Category Archives: archive

Meeting News from Texas

Festive food and fellowship was shared at the December Texas branch meeting. The scheduled slide show of Portugal was postponed to the January meeting. In addition to the slide show we will share our 2003 travel goals during the January meeting. Hope to see you – same time, same place!

New Braunfels Public Library 700 E. Common Street, New Braunfels, Texas 830-620-5482, at 2pm, January 11th 2003

As the year 2002 comes to an end, the Texas Branch of the Globetrotters Club continues to flourish. If you have not yet joined the Globetrotters Club, now is the time to do so.

Go to http://www.globetrotters.co.uk/join/ and today! If it is time to renew your membership, do that today! Make sure you welcome 2003 as a member in good standing with the Globetrotters Club.

Dates of future meetings: January 11th, February 8th

The Globetrotters Club is encouraging anyone interested in writing articles

Learn more about Globetrotters at www.globetrotters.co.uk.

For more information about the Texas Branch: please Contact texas@globetrotters.co.uk or call Christina at 830-620-5482

Meetings are held at 2pm at the New Braunfels Public Library, 700 E. Common Street in New Braunfels, Texas. The meeting ends at 5 p.m. If you would like to continue travel talk on a more informal basis, we plan to adjourn to the Hoity-Toit, a local New Braunfels establishment. If anybody would like to enquire about meetings or help Christina, please contact her on: texas@globetrotters.co.uk

Hogmanay in Edinburgh

Edinburgh is making big efforts to entertain shoppers in the weeks before Christmas. It also plans to lay on what it claims to be the world's biggest Hogmanay party to welcome in the New Year. The Christmas illuminations will be switched on from Nov. 28, and there will be a German Christmas Market with more than 20 traders from Frankfurt, in Princes Street Gardens, which will also be the site of the Edinburgh Wheel (until Jan. 5) – the UK's tallest ferris wheel.

For the 10th successive year, Edinburgh's Hogmanay is a four-day programme to say farewell to the old year and welcome in the new (Dec.29 -Jan.1). Among the free highlights are the Torchlight Procession and Fire Festival, the Night Afore Fiesta (Dec.30, with massed pipes and drums and the world's largest ceilidh, a Celtic-style party), the Hogmanay Triathlon, and Huskies at Holyrood.

The vast Royal Bank Street Party (Dec.31) is free, but entry is by pass only: get one by joining the First Foot Club (£15). As well as entry to the party, this offers the holder discounts in shops and attractions, privileged booking for ticket events and a chance to enter members-only competitions. To join, call the First Foot Club membership hotline (0131 473 2056) or register and buy tickets on the website.

Fave Websites of the Month

The Beetle likes cityguide.travel-guides.com

Here you can select from a number of cities around the world and compile your own guide, for free. There is a very diverse set of headings from which to chose, e.g. history, cost of living, getting around, shopping, excursions, major sites, tourist information, street maps, nightlife, sport, culture, special events etc.

If you are going away for the weekend and don’t want to buy a guidebook or just want to do some digging around, this is an excellent resource.

London Markets: Whitechapel

Whitechapel is considered by some to be the heart of the East End of London and over the centuries has hosted Jewish settlers, Irish dock workers and Bangladeshi workers in the 'rag trade'. It’s a street market right opposite the Royal London Hospital, and you’ll come on to it from Whitechapel underground station as you exit from it. The road is so-named because it led to the white chapel of St Mary Matfelon, made from white stone around 1250. In the 19th century, Whitechapel Road was the most important market in the area.

So what can you buy there? It is run predominantly by Asian traders and this is sometimes reflected in some of the goods on sale e.g. sari material and herbs and spices. You can find bedding, jewellery, clothing, tools, fresh fruit and veg, electrical goods – all sorts, open six days a week from Monday to Saturday from 8.00 until 18.00.

Fly Me To The Moon!

