Join us on Friday, September 19th, 2025 at 8 p.m. OLD YORK TOWER, 85 THE ESPLANADE, (SE corner of Church St.)
Dejan Ristic – “Greece-A Collage of Ancient with a Hint of New”
The presentation will explore a small sampling of ancient Mycenean, Greek, Roman, Byzantine and medieval sites on mainland Greece while ignoring the Greek isles. Dejan is an ancient history nerd and this was a month long bucket trip visit last October 2024.
Because this is sort of a historical travelogue, it might interest some of you to research or some of the places/battle sites before his presentation. (see the attached list)
1st: Lindsay Castro – More Than a Summit – How travel and trekking opened the door to reinvention and connection
What happens when life’s next chapter begins just as society expects you to slow down? In her late fifties, facing an empty nest, shifting identity and physical change, one woman chooses to trek in the high mountains of Kenya, Nepal, India and Ecuador.
What begins as a personal challenge becomes a journey of reinvention and purpose. Each step reflects transformation through uncertainty and growth, proving identity evolves rather than diminishes with age.
Along the trail, encounters with local communities and women’s initiatives deepen perspective, revealing how adventure can expand empathy, connection and meaning in later life.
2nd: Alan Palmer – Bhutan From Head to Tail – Journeying Along the Back of the Thunder Dragon.
In the past two years, Alan has travelled the length of the country, from the infrequently visited homelands of the semi-nomadic Merak peoples in the furthest east, crossing the land’s higher, cloud-covered central mountains, and arriving at the more recognisable sights of Bhutan’s classic west, all the while uncovering the country’s intricately interwoven history, religion and mythology.
Not content with this, however, he next trekked into the country’s spectacular north-west to attend the Royal Highland Festival, where, to his continuing embarrassment, he unexpectedly kept bumping into the king and queen.
Date & Time: Saturday 9th May 2026
Doors open at 14:15 in London and on Zoom with the talks starting around 14:45 (London see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive before 14:45 and switch your phone to “do not disturb” or silent.
We would ask that anyone with respiratory symptoms participate via Zoom.
Admission costs:
£7 for members. (Members can access a ticket code below (Log in))
Admission is at the Club’s sole discretion. The Club may refuse entry to, or require any person to leave, at any time where the Club reasonably considers it appropriate for safety, security, capacity, compliance with law, or orderly conduct.
Steve Foreman lived in East Africa for 30 years, spending much of that time working in the safari tourism sector.
He became involved with the Maasai people in Tanzania while managing a luxury tented camp perched on top of the Rift Valley Escarpment overlooking Lake Manyara National Park. On a regular weekly supplies trip to Arusha, he gave a young Maasai woman and baby a lift to the hospital there.
Taking her back the next day to the manyatta where she lived led to Steve growing close with the Maasai community there, learning about their culture, customs, and traditional way of life. He took part in several activities with the warriors in the bush and the elders eventually granted him honorary moran status, which permitted him to have a Maasai girlfriend.
He chose Marita, with the elders’ agreement, and stayed overnight with her on several occasions. Marita, like many adult Maasai women, was circumcised. Steve briefly addresses female genital mutilation (FGM) – a practice he firmly believes should be eradicated – and recounts a funny but slightly alarming incident that occurred when the warriors discovered that he himself was not circumcised.
Steve will also speak about his broader experiences in the manyatta – sitting around the fire at night, drinking fresh milk and cow’s blood, and one occasion when he became so ill that he had to be driven for treatment all the way to Nairobi, Kenya.
When his son Zak came to visit, Steve – and two Maasai warrior friends – also climbed Ol Doinyo Lengai, Tanzania’s only active volcano, situated out on the Maasai Steppe. Ol Doinyo Lengai means ‘Mountain of God’ in the Maasai language and is sacred to them. Although his warrior friends had heard of the mountain, they had never seen it, and Steve describes some of the delightful incongruities of the experience—such as the warriors later staying in his house, watching television, and sleeping on the floor with their swords beside them.
Steven James Foreman is an HM Forces Veteran (Army). In Africa for over 30 years, he worked as a safari guide, camp manager, and mountain and expedition leader throughout East Africa and Botswana. Now retired, he lives back in the UK with his teenage daughter.
Steve is an elected Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS). He has written articles for many magazines including BBC Wildlife, Soldier, SCUBA, African Travel Review magazine, Land Rover World, The Dar Guide(Tanzania), and the Daily Mail.
Steve’s book Nomads and Volcanoes: The Shahsevan and the Maasai – and Their Sacred Mountains is a lively and often humorous memoir in which he explores the traditions and daily life of these two nomadic peoples. Through vivid storytelling, he reveals striking parallels between the groups, showing that time and geography have done little to diminish their shared ways of living. After the talk, Steve will be happy to sign copies of his book.
