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The Beetle
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Father Christmas Returns to Mikindani, Tanzania by Len Coleman
On a particularly warm and humid Christmas Eve Santa Claus came back to Mikindani for the third year running. Returning volunteer to the Trade Aid project Matt Maddocks once again donned the red robe, festive hat and fake beard to bring some excitement to the children of Mikindani. This time around, the Bedford army truck…
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The Beetle
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Chinese to travel to Cuba
Cuba has received the first group of Chinese tourists since China designated the Western Hemisphere’s only communist nation as one of its tourism destinations last year. A group of 20 tourists from Beijing arrived in Havana for a four-day stay and planned to visit the beach resort of Varadero. Tourism has become Cuba’s main source…
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The Beetle
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2004 Travel Photographer Competition
The 2004 Travel Photographer of the Year competition opens for entries on February 22. Following a successful first year in 2003, in which photographers from 34 countries submitted just under 10,000 images, this annual competition for amateur and professional photographers now features: four portfolio categories covering every aspect of travel photography; a Single Image category;…
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The Beetle
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Passport for Barbados
An eagle eyed Globetrotter wrote in to say: I just found out that starting March 1st, US citizens will be required to have a passport to enter Barbados. Perhaps this will set a precedence for other Caribbean islands.
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The Beetle
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Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea by Iona Hill
The capital Port Moresby has a fairly poor reputation, in part deserved, but then, all large cities have their problems. Having said this, Port Moresby is not a large city, it is hard to really say where the centre is, as it is small-ish but sprawling. There is a down town of a type where…
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The Beetle
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Piracy Increase
The International Maritime Bureau says that more than 20 sailors were killed by pirates in 2003 – twice as many as the previous year. Seventy are missing, presumed dead. The Malaysian based organisation says piracy is increasingly becoming an Asian problem, with Indonesia the most dangerous area. South and East Asia recorded twice as many…
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The Beetle
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Meeting News from London Saturday 7th February London meeting by Padmassana
Our first speaker this month was Chris Bradley, whose talk was called “Walking Wadi Hadramat”. Chris made a 550 mile solo trek through this barren area of Arabia. Yemen is another country that is unfortunately on the No-go list just now, so this talk was a fascinating insight. Chris showed us Shibam, also known as…
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The Beetle
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Siem Reap by Judy
Judy from the US write in to tell the Beetle about her recent visit to Siem Reap. This is what she says: My husband and I were in Siem Reap for the full moon 8 Nov 03. Candles were set floating in the Siem Reap River which flows through the village. It was an awesome…
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The Beetle
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February 2001 – Sicily by David Siracusa
The latter part of the flight over was terrific, with snow on the Gran Sasso first and then, towards the end, there was the fabulous spectacle of the Aeolian Islands with Stromboli puffing away. Etna, on Sicily itself, was puffing a bit but nothing to suggest the major eruption it had the next winter. We…
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The Beetle
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Volunteer Corner Vacancies For Volunteer Doctors/Nurses For Hill Farmer Clinic Project, N E India
Can you spare 2 weeks + ? Would you like a workingholiday in a fantastic place? We are currently looking for volunteer medical staff forour clinic in India. Agricultural Work with PlanetDrum Foundation in Bahia de Caraquez, Manabi, Ecuador Planet Drum Foundation is a non-profit, grass rootsenvironmental organisation based in San Francisco,California, USA. Planet Drum…
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The travel club for independent travellers.