A space team in Canada is looking for three people to help pilot a rocket into space. This is part of a competition modeled on the 1927 contest to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, won by Charles Lindbergh. Canadian Arrow is one of two Canadian teams participating in the contest. Another 20 international teams are also racing to send the first manned commercial rocket into orbit. The first to get their three-person vessel 100 kilometres into space and back wins the title. The winner will have to repeat the flight again within two weeks to win a $10-million US prize. Geoffrey Sheerin, the leader of the London, Ont.-based Canadian Arrow project, said he is looking for smarts, a sense of adventure, and bravery.

“It's open to absolutely anyone. The possibility for anyone to fly is there,” Sheerin said. “We would like you to have some aeronautical experience, understand of aviation, and also hopefully to have some knowledge of rocketry.”

Space Tourism Lifts Off

Recent press reports state that a Houston store for space buffs is helping the Russian Space Agency find potential space tourists who have $20 million to spare. This seems to be the going rate for space tourists, paid by the two last space tourists, American Dennis Tito and South African Mark Shuttleworth. The Russian space industry appear to have decided that offering space trips to incredibly wealthy people is a good way to continue to finance its participation in building the space station. Vladimir Fishel, vice president of Russian programs for Spacehab, a US spacecraft and living space manufacturer and parent company of The Space Store, acknowledged the few wealthy people enough to pay the tab likely would approach Russian space officials themselves. But marketing efforts could add that extra bit of encouragement. “Russians are in dire need of cash,” he said. “This helps not only them, but everybody.”

Return To Firenze by Matthew

Wandering amongst Pisa’s famed sights, I found myself eased culturally back into Italy and following the big, rounded taste of the evenings Rosso Di Montepulciano I felt readied (or should be that steadied?) for the imminent return. The year that had passed seemed all too long to be away from such a good friend as Firenze…

No alarm call was needed to wake me from the darkened Sunday slumber of Pensione Rinascente – the bright, cool morning had already been disturbed by medieval equivalents! Whilst masses filed through splendid church facades, my own calling came from Pisa Centrale and as I found myself being drawn across the Arno a thought occurred – would the famed Italian trains be on time? My answer was forthcoming as the 9.18 was only a couple of minutes late and was already busy transporting people going about their Sunday lives. Moving away from the platform a certain sensation I had felt when travelling on warm, early morning trains across India flitted through my consciousness once again – a good omen for the journey I smiled!

Stops such as Pontedera disappeared behind the train as a hazy sun opened up a landscape of smallholdings, allotments and vine trails. Surrounded by the languid Italian chatter of our fellow passengers, I felt suitably drawn away from everything of the previous working week – a fleeting travel moment to be cherished. Further along the journey, the archetypal Italian station of Empoli and the ever changing faces of fellow passengers also reminded me of previous travels – this time of Inter-rail journeys. Playing that old game of guessing people’s destinations, I wondered whether the young Scandinavians were heading south or and whether the Africans were heading business like to northern destinations. Our route to Firenze narrowed through a rising valley as it progressed and as in many photos and films, I glimpsed some of the traditional Tuscan imagery – hill top villages connected by winding roads that twisted through lush green countryside and trees stretching skywards. Almost as the quickly as the track had risen did we descend down through the last few suburban stops and onto the final destination…Firenze!

I hadn’t thought what I’d wanted to see of my old friend again, but first thoughts were drawn along a slow loop through the heart of the city, across the Arno and up to the panorama of Piazzale Michelangelo. Familiar sites greeted me as Kate and I sped across the expanse of the rather unvisited Piazza Dell’ Unita Italia– the still petitioning HIV charity, the market where I purchased a most expensive wallet and then onto a renewing glimpse of the Duomo’s bell tower and Battistero. What struck me this time about the magnificent cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (to give the Duomo its consecrated name) was not the beautiful façade but how the turret like bastions sat atop, allowing all comers to be seen. Being a Sunday we couldn’t undertake the winding climb to dome’s top (thankfully appreciated by my apprehension of heights) and the slower start to the day allowed us more space and time to enjoy the walk across Piazza del Duomo and onwards.

