Vacation Dreams

Tag: May 2001

  • Not to be Seen Dead In?

    This year, the US State department suggests that the
    following destinations really aren’t such clever places to visit right
    now: the Solomon Islands, Indonesia, Somalia, Yugoslavia, Haiti, Congo,
    Israel, the West Bank and Gaza

  • Coffee Corner… Vienna

    The Beetle can report back on the Palm House in the Burggaten,
    the historic heart of Vienna. It is perfect for coffee and cake or brunch
    ~ whatever ~ good service, good food and you can loiter and
    gossip with friends or just sit and read the papers.

    Want to tell us about your favourite coffee corner
    or watering hole? Then contact the Beetle:     Beetle@globetrotters.co.uk

  • Stop Press: £1,000 Travel Award

    Under 24? 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!!

  • Travel Tips

    The beetle always carries a Maglite and stores lunchtime
    or dinner paper serviettes in pockets as emergency paper for the bathroom.

    Got any travel tips for the Beetle? Then e-mail them
    to: Beetle@globetrotters.co.uk

  • Bhutan ~ A Disappointment

    Karen from L.A found Bhutan to be interesting but a tad
    expensive. She says she had to pay $225 a day per person to stay in substandard
    hotels and eat substandard food. Although she feels it was not worth the
    money, she is glad that she did it.

  • Free Bradt Travel Guide!

    Bradt Guides have offered to give away a Bradt Guide
    Book on Madagascar for the best travel story, tip or info. Contact Beetle@globetrotters.co.uk

  • Travel Scams – Zanzibar

    The Beetle spent some time beetling around in Zanzibar
    last year and noted that unsuspecting travellers at the Dar es Salaam
    port were being told by unscrupulous individuals that they had to pay
    an additional $10 or $15 for port tax. This is completely untrue as port
    tax is included in the price of the ticket. You now know what to say to
    these vermin!

  • MEETING NEWS

    Meeting news from our branches around the world.

  • Universal Language

    During WWII, Frank of Alabama found himself in Samoa
    and even today, he can still speak some Samoan. He paid a visit back in
    1999 to Samoa and surprised a lady who called him something rude by returning
    the compliment back in her own language! The woman’s 350 lb daughter was
    not amused, but the mother laughed and said that she would watch her language
    in future!

  • London:

    Marion Bull gave us a great slide show and hints and tips about how to make good slides. For example, she advises photographers to take slides which do not have large expanses of background or foreground. We learned that travel editors usually want to see slides of people, and Marion gave us some hints and tips about this but showed us some of her favourites which were more slides of objects and landscapes. Marion can be contacted through her website:

    Gina Corrigan gave us a talk accompanied by some wonderful slides showing the people and costumes of the Miau in South West China. We also learned a little about the efforts made by the Chinese government to try to preserve some of this amazing heritage. Gina is a photographer/traveller who runs specialist textile tours to China. Gina can be contacted by e-mail on: gina.occidor@virgin.net

    Next on June 2nd

    Martin Featherstone travelled to Namibia in February with the intention of seeing the elusive Desert Elephants. Whilst he found the elephants, he lost his bearings and spent two days amongst the beautiful coloured sands of the Namibia Desert. Having successfully extracted himself from that scrape, he was then chased by a bull elephant, which came through his campsite! Martin will show us slides from his Namibia trip in a presentation entitled The Red Deserts of Namibia – A tale of two Stupidities.

    Jose Navarro will be talking about his epic journey across Mali entitled Two Wheels to Timbuktu – 2000km cycling across Mali. Jose did this rather amazing journey on his “Interactive Bicycle”. The “Interactive Bicycle” was awarded an “On the Line” Millennium Award by the Millennium Commission. On the Line is a registered charity founded by Oxfam GB, Channel 4 and WorldWide Fund UK with the aim of bringing together people and communities in the eight countries which lie on the Greenwich Meridian Line.