Category: archive

While I spent last week in the shadow of Kilimanjaro the thought occurred
to me, “Is anywhere still truly remote?” Though we were in the
middle of Maasailand and a five-mile walk from the nearest town, Britney
Spears still wafted through the air as we worked to lay the foundation
for a Maasai health clinic. Though we have ants here so big they are used
to close wounds (let them bite it, then twist their heads off), we have
also brought modern surgical staple guns. Though people in the neighbouring
shamba (village) were trampled by elephants last month, I saw one Morani
warrior who kept his ear hole open with an Estee Lauder lotion bottle
and used a dismantled Bic lighter as part of his headdress. In short,
Rombo, in the far south of Kenya, is very remote and yet shockingly global.
Likewise are the other Global Citizens Network volunteers with whom I
am helping to bend metal for the clinic’s framework.

Source: Building Clinic in Kenya Opened Volunteer's Eyes about
'Remoteness'by Sean Maurer / Global Citizens Network (via
GoNomad.com)

Greetings!! When last I wrote carnival was in the offing and here it
is a month later and it all seems so far away. Rio was excellent despite
the weather that alternated between wet, humid and baking hot. I was staying
at a fancy hotel (+++++) and the air-con. was a life saver. There was
a real buzz about the place as carnival seemed to take off from the Friday
onwards. The streets echoed to the samba drums and there always seemed
to be someone (or some group) parading somewhere. Copacobana, Leblon,
Ipanema, the Rua Branco all saw their fair share of parades and costumes,
feathers and absent items of clothing. The transvestites were by far the
most outrageously garbed but the theme everywhere was excess in all things
– sequins, feathers, papier-mâché, bright colours and skimpiness.
Sambadrome was the focus for the major samba schools to display their
year’s work and the show was pretty spectacular. Music blared and
repeated as each group took the maximum allowance of time to dance, sing,
gyrate and party their way down the half mile long track.

It was a dazzling exhibition and went on from about 9pm to 6am on the
Sunday and Monday nights of Carnival. I lasted til just after two am before
I could not look at anymore glitter. There had been on and off rain all
evening but that did not dim the party spirit or delight of the crowd
and paraders. Some of my companions salvaged costume items on the night
and I can only wonder whether (and how?) they will get them home. As we
left the arena to try and find a taxi, huge piles of discarded costumes
were on every corner awaiting collection by the garbage men. It seemed
a little sad given that the whole thing takes a year to put together,
80 mins to show and about two mins to throw away.

The other highlights of Rio, for me, were the ´hippie market´
at Ipanema, the Cristo Redentor statue on Corcovado, catching up with
Ana Amelia and having yummy Japanese food. And I saw ´Lord of the
Rings´ one night too. There was much I did not get to see, or do,
so I guess I will have to go back – but perhaps not for Carnival. It was
great to have been there but there is so much more to Rio and when Carnival
is on, everything else is shut. My only disappointment in Rio was not
receiving mail I had hoped for. Only a card from Angela made it, so if
any of you wrote to me at that mail drop, please understand that I did
not get any letters so will not know to reply.

We bade farewell to Annie and Andy, and welcomed six new people into
our group as we left Rio. This meant that our truck was filled to capacity
and has 22 passengers. No more spare seats and extra room but it has not
been a tough as expected either. And the new people are a nice mix of
age, and interest (and a couple more Australians to boost our strength).
From Rio we headed north to a town called Ouro Preto (Black Gold) that
was really lovely. A colonial Portuguese town with a church on every hill,
we spent the whole day there wandering around and taking gazillions of
photos. A huge rainstorm obscured the views for about thirty minutes in
the afternoon and showed up the many leaks in the tents some of us had
bought from Martin. The other highlight of this part of the world was
a visit to Conghonas – a town famous for its statues and churches, quite
lovely and the connection with the Bom Jesus church in Braga (Portugal)
was profound.