For those that cherish Firenze, Via De’ Calzaiuoli’s opening up on to

Piazza della Signora grandly displays much of what should be seen – the splendid Palazzo Vecchio with its dominating tower, the near perfectly copied statues of David or the beheading of Medusa by Perseus and the Uffizi’s columned walk ways sheltering its snaking queues! Though much of this grandeur owes its origins to the power of the Medici and their egos, its subsequent evolution into a marvel of civic planning underscores what the renaissance is depicted as representing. Even the mounted police seemed proud to be part of this elegant cityscape. We had little desire to enjoy the Uffizi’s always crowded galleries and somewhat cramped displays and instead Kate diverted us off to the quiet of Santa Croce. Previously I had strolled around this intriguing church with its incomplete facade and had found that many of two hundred plus monuments commemorated famous past lives – Michelangelo, Galileo and Dante I believe are of the many. The adjoining convent turned museum and its cloisters echo this silence and is a relatively unknown yet worthy destination for its visitors.

As the climb upwards began, I noticed another of those travelling oddities that catch my imagination – certain cities feature a building or place that my wandering always seems to take me through or past! In London it is the Embankment underground station, with Dublin it is O’Connell Bridge and with Firenze it is the Biblioteca Nazionale! Whatever view or late night revelry I have been party to, these buildings always seem found themselves within view and I have no idea why! As we swiftly crossed the modern Ponte Santa Niccolo we again had to pass this squared jawed building before moving over to the quieter side of the Arno.

The steep route up through the steps and gardens of Guiseppe Poggi lifts the walker onto a supreme vantage point! This perspective offers an unbeatable right to left panorama – the view sweeps back across the trail I’ve just described, over the Arno hunched Ponte Vecchio and through to the old Forte Di Belvedere. From here I could imagine no better way to present the city to visitors. Like many I sat awhile, allowing the warm breezes to brush across my face and savour my return to this wonderful city. Somewhat later our thirsts were indulgently quenched before moving on by visiting one of the hilltop gelateria and selecting a double-portioned cone. Here less cream and more ice is definitely better, with my favourite being strawberry overlain with pistachio! Whether any sports dietician would approve of such recharging remains to be seen but we were certainly ready to move on…

If you’d like to contact Matthew about his time in Firenze or any of his other travels, please e-mail him on: matthewdoughty@totalise.co.uk

Accessing Office Mail When Away

source: Woody’s Travellers Watch

Travel@woodyswatch.com

It's great to see more and more business travellers using 'Outlook Web Access' (OWA) on the road. This is a webmail way to access corporate mail systems using Microsoft Exchange Server.

When you open OWA in a browser it looks much like normal Outlook. You can read, delete, reply and forward email plus manage your contacts, calendar, notes, tasks and public folders. There are some limitations (you can't move a message from one folder to another) but it works pretty well.

If your company uses Exchange Server but you don't have Outlook Web Access, ask your network administrator. OWA is installed by default on Exchange Server so it's probably ready for you even if the network gods haven't told you. If you're sneaky you can try finding it from a browser linked to your intranet by trying urls that have a company server name plus '/exchange' (the default folder) such as http:///exchange (e.g. http://mailmachine/exchange).

Outlook Web Access can be used inside a company network too. If you're away from your work desk or computer has broken you can access your mail from any browser. But OWA is mostly used by staff accessing mail from outside company premises. Provided your mail server is accessible from the Internet you can use OWA from any net terminal anywhere in the world.

The link to access OWA will probably be different away from the intranet, something like http://mail.dagg.com/exchange but your network gurus will give you the exact link.

However you access OWA you'll be prompted for your login name, password and possibly domain. This not only gives you access to the company mail server but also tells Exchange Server which mail account to display.

Security Tip: when you're using OWA from any computer not yours make sure you DON'T check the 'Remember this password' box. If you do so anyone could access you email from that public terminal after you walk away. When using someone else's computer on your intranet the same thing applies, you don't want someone else looking at your email.

