The Globetrotters eNewsletter
eNewsletter Archive

Last year, in 2005, readers of Conde Nast Traveller magazine - the bible of the travel industry - have recently voted Glasgow as second only to London as a UK tourist destination. It was the 18th most popular city in the world for city breaks in 2003 with 3. 2 million visitors. It was also voted second only to London for its food scene. And, being a resident of this great city, it’s easy to see why Glasgow is so popular. Here’s Charlie’s internet guide of things to do and see whilst in Glasgow.

City of Culture in 1990: virtual tour of his surviving works. Glasgow is a fabulous place for retail therapy and has the glitziest and most stylish of shops, all contained within the city centre.

Glasgow International Airport is on the city doorstep - literally 10 minutes away from the centre, Glasgow West End, centred around Byres Road, is the place to be for small cafes, bars, delicatessens and interesting restaurants. This is where the celebs live! http://www.cnag.org.uk/ggc.htm

The home of Billy Connolly, Glaswegians have a style of humour all their own. It is born out of their tough, industrial history but lives on in what has become a sophisticated, vibrant city one bedroom apartment in the city centre available for short breaks He is also part of Highland Country Weddings Ltd, a Scotland based weddings agency. For free discussion about your own wedding plans and free, no obligation quote, go to http://www. highlandcountryweddings.co.uk/

Institutional Investor magazine’s recently ran its 25th
annual survey of its wealthy readers. The St. Regis
Hotel in New York
was ranked first among the world’s top hotels by Institutional Investor
magazine. Survey respondents had average annual incomes of
$817,000 and
spent an average of 62 nights in a hotel last year, the magazine
said.

Following the St. Regis in descending rank
were: Park
Hyatt Paris-Vendôme; Mandarin Oriental, New York; Four
Seasons Milan; Four Seasons Singapore; Four Seasons George V, Paris;
Mandarin Oriental, San Francisco; Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore;
Peninsula Hong Kong and Four Seasons, Chicago.

World Tourism

The World Tourism Organisation announced last month
that the number of tourists around the globe should climb by 4 to 5
percent in 2006 and that tourism grew strongly in 2005 year despite
natural disasters and attacks.

World tourism as measured by international arrivals,
rose 5. 5 percent in 2005 to a record 808 million arrivals though the
pace of growth had slowed sharply from the 10 percent rise in
2004.
“Gradually slowing growth is expected to continue,” the World Tourism
Organisation said in a statement and that growth was likely to stay
above the long-term average of 4. 1 percent thanks to a more robust
global economy and an improved outlook in Europe, particularly Germany,
one of the biggest groups of global tourists.

The WTO said that terrorism, the effect high energy
prices could have on the economy and bird flu could yet threaten
tourism. “However, experience shows that (terrorism’s) