2009).
Words by Rebecca Stephens
Photographs Joanna Vestey
Available via: www.wigwampress.co.uk
Content Over 250 colour photos. Approx. 40,000 words.
The original idea was gloriously simple, at least in concept – to fly a helicopter from the very top of the world to the very bottom – a feat never before attempted. The journey would take in some of the planet’s most extreme wildernesses, from the polar ice sheets to mountain ranges and canyons, rainforests and deserts, river and oceans, glaciers and sand dunes, with visits to indigenous tribal groups along the way. Pilots Steve Brooks and Joanna Vestey were no strangers to adventure. Steve had already found his way into the record books as the first person to drive from America to Russia across the Bering Strait, while Joanna had worked all over the world as a photographer. This is the story of how together they flew the length of the Americas, and the story of Brooks’ further ambition to top and tail the adventure with flights to the polar extremes. Brooks’ first attempt to cross the infamous Drake Passage en route to the South Pole was to end in near fatal disaster when the helicopter suffered engine failure and he ended up in the icy waters, lucky to escape with his life. Two years later he returned and successfully crossed the Drake, flying on to the South Pole. This book is the story of a young couple’s phenomenal journey and their enduring will to succeed. Documented by Joanna Vestey’s stunning images and told in the words of Rebecca Stephens, the first British woman to climb Everest, it is both an epic adventure story and a striking testament to the power of positive thinking.
A timely foreword by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who says: “…an extraordinary journey told in words and pictures that capture a unique, and quite literal, cross-section of the world we live in from the frozen Poles to the steaming rainforests of the Amazon. With its dramatic and near-fatal ditching in the Drake Passage on the final leg of the journey, it was a story that picked me up and swept me on to what I am relieved to say was a successful and happy conclusion. It will not disappoint!”
Biography Joanna Vestey is an award-winning photographer whose work has been published widely both nationally and internationally. Steve Brooks is an avid adventurer, record-breaking helicopter pilot and joint founder of one of EuropeÂ’s largest property investment companies. Rebecca Stephens was the first British woman to climb Everest and the seven summits, and is the author of several books.
lucy@mothershippublicrelations.com