With OWA available from anywhere, you might not have to lug your laptop! If you don't have much email or it's just a short trip then many business people have decided to leave their laptop computer at home and just check their email at public Internet terminals (cafe's, hotel business centres and some airline lounges).

Did You Know&.London England, London Ontario

London, England, United Kingdom and London, Ontario, Canada, as the crow flies: 3662 miles (5893 km) or 3182 nautical miles

Expedia.com’s lowest return fare flying from London, England to London Ontario, on 1st December costs US $875.28, which is equivalent to around 24c a mile.

Founded in 1828, and incorporated as a town in 1840, London now has a little over 250,000 people. Several suburbs, bridges and places around London, Ontario were patriotically named after the UK in the 18th and 19th centuries: suburbs such as Ealing and Chelsea, there is a Blackfriars bridge and a Covent Garden market.

What to see and do in London, Ontario? There is The Grand Theatre, Orchestra London, the London Regional Art and Historic Museums plus a whole host of special events focused on the visual and performing arts. There are beautiful parks and pathways and good sporting facilities in the Forest City. Family entertainment takes many forms from the lively new Covent Garden Market in the heart of the downtown to the ever-popular Storybook Gardens in Springbank Park.

Discover Crete Under Water

Scuba diving is the fastest growing sport in the world, each year the number of certified divers doubles. Travel to another world is not just a slogan that many dive centres use to attract the client, it’s true….. to dive is like a dream. Floating underwater is like meditation, yoga or living solitude on a lonely island. You hear nothing, only the bubbles, you feel complete freedom when you are scuba diving. The fish could be your enemy, but in the Greek waters there are only friendly species. Diving in Greece is very popular, the locals like doing it and being a favourite holiday destination……… let’s not forget the tourist. Since the government released some strict rules, particularly about the archaeological places, scuba diving is growing rapidly and in almost every tourist place you can find a diving centre.

On the southernmost point of Europe near the village Plakias on the island of Crete you will find several diving centres. There’s one that opens all year.

Plakias lies opposite the legendary island of Gavdos, where Odysseus spent seven years with the goddess Kalypso. Gavdos is the most southern island of Europe, but there’s no diving centre, only a shepherd with some sheep and goats.

During the wintertime Plakias is a lively little fishermen’s resort. Here you’ll find supermarkets, rooms for rent, restaurants, bars, a doctor, a pharmacy, a post office and a cash machine.

The medieval Town of Rethymno on the north coast is only 45 minutes by car.

Crete in the winter offers a subtropical climate with average day temperatures seldom lower than 16o C and on a good day above 20o C. The island has an average of 300 days with sunshine per year. January and February is the rainy season (good for the farmers) but the tropical showers seldom destroy your whole day. God is taking an hour of your time and you can enjoy the sunny hours afterwards.

Being the cradle of Europe there are many historical places that you can visit. There’s Knossos, the archaeological Museum, and there’s the green countryside with botanical beauties that you’ll find only on Crete.

The friendly Cretans are working in the olive groves or picking the oranges, so Crete is alive during the winter and there are not so many tourists. The locals have time for you and if you like it “siga siga” (no stress) than you should visit Crete in the winter.

The island offers all sorts of activities, like guided walking tours, biking tours, you can rent a car for your trips and let’s not forget the diving excursions.

A good contact point is a local adventure club named Kalypso Rocks Palace.

Let’s stick to the diving where we started this article.

There are dives from the shore or boat starting from an old natural (pirate) harbour that is situated near Hotel Kalypso Cretian Village. The diving scenery here is perfect and the visibility underwater is 20-25 metres, making the Libyan Sea the clearest ocean of Europe.

You’ll see plenty of fish: Groupers, Octopus, Shrimps, Sea Stars, Sea brass, Sponges, Morenos, Corals, etc. Look for them in the numerous small canyons, caves or along the mountain walls. Crete is not comparable with top diving destinations, but by European standards it’s a very good location.

