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The Beetle
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People Happier in Latin America than Eastern Euope
A recent World Values Survey on the levels of happiness in more than 65 countries shows Nigeria has the highest percentage of happy people followed by Mexico, Venezuela, El Salvador and Puerto Rico. Russia, Armenia and Romania have the fewest. “New Zealand ranked 15 for overall satisfaction, the U.S. 16th, Australia 20th and Britain 24th…
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The Beetle
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Volunteer Corner
Puerto Maldonado, Peru: The Piedras Biodiversity Center (affiliated with Tambopata Expeditions) is looking for for 2 volunteers to help out with an amphibian survey scheduled for November/December of this year. The project will last about 6 weeks, and the work will be “quite adventurous,” involving the night-time collection of various frogs and toads in swamps…
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The Beetle
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Know Your Riyals from Your Kwatcha
Need to convert currency? Take a look at The Globetrotters Currency Converter — get the exchange rates for 164 currencies The Globetrotters Currency Cheat Sheet — create and print a currency converter table for your next trip.
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The Beetle
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Sun Block Study
A recent UK scientific study on the efficacy of sun creams says that although they help prevent sunburn, lotions fail to block out the harmful ultraviolet rays which can cause the skin cancer. Sun block could give sun worshippers a false sense of security. Burns specialist Professor Roy Sanders said that the only way to…
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The Beetle
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So You Think You’re Well Travelled?
Here’s a little Beetle quiz based on capital cities. See how many you get right! Go on, have a guess! What is the capital city of the following countries: 1. Austria 2. Ethiopia 3. Mauritius 4. Swaziland 5. Vanuatu For the answers, see at the end of the e-newsletter.
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The Beetle
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Our Friends Ryanair
Why is that the low cost airlines don’t offer frequent flier awards? It seems that unlike the US, none of the European low cost carriers have frequent-flier programs. Southwest Airlines, the model for low-cost carriers, including our friends Ryanair, gave away 2.3 million free tickets last year – more than United Airlines – with its…
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The Beetle
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Travel Quiz: Los Angeles
The winner of last month’s Frommer’s Guidebook on Spain Moon guide is: Azusa Nakamura congratulations! This month, win a Rough Guide guidebook on Los Angeles. See www.roughguides.com for info on Rough Guides. Some people have said the quiz is difficult, we say do some research: try google.com or Ask Jeeves, if you need help with…
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The Beetle
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Iris’s Diary of An Overland Trip Through South America
Iris takes part in a barbecue in Brazil. We went to a little town called Ouro Preto, in Brazil, which is in the centre of a mining area, which produced gem stones. We visited the museum which shows all the different metals and minerals mined and they have an impressive display of what they produce,…
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The Beetle
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Answers to: So You Think You’re Well Travelled?
1. Austria: Vienna 2. Ethiopia: Adis Abbaba 3. Mauritius: Port Louis 4. Swaziland: Mbabane 5. Vanuatu: Port Vila 0 out of 5 – you need to get out more! 1-3 – not bad 4 – very good! You are a Globetrotter! 5 – are you sure you didn’t sneak a look?
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The Beetle
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Chagas Disease
What is Chagas disease? Also called American trypanosomiasis, Chagas disease is an infection caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. Chagas disease primarily affects low income people living in rural areas. It is estimated that 16-18 million people are infected with Chagas disease; of those infected, 50,000 will die each year. Chagas disease is locally transmitted…
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