2nd: Jacki Hill-Murphy – Lake Chala (Kenya/Tanzania border) in the footsteps of May French Sheldon.
Jacki is an English adventurer with a passion for recreating the journeys of early women explorers.
In 1891, American May French Sheldon travelled to East Africa, inspired by the travels of family friend, Henry Morton Stanley. As a lone white woman with 150 Zanzibari porters, she trekked to Lake Chala on the Kenya/Tanzania border and made a scientific report of the 250,000 year old crater lake, for the Royal Geographical Society in London. She was one of the first female travellers in Africa and one of the first women to be elected to the RGS.
In 2022, Jacki Hill-Murphy walked around the circumference of Lake Chala, despite its inhospitable nature, becoming the first foreigner to do so for many years.
The talk by Damien Gabét has had to be postponed.
Date & Time: Saturday 11th April 2026
Doors open at 14:15 in London and on Zoom with the talks starting around 14:45 (London see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive before 14:45 and switch your phone to “do not disturb” or silent.
We would ask that anyone with respiratory symptoms participate via Zoom.
Admission costs:
£7 for members. (Members can access a ticket code below (Log in))
Come to Chihuahua with travel writer Russell Maddicks on the trail of Mexico’s Raramuri runners in the deep ravines and craggy clifftops of the spectacular Copper Canyon.
Russell Maddicks is a travel writer, author and co-author of guidebooks covering the Balearic Islands, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela. His latest book Culture Smart! Costa Rica was published on 22 January. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @LatAmTravelist.
Unfortunately the previously advertised talk by Dom Joly has had to be postponed.
2nd: Jon Beardmore – The Galapagos Postman: Reconnecting the world one letter at a time.
Jon Beardmore is an adventurer, storyteller and accidental postman who spent a year travelling the world on a mission sparked by love, legacy and a handful of handwritten letters. Blending humour, heart and human connection, he explores what happens when you say yes to the unknown — and how a single letter can change everything.
The Galapagos Postman Challenge is an unforgettable tale of adventure, human connection, and purpose. After discovering the centuries‑old postbox on Isla Floreana — where sailors once left letters to be carried home by strangers — Jon set out torevive the tradition in a modern, global way. His mission: hand‑deliver 50 letters around the world.
Doors open at 14:15 in London and on Zoom with the talks starting around 14:45 (London see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive before 14:45 and switch your phone to “do not disturb” or silent.
We would ask that anyone with respiratory symptoms participate via Zoom.
Admission costs:
£7 for members. (Members can access a ticket code below (Log in))
1st: Oliver Smith – On This Holy Island: A Modern Pilgrimage around Britain
Acclaimed travel writer Oliver Smith embarks on an epic adventure across sacred British landscapes – climbing into remote sea caves, sleeping inside Neolithic tombs, scaling forgotten holy mountains and once marooning himself at sea. Following holy roads to churches, cathedrals and standing stones, this evocative and enlightening travelogue explores places prehistoric, pagan and Christian, but also reveals how football stadiums and music festivals have become contemporary places of pilgrimage.
The routes walked are often ancient, the pilgrims he meets are always modern. But underpinning the book is a timeless truth: that making journeys has always been a way of making meaning. So often, Oliver finds, “the unravelling of a path goes in tandem with the unravelling of the soul.”
2nd: Lola, John & Danny – Wild Guide Morocco
Join the authors of Wild Guide Morocco for stories of wild swims, desert adventures and slow travel from their five-month campervan journey across Morocco.
Lola Culsan, John Weller and Danny Weller are a London-based family of travel writers and wild swimmers, known for their immersive adventures and off-the-beaten-path discoveries.
Authors of Wild Swimming Spain, Hidden Beaches Spain, Outdoor Swimming London and now Wild Guide Morocco (March 2025), they spent five months exploring Morocco by campervan – uncovering hidden waterfalls, desert oases, and remote mountain villages.
Lola is a Jamaican-born, half-Spanish writer and former stand-up comic; John is a photographer, writer and lifelong wild swimmer; Danny is a linguist, journalist and explorer. Together, they share a passion for freedom, nature, and meaningful travel.
Date & Time: Saturday 4th October 2025
Doors open at 14:15 in London and on Zoom with the talks starting around 14:45 (London see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive before 14:45 and switch your phone to “do not disturb” or silent.
We would ask that anyone with respiratory symptoms participate via Zoom.
Admission costs:
£7 for members. (Members can access a ticket code below (Log in))