Your gear can be provided and on request accommodation in the hotel or in a pension in Plakias for a reasonable price.

If you are interested tin diving or comming to Crete to look around, please contact the Kalypso Adventure Club www.kalypsodivingcenter.com or email: info@kalypsodivingcenter.com

Update: Kalypso diving centre tell us that any readers of this e-newsletter are eligible for a discount of 10% on diving.

Travel Warnings

The FCO said early November: 'Following the terrorist attacks in Bali… in which Western tourists were deliberately targeted, the threat to British nationals in Thailand, including popular tourist areas, the island of Phuket in particular, has increased significantly.'

This statement has enraged not only the Thai and other South East Asian tourism authorities, but ABTA, that venerable travel industry association who have asked for greater clarity in the travel advice issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Keith Betton, head of corporate affairs at ABTA, said: 'Surely they should tell us if they have had a specific threat about Phuket.' He added: 'The advice they have given has scared people and we have no idea whether it is reasonable. As far as we can tell Thailand is as dangerous for the 6,000 or so Britons there as London was for Americans when the IRA was bombing here.'

In response, an FCO spokesperson said: “We would not mark out Phuket just to be on the safe side. Our advice is drawn from a number of sources, including intelligence officials”.

Tour operators have been calling customers with bookings to Thailand, or travellers in Thailand, apprising them of the FCO advice and allowing them to postpone or alter their holiday plans. Airtours has dropped Thailand, and Thomson Worldwide says bookings have dipped.

Early November, the FCO updated its advice on 12 countries – including Honduras, Seychelles, Gibraltar and the Marshall Islands in the Pacific – advising travellers to be 'aware of the risk of indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets in public places' although no one at the FCO could explain what this risk is, and it has promised to discuss the practicality of its warnings with the Travel Advice Unit.

Foreign and Commonwealth Travel Advice is available on 020 7008 0232/3.

7 UK Airports may Close Due to Strike

A British union that has firemen and airport workers as its members has announced a set of dates it on which it proposes to strike.

These will affect seven airports: Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Edinburgh, Southampton, Glasgow and Aberdeen.

Proposed strike dates are: 28 Nov, 2, 10, 15 & 23 Dec and 2nd Jan, and if the fire service does strike, the airports will be left without fire cover and will almost certainly be forced to ground all flights.

The Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes Night

Here in the UK, we’ve just had our traditional bonfire night, on November 5th, to celebrate the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot. We’ve been doing this off and on, barring wars, since 1605. Each year either on November 5, or the weekend closest, people get together all over the UK to light bonfires, burn effigies of “guys”, and set off fireworks. Increasingly, people go to public organised bonfires, rather than have one in their back garden, as the public display fireworks are far more spectacular than anything one could put on at home. We are talking amazing pyrotechnic displays!

But what is it all about? The Gunpowder Plot was an attempt to kill the anti-Catholic King James I, King of England. The alleged perpetrators were a group of four Catholic aristocrats and Guy Fawkes who was a soldier. Their plan was to lay barrels of gunpowder in the cellars of the Parliament Buildings to be ignited the following day, on 5th November when King James, his eldest son, Prince Henry, and Queen Ann were to attend the opening of Parliament. The aim of the conspirators was, once the king and his family had been assassinated, to propose someone else who was more sympathetic to the Catholics in the UK.

So how did they set about this? The first attempt at tunnelling into the cellars of the Parliament from nearby lodgings failed as water from the River Thames waterlogged the tunnel. Instead, one of the gang used his influence to gain access to cellars beneath Parliament, and somehow, they managed to smuggle in 36 barrels of gunpowder. However, there were problems: the King kept postponing the opening of Parliament, so he was never around to blow up, and secondly, because of the time delay, the gunpowder was going mouldy, and more had to be bought from overseas, to ensure that it would explode.

