Vacation Dreams

Category: Sidebar

  • Globetrotter Travel Award

    Under 30? A member of Globetrotters Club? Interested in a
    £1,000 travel award?

    Know someone who is? We have £1,000 to award each year
    for five years for the best submitted independent travel plan. Interested?

    Then see our legacy page on our
    Website, where you can apply with your plans for a totally independent travel
    trip and we'll take a look at it. Get those plans in!!

  • The Daily Telegraph Destinations 2003

    Olympia London from January 30 – February 2

    You'll find the largest range of holidays and ideas to
    be found under one roof – hundreds of tour operators, travel companies and
    tourist boards offering everything from adventure experiences to cultural
    weekend breaks. A limited number of complimentary tickets are available to
    telegraph.co.uk readers (maximum 2 per user) if booked in advance for
    Destinations 2003.

    Visit www.destinationsshow.com,
    click on 'box office' and enter the code 'tcuk' when
    prompted.

  • Snows of Kilimanjaro May Melt By 2020

    by Charles Arthur / Independent/UK (via Common Dreams News
    Center)

    The snows of Mount Kilimanjaro, immortalized by an Ernest
    Hemingway short story, are melting so quickly they are expected to disappear
    within two decades.

    Researchers have found that the ice fields capping
    Africa's highest mountain shrank by 80 per cent in the last century, from
    4.6 square miles in 1912 to just one square mile two years ago, which has
    brought down the height of the mountain by several feet.

    The ice covering the 19,330ft peak “will be gone by
    about 2020”, said Lonnie Thompson, a glaciologist at Ohio State
    University. The process has cut water volume in some Tanzanian rivers that
    supply villages and hospitals. Global warming is one reason, but scientists say
    it alone cannot have caused such a dramatic change. The other factors behind
    the transformation remain a mystery.

  • Cruise Ships touted for Homeless

    New York City may convert de-commissioned cruise ships into
    shelters for its rising numbers of homeless people. Last month, a record 37,000
    homeless people were sleeping in city shelters every night according to the
    Coalition for the Homeless, which compiles statistics for the city. City
    officials, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg's commissioner of homeless
    services, have flown to the Bahamas to inspect disused ships. They say the idea
    of using them was just one option being considered – but critics say the plan
    is unnecessary, and have called on the city to provide affordable housing for
    those in need. City officials stressed that it is too early to speculate on how
    the cruise-ship idea might be applied in New York.

  • 7 UK Airports may Close Due to Strike

    A British union that has firemen and airport workers as its
    members has announced a set of dates it on which it proposes to strike.

    These will affect seven airports: Heathrow, Gatwick,
    Stansted, Edinburgh, Southampton, Glasgow and Aberdeen.

    Proposed strike dates are: 28 Nov, 2, 10, 15 & 23 Dec
    and 2nd Jan, and if the fire service does strike, the airports will be left
    without fire cover and will almost certainly be forced to ground all
    flights.

  • Mt Etna Erupted

    Where is Europe's largest and most active volcano?
    Answer: Mount Etna on Sicily. Mount Etna has had four major
    eruptions in the last 309 years and it has just erupted once
    again – the last time was 1992.

    Although lava flows have reached the tourist areas and the
    airport in Catania has closed and some hotels have been
    evacuated, the mayor reassured Catania's 330,000
    residents that they were in no danger.

    “The situation in Catania is completely under control
    and our city is not threatened in any way,” Mayor
    Umberto Scapagnini said.

    The heaviest lava flow descended towards Piano Provenzana, a
    popular area for tourists to take mountain walks in summer
    and for skiing in the winter. The flow pushed over ski-lift
    pylons, knocked down power lines before surrounding an empty
    mountain hotel and lodge. No one was injured. See
    Murray's article on Sicily in the main part of the
    e-newsletter to see what Sicily has to offer!

  • So You Think You're Well Travelled?

    Here's a little Beetle quiz based on airport codes. See
    how many you get right! Go on, have a guess!

    Which cities are served by airports with the following codes:

    1. AMS
    2. MCO
    3. CDG
    4. YYZ
    5. HND

    For the answers, see at the end of the e-newsletter.

  • FBI Asks for Diver Info

    A Beverly Hills scuba diving store has resisted a federal
    grand jury subpoena demanding that they identify everyone who
    had taken, but not finished, recreational dive classes over
    the last three years.

    The subpoena was based upon far-fetched fears that an
    underwater terrorist attack could be accomplished by
    partially-trained divers. Apparently the FBI has already
    obtained information about every certified diver in the
    United States through the certification organisations PADI,
    NAUI, and SSI.

    Ken Kurtis, co-owner of Reef Seekers, stated: “The
    scenario the FBI was painting–of divers swimming into a
    harbor with explosives to blow up ships–is extremely
    difficult and far-fetched for even the most skilled and
    experienced diver, and would be next-to-impossible for a
    newly certified diver, let alone one who had dropped out of a
    class and never completed training.”

  • Fave Websites of the Month

    Kevin, our membership secretary likes this one!
    theangkorguide.com

  • New European Air Line Compensation Rules

    Airlines in Europe will have to pay increased compensation to
    passengers who are stranded by cancellations or overbooking
    on flights if new legislation is approved.

    At present, passengers who are forced to take a later flight
    because of overbooking – a common practice among carriers –
    or find their flight has been cancelled get between EUR150
    and EUR300.

    The new levels of compensation are lower than figures first
    proposed by the European Commission that were proposed at
    between EUR750 and EUR1500 depending on length of flight.
    Travelers on short haul services that are “bumped”
    from a flight or are affected by a cancellation, can now
    claim EUR200 (USD$195).

    Those on longer flights can be compensated by up to EUR600
    (USD$586). Some low cost carriers have warned that the
    proposals, passed by the European Parliament on Thursday,
    could mean a rise in fares unless carriers are willing to
    accept lower profit. The low cost airlines are unhappy about
    this and believe that the level of compensation should be
    adjusted to the price of the passenger ticket, rather than a
    flat rate covering every airline.

    Not covered by this new compensation are events outside the
    direct control of carriers, including poor weather, long
    running strikes and security matters.