The Globetrotters Club wishes all readers a happy and safe 2007

December 2006 London Meeting The last meeting of 2006 was kicked off by Helena Drysdale, whose talk was called Strangerland – a family at war. It was really a snapshot of Helena’s own family history, the tale of her great great grandfather’s governorship of 19th century New Zealand. He was a governor in India before…

For information on Ontario meetings, please contact Svatka Hermanek: shermane@schulich.yorku.ca or Bruce Weber: tel. 416-203-0911 or Paul Webb: tel. 416-694-8259. Meetings are held on the third Friday of January, March, May, September and November, usually at the Old York Tower, 85 Esplanade (It is at the south-east corner of Church & Esplanade – 2 blocks…

Backpacker – The Ultimate Travel Game is a card game in which you experience all the fun and unpredictability of travelling the world as you try to outwit your opponents to be the player who has returned home with the most photos. In Backpacker you visit different countries and continents, enjoy beaches, trekking, wildlife and…

Finally back in Tokyo. Flights all on time, landed early at 7.30am on a Friday; only problem was that Customs decided to search everything, don’t know why this knackered looking tourist got pulled. Mind you, he was a very nice Customs official and carefully repacked my rucksack. They could teach Saudi Customs a thing or…

Northern Thailand is home to many interesting and colourful ethnic minorities, collectively referred to as the hill tribes. Most of the hill tribes have migrated into the region during the past 100 years from Burma and whilst some try to preserve their traditional ways and can do so with little outside interference, others have become…

Statistics of the world’s religions are only very rough approximations. Aside from Christianity, few religions, if any, attempt to keep statistical records; and even Protestants and Catholics employ different methods of counting members. The table that follows may not therefore be completely accurate, but this is what infoplease.com says about the world’s most numerous organised…

Essaouira is a charming seaside resort situated on the Atlantic Sea in Morocco. It has been a fishing village for centuries, but recently it has become a thriving tourism destination for those seeking a rest by the sea that is not Agadir, Morocco’s better busy and more commercialised known seaside resort. Essaouira is well connected…

Mac has not been very well but is still e-mailing strong. Here are some of Mac’s tales of travel to high altitudes and also an update on Stanley, one of Mac’s fellow residents of the Old Soldier’s home in Washington. Stanley belongs to an organisation that distributes eye glasses to those in less developed countries.…

Following the recent UK publication of the Stern report on the effects of climate change, Ryanair has dismissed calls for green taxes on aviation as the “usual horseshit” and warned that extra levies on airlines will not put people off flying. Michael O’Leary, chief executive of the low-cost carrier, also ruled out joining the EU…