So what happened next? Just before the big day, someone sent a letter to Lord Monteagle a former Catholic sympathiser, warning him to stay away from the opening of Parliament on November 5th. Lord M immediately passed the letter to Robert Cecil, the King’s Chief Secretary, and even though the gang of five knew about the letter's existence , and that they had possibly been rumbled, they still went ahead with their plans. Guy Fawkes, a soldier, was volunteered to stay overnight in the cellar with the gunpowder and set light to it at the right moment. On the night of 4th November, after a thorough search of Parliament, Guy Fawkes was found hidden, along with the gunpowder in the cellars. He was tortured and the other members of the gang were found and along with Guy Fawkes were tried and sentenced to death in St. Paul's churchyard in January 1606. Later, four of the conspirators were executed at the Old Palace Yard, Westminster. All eight men eventually identified as being part of the plot were hung, drawn, and quartered, the standard punishment for those convicted of treason.

Manila Warning

Canada and the European Union have joined Australia and indefinitely closed their diplomatic missions in the Philippines after receiving information about an “imminent” terror attack.

The move came after Australia said it had received “credible and specific” warning of the attack by Islamic militants on its embassy in the capital Manila within the next few days.

“It is not only location specific, targeting the Australian embassy itself, but also it's time specific,” Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told Australian radio without giving any further details.

Fave Websites of the Month

Passed on by the London Meetings co-ordinator: TravelIntelligence is a new website giving access to good travel writing (mainly British) – Philip Marsden, William Dalrymple, Stanley Stewart, Nick Danziger et al.

Take a look at Travel Intelligence and sign up for their monthly newsletter – mostly links to other sites.

Is South Africa Safe? by Geoff

People coming here from the UK and elsewhere expect South Africa to be just like the UK. It is just not so. With the advent of the new ANC government things have changed a lot. Everybody can go anywhere they want to. Crime was restricted to certain areas in the past but not so anymore.

The major problems such as bombings, etc., have stopped now and are hopefully gone for good. People here don't have any major gripes in that they need to kill people anymore. There is still a lot of petty crime (as in all large towns and cities) but in the city centre (it's the same here in London – Beetle) all streets are monitored by cameras so this acts as a deterrent.

It is safe here although, like in any big city, from time to time there are incidents, such as muggings and opportunistic theft. As I said in my first article, do not set yourself up as a tourist, rather try and blend in. The following rules are applicable when visiting any large city, whether it is Cape Town, London, New York or Bangkok:

  • Carrying large camera cases and having lots of jewellery showing is a recipe for trouble
  • Do not walk about on your own in lonely places and if you do watch what is going on around you.
  • It's better if there are two or more people together
  • Lonely roads and alleyways are problems everywhere.
  • Be aware of where you are or where you intend to go: certain areas are more dangerous than others, and one should do one’s homework before venturing out to these places.
  • Going to places such as the townships by yourself is a no no. Have a tour company take you in and show you around.

There is a wide range of good accommodation in Cape Town from 5 star to bed and breakfasts, and as far as I know service is good all round. Speaking specifically of Cape Town, service is excellent, the food is first class and you certainly will experience value for money here; there is much to come to South Africa for.

Geoff Fairman is the editor and publisher of Banker's Oldboy's Ezine, a free publication posted via email to your home computer weekly. To read more articles on Cape Town visit:

Brerrabbit-subscribe@topica.com

Free London Museums: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich

Many of the London hop-on-hop-off buses throw in a free river cruise – often to Greenwich,with the ticket. And even if you are not doing that, a visit to Greenwich can make a good day out.

The Beetle’s favourite way of getting there is to go on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) to Island Gardens and to walk through the foot tunnel to Greenwich. There are some fab views, particularly in Winter, looking south, across the river.

Once in Greenwich, there’s quite a bit to do: visit the Royal Observatory, the Cutty Sark and the National Maritime Museum – and it’s free!

The museum building itself is quite interesting: it used to be an asylum building (i.e. what was referred to as a mad house) and then it was a hospital school.