Back to the coast and time spent at lovely seaside places as we headed
north to Salvador. My personal favourite was a tiny town called Caravellas-Barra.
We stayed in a lovely guesthouse opposite the beach, with fresh coconuts
served at the stall there, fish and chips to die for and long gentle sunsets.
We went snorkelling one day at islands 50 kms off the coast and otherwise
just enjoyed the relaxed pace of life there. Salvador was good fun. It
is a vibrant and colourful city with strong influences from the slaves
that were sent here centuries ago. Dark skins, white clothes, pastel houses,
spicy food, and underlying it all the drum beats of their distinctive
percussion music. I went to a concert one night and the atmosphere was
electric. Very powerful!

Since then we have been heading west to get to here – Bonito. As the
name implies, it is a very pretty place on the edge of the Pantanal, and
not far from the Paraguay and Bolivian borders. It is also the action
centre for the region, with ecotourism at its heart but plenty of thrills
for the seekers of such things. We snorkelled to three hours down a river
on Saturday. The water was so clear and the fish so plentiful pretty and
unafraid, that three hours could easily have been ten minutes. It was
great fun and we all looked a picture in our ill-fitting wet suits and
goggles. There are birds a plenty here too and everything is green. It
is near the end of the wet season so all is lush and hot and very humid.
It is hard to keep up with the clothes washing as it takes only minutes
for them to get sweaty and need another wash. I have also started sleeping
in my hammock – outside! At first it was just a chance to check out how
comfortable it would be for the river boat trip up the Amazon but with
the hot weather, and being in dorms at the moment, I ended up sleeping
there all night. It’s excellent and so much cooler than the dorm.
Today was a visit to a Blue Grotto cave, very pretty and unusual, not
to mention slippery getting in and out.

So that brings you up to date. Next we are headed north to Manaus (and
hopefully some snail mail at the poste restante) and our jungle expedition,
then further north and into Venezuela. I am not sure where my next update
will come from but …. watch this space. It’s so hard to believe
that I have been out here for five months already.

Thanks Jacqui and keep us posted! If anyone would like to contact Jacqui,
her e-mail is: jacquitrotter@yahoo.com

What have you seen on your travels? Drop a line to the Beetle! the
Beetle

The Beetle’s second favourite museum in London is the National
portrait Gallery. At the moment, this is a terribly fashionable place
to be seen as it currently hosting a Mario Testino exhibition, attracting
the likes of supermodels and Madonna. It costs £6 per ticket, (like
gold dust) which can only be booked through the booking agency, Ticketmaster.
When the Beetle manages to get tickets, she will report back on it! That
aside, the rest of the NPG is absolutely free. The beauty of the NPG is
that it combines art with a wonderful pictorial history of the UK, through
portraits of kings, queens, courtiers and leading figures through British
history. A visit here can easily take up an entire day looking around
– so, if you plan it right, you could spend a couple of half days,
combined with visits to nearby St Martins in the Field, the theatres in
nearby St Martin’s Lane, a visit to Trafalgar Square, a walk along
the Mall or down to Embankment. The closest tubes to the NPG are Leicester
Square and Charing Cross. Weekends are the busiest time since the admission
fee has been scrapped, so try and visit during the week, if you can. Details
are as follows: NPG Website

This is the first of a series of seven looks at the seven wonders of
the world. The list was started in the second century BC and the wonders
we know today were finalized in the Middle Ages. Only one still in existence,
after some 4,500 years, and visible today is the great pyramid of Khufu
at Giza in Egypt. It is 756 feet long on each side, 450 high and comprises
2,300,000 blocks of stone, each averaging 2 1/2 tons in weight.

Despite not having the scientifically accurate instruments of today,
no side is more than 8 inches different in length than another, and the
whole structure is perfectly oriented to the points of the compass. It
seems likely that the pyramid was a tomb for a Pharaoh. Even in ancient
times, thieves, breaking into the sacred burial places, were a major problem
and Egyptian architects became adept at designing passageways that could
be plugged with impassable granite blocks, creating secret, hidden rooms
and making decoy chambers. No matter how clever the designers became,
though, robbers seemed to be smarter and with almost no exceptions each
of the great tombs of the Egyptian Kings were plundered.

