Vacation Dreams

Category: enewsletter

  • Don't Upset The Elephants!

    They really do have long memories! Research by the
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology has shown that elephants have
    very long memories, large brains and are highly emotional.
    Orang-utans are the cleverest of non human primates and can perform
    complex tasks such as opening doors by choosing the right key from a
    bunch of keys. Squirrels have a brain proportionally 1.5 times bigger
    than humans and can remember where they have buried 10,000 nuts!

  • Cheap Air Tickets from the UK to France with Buzz

    If you already live in the UK, or know that you will be in the UK
    in April, why not zip over to France? The low cost airline, Buzz is
    offering discounts on 15 routes from the UK to France.

    You have to book by March 5th and the journey must be taken
    between 3 and 30 April 2002. Below are the (one way) prices they
    quote – the cost of the return is about the same!

    From just £19 one way you can buzz off to Brest – Brittany,
    Caen – Normandy, Rouen – Normandy or Paris (CDG).

    From just £24 one way you can discover the delights of Dijon
    – Burgundy, La Rochelle, Tours – Loire Valley, Limoges, Poitiers or
    Grenoble – Lyon.

    From just £29 one way you can explore Bergerac – Dordogne,
    Bordeaux, Marseilles Provence, Toulon – St Tropez or Toulouse.

    For full terms and conditions, or to book, visit www.buzzaway.com

  • Have you got a tale to tell??

    If you have a travellers tale that your aching to
    tell. Then why not visit the “Travel Sized Bites” section
    of the Website and share it with the world. Travel Sized Bites

  • Joke time

    From Bretislav, in the Czech Republic:

    A guy is flying to London checking in at the airlines counter with
    3 suitcases. He tells the lady there: “I want the first
    suitcase checked through to New York, the second to Paris and the
    third to Bombay.” The lady says, “I'm afraid that
    won't be possible sir.” The guy says, “Why not?
    That's what you did to my luggage the last time.”

  • Meeting News

    Meeting news from our branches around the world.

  • Ontario:

    The next meeting will be on January 18th at the the Woodsworth
    Co-op : Ann Dohler will talk about her recent trip to Peru,
    the Galapagos and the Amazon.

    For further 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.

    Toronto GT 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.

  • Historic Scotland: The Island of Iona

    Iona, the tiny island off Mull, off the west coast of Scotland, is
    known as being the island where St. Columba and his 12 disciples
    landed from Ireland in AD 563 and spread the word of Christianity
    to Scotland and beyond. As such, it is an important centre for
    pilgrims who flock to Iona once a year. In fact, many Kings of
    Scotland, Norway and Ireland are buried on Iona.

    It is unbelievably small and picturesque and runs 3 miles from
    north to south and 1½ miles from east to west. Whilst cars
    are not allowed on Iona, it is possible to visit by ferry from
    Mull. There are two hotels which can be contacted by internet: the
    Argyll Hotel reception@argyllhoteliona.co.uk
    and the St Columba Hotel columba@btconnect.com.

    Iona is very green and peaceful; it has a wonderfully serene feel
    to the island, one of calm. There is an Abbey and a Nunnery that
    hold what is believed to be some of the most complete collection of
    Christian carved stones in Scotland, ranging in age from 600AD to
    the 1600s.

    To see: there is St Columbus' restored monastery, shops, a post
    office, hotels, a golf course, an old marble quarry, gorgeous sandy
    beaches, walking paths and plenty of wild life to see.

  • Travel Quiz – East & Southern South Africa

    The winner of last months' Fiji Quiz is Arthur Carmichael from
    the United States. We have another travel guide to give away this
    month, called Climbing in New Zealand by the repressible Alastair
    Lee who was a fantastic speaker at the January London Globetrotter
    meeting.

    1. What is the capital of New Zealand?

    2. Are the Wanaka Crags in the North Island or the South Island?

    3. What watery feature would you find in Taupo, in the North
    Island?

    4. What side of the road do you drive on in New Zealand?

    5. What is a Kea?

    YourName:

    Your e-mail address:

  • January 2002 '

  • New York:

    We had a great crowd to kick off the New Year! Matt Link was
    our speaker and he did a fabulous job telling us all about Ghana!
    His pictures were amazing, and he also played Ghanaian music to get
    us all in the mood. Matt truly immersed us in the country and its
    people, who are peace loving and warm. Some highlights: Ghana is
    30% Muslim, and they are very pro-American. They spoke sadly of the
    9/11 attacks. Ghanaians place huge importance on education, for
    boys and girls. Everything gets carried on their heads, even a
    refrigerator!! Matt showed us highlights from villages, mosques and
    a real voodoo ceremony!

    The 2nd of February's speaker will be
    Helga Smith, who will be speaking and presenting a slide
    show to us about SERVAS. SERVAS began more than 50 years ago, and
    has expanded worldwide. It is now a network of over 14,000 hosts
    and travellers, present in 132 countries. Helga will briefly cover
    the history of SERVAS, its international status as an UN accredited
    NGO, and explain how SERVAS works. Helga has been a host in New
    York for more than 15 years and a traveler for at least 10 years as
    well as participant at national and international conferences. She
    has met hundreds of SERVAS people and will talk about what the
    SERVAS experience means to her. Helga grew up in what used to be
    East Germany and left that country after the Berlin Wall was built.
    She has been in NYC for the last 35 years.

    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 4
    pm.