What’s there to see? In the museum, you will find a collection of all things relating to the history of Britain at sea. But this has been updated to include the dangers of sea pollution and ecology, as well as Nelson’s seafaring antics.

The collection dates back to 1823 when a National Gallery of Naval Art was established, featuring some 300 portraits, paintings and artefacts.

The National Maritime Museum opens daily 10:00-17:00 Sun-Mon. Closed 24-26 Dec 2002. Train: Greenwich Train Station. Enquiries: 020 8858 4422 Entrance: FREE.

Airline News: November 2002

A new “no-frills” international carrier, Qantas-owned Australian Airlines, launched its schedule with flights from the northern city of Cairns to Nagoya and Osaka in Japan. They plan to start services to other Asian destinations, most likely Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong and aim to bring thousands more tourists to the tropical north of Queensland.

The airline is taking over routes which parent company Qantas found unprofitable and intends to make them viable by cutting its cost base. Although Australian Airlines is looked on as a no-frills operation it will not be offering cheap fares.

Another new low-cost airline has started in Scotland. Flyglobespan is to start flights to Palma, Majorca; Nice, Rome and Malaga from Glasgow Prestwick Airport between April and November 2003. The airline is also to offer services from Edinburgh Airport to Palma, Nice, Rome and Barcelona.

The next time a United Airlines flight attendant throws a bag of peanuts at you, just bear in mind that they have just offered to take a 3.6% pay cut for most of their members to help United in its quest to restructure itself and avoid bankruptcy.

British Airways franchise carrier GB Airways has just launched a new scheduled service between London Gatwick and Almeria – twice a week during the winter months on Thursday and Sunday morning and from March there will be an extra Tuesday flight.

They say: “We will be the first airline to offer direct full-frills scheduled services to Almeria, which, although already popular with British holiday makers and villa owners, remains a relatively untouched area of Southern Spain.” The carrier has introduced year-round return fares from £149, including all taxes and charges. This fare does not require either an advance purchase or a minimum stay, but book early for the best offers.

Remember the Swedish man who tried to board a Ryanair flight from Vasteras Airport, near (note – NEAR!) Stockholm to London last August, with a gun in his luggage? Police have just admitted that they do not have enough evidence to suggest that the gun was intended to be used in hijacking the Boeing 737, nor has the man any links with any terrorist organisations. The man claimed he had brought the gun by mistake and had owned it for some time. Police say that he could still be prosecuted for gun offences.

If you are booked with Hawaiian Airlines, Hawaii's oldest and largest carrier, maybe worth checking you are covered if the airline goes belly up. Hawaiian Airlines, are cutting their workforce by around 150 (4% of total workforce) over the next few months to cut costs and they have also secured voluntary leaves of absence from 60 of its flight attendants.

Three men who arrived on a flight into Vancouver from Japan had their baggage searched and 16 kilos of heroin were discovered disguised as tea. “This seizure is the direct result of CCRA's targeting program,” said Revenue Minister Elinor Caplan. “These arrests clearly demonstrate how data from the advance passenger information systems assist law enforcement agencies in protecting the health and safety of Canadians”.

Ryanair, the Dublin based low cost carrier has just announced record net profits of EUR150.9 million (USD$150.5 million), a rise of 71 percent over the same period last year. Ryanair achieved this by attracting more passengers and, at the same time, lowering its operating costs. During the six months to September 2002, the airline carried 7.84 million passengers – a 37 percent increase. Fares dropped by 2 percent and costs by 11 percent.

Ryanair has bases in Ireland and the UK and has just announced a third in Europe at Milan Bergamo, has also unveiled plans to develop a second terminal at Dublin Airport costing an estimated EUR114 million and is said to be thinking about the idea of opening a Scandinavian base at Stavska Airport, near Stockholm.