Until the 19th century, the pyramid of Khufu was the tallest building
in the world. A Greek traveller called Herodotus of Halicanassus visited
Egypt around 450 BC and included a description of the Great Pyramid in
a history book he wrote. Herodotus was told by his Egyptian guides that
it took 100,000 slaves twenty-years to build the pyramid.

The site was first prepared, and blocks of stone were transported and
placed. An outer casing (which has disappeared over the years) was then
used to smooth the surface. Although it is not known how the blocks were
put in place, several theories have been proposed. One theory involves
the construction of a straight or spiral ramp that was raised as the construction
proceeded. This ramp, coated with mud and water, eased the displacement
of the blocks that were pushed (or pulled) into place. A second theory
suggests that the blocks were placed using long levers with a short angled
foot. Stones were lifted into position by the use of immense machines.
The purpose of the structure, according to Herodotus's sources, was
as a tomb for the Pharaoh Khufu (whom the Greeks referred to as Cheops).
Scientists have since calculated that fewer men and less years were needed
than Herodotus suggests.

Next month: the Lighthouse at Alexandria

Food (curry): The simple unexpected truth is that Indian/Bengali
food in England is much tastier than the food here. Not sure why that
should be, but the local curries are surprisingly bland and lack the savour
of spices to which our palettes have become accustomed. More than that,
there are remarkably few ‘Indian’ restaurants – I’d
expected it to be like Malaysia where you can pop into a kedai serving
a range of curries with roti and rice. But they don’t seem to exist,
at least here in the suburban (sic) delights of Gulshan. So we’ve
eaten mostly Thai and Chinese (there’s a large Chinese population
here in all branches of business) more often than local. But travel to
the districts has been a real gastronomic pleasure: delicious fish, chicken,
mutton, more fish with delicious vegetables, rice and paratha.

Mango tree: Mangoes not yet in season unfortunately. My room looks
out on a splendid huge specimen, weighed down with flowers. It will deliver
a bumper crop if only small a proportion of the flowers set. Our agro-economist
tells me that the fruit is ready to eat 70 days after flowering.

Air pollution: The lack of rain exacerbates the air pollution.
It is acknowledged to be one of the world’s worst capital cities
(Taipei, Jakarta, Lagos??), caused by dust and traffic fumes. I’ve
had a sub-clinical cough ever since I arrived. There’s a permanent
haze spread over the city – and it was a real relief to get out
into the countryside for our project town visits. Since so many city journeys
are made in open rickshaws, this is surely more than an inconvenience
and must be a major public health hazard.

Arsenic: poisoning from ground water drawn from shallow aquifers
is a major problem in B’desh. It is has no taste, so one is not
aware of being affected (no-one has given an explanation why this problem
is so particular to B’desh – yet there must be one; presumably
something to do with geology). In mild form it causes unpleasant skin
disease; prolonged exposure causes cancer. Only the large towns and cities
have piped water supply derived from lower strata. So the vast majority
of the population – including our project towns – gets its
water from shallow tube wells using hand pumps. The harsh reality is that
there are not the resources to ensure safe water supply for the masses
– our project funding won’t stretch that far even for our 12 towns.
Shallow wells are progressively being supplemented by deep wells –
but not only is drilling more expensive, they also need electric pumps;
hence the cost escalation.

Islam: A big surprise is how low key it is – whether in
Dhaka or the small towns – compared with Indonesia or Malaysia You’re
barely aware of the sound of mosques, or of mushollas in offices, or workers
breaking off work to pray; yet it is clearly profoundly institutionalised
in national social and political life. And there seem to be very few mosques,
compared with the one-in-every-kampung in Indonesian small towns. We (the
mission) surmise that Islam can afford to be less demonstrative here because
it is more confident and better established; whereas Indonesia and Malaysia
form the Muslim geo-political frontline in Asia, and there is a corresponding
emotional need to make a loud declaration of faith in the face of the
heathen hordes on the horizon. Having said that B’desh is surrounded
on all sides by non-Islamic states: mostly India, with a tiny frontier
with Burma.