Indonesia's national airline, Garuda, is ending its flights to Frankfurt in Germany and Fukuoka, Japan and also reducing the number of flights it makes to London. The number of flights from Bali to both Australia and New Zealand are being cut from November to the end of March 2003 due to security concerns raised by last month's bombing. Garuda says it is also postponing the launch of a new service between Perth and Jakarta and suspending its direct Adelaide to Denpasar service. Garuda emphasized that it hopes to restore some services when the security situation eases.

In the US, bankrupt National Airlines has stopped flying. National had a low cost economy and first class services between Las Vegas, the gambling centre of the US and major US cities in 1999 but filed for bankruptcy protection in December 2000. The abrupt announcement, made mid November left some passengers stranded at its Las Vegas hub. National says it will not be making refunds on tickets and customers must apply through credit cards companies. Some airlines have offered to fly National ticket holders on a standby basis.

BMI (British Midland), the UK airline will cut its transatlantic flights from Manchester to Washington from December 2nd but plans to resume in June 2003. Passengers already booked on winter flights will be offered either a refund or the opportunity to transfer to another carrier.

Reminiscences of South Africa by Mac

A reader asked about places to stay in Cape Town. Cape Town is my favourite SA city and Durban second. I travelled in SA many years ago but here are some suggestions.

The SA government tourist bureau had reasonable trips to the game parks. Go to your city library and check out all the budget books on SA get city maps from SA tourist bureau in your country. Find the location of places that interest you on map and write right on map the address, price, etc. I loved SA and think you will too. Do not be afraid of it.

The Jo’burg City Tourist Information Centre was wonderful. They gave me a map and marked on it the location of places to stay in my price range, how to get there by public transportation and I believe even phoned. I think I had taken some used postal stamps along and asked if anyone there collected stamps and gave them to them. While I stayed at the YMCA conveniently located next to Botanical Garden and I think took both sexes and also included breakfast there were many reasonable place to stay and with the good rate of exchange one can go more upscale if they wish. Also when I left SA I asked at the Tourist Bureau if they had any posters with animals I could have. I still have some hanging in my room.

Johannesburg and maybe even Cape Town had free bus tourist trips on Sunday I think sponsored by Chamber of Commerce each Sunday a different one. I brought elephant hair bracelets to bring back to States as gifts. They take hair from an elephants tail (a rather dangerous job) and make a bracelet. If you wear this you will never be attacked by tigers (not in South Africa – but maybe where there are tigers!) and they don’t weigh much in luggage. Some make these bracelets out of plastic and pass off as elephant hair. If you light a match to them I think the plastic will burn.

I took a reasonable several day sightseeing trip of Kruger Game Park (bigger than some states like Connecticut) that I booked in railroad station at SA tourist bureau there. If any globetrotters have had any military time I usually ask tourist bureaux the location of any military clubs. They are good sources of information, reasonable food and drinks and sometimes you being a visitor members will invite you to their homes of tell you of reasonable accommodations. As I mentioned in SA it was MOTH clubs (military order of tin hats from WWI), Comrade Clubs (British oriented), in Australia Returned Servicemen’s Clubs (all military veterans clubs have some people that were never in military!).

The Carlton Center (tall round skyscraper commercial building in Johannesburg had Soweto town sightseeing trips conducted by a tribesman in a pink bus. Money went to town of Soweto to help them out: reasonable and certainly unusual. In a nutshell go to the State run Tourist Bureaus or government tourist bureau in airport, find out public transportation into town. Have them mark on map location of their suggestions.

Happy Travelling TSgt Wilfred L. McCarty Rtd

If you would like to contact Mac, a 78 year old retired military, and extremely well travelled to boot, he is happy to answer any questions even if his information may be out of date. Mac can be e-mailed at macsan400@yahoo.com

Japanese Warned Against Australia

Terrorism fears have prompted the Japanese Government to issue a travel warning for Japanese subjects about Australia. Government to Government discussions are now underway in Japan and efforts to sell the image of a safe Australia to the Japanese public are also being stepped up due to a multi-billion dollar tourism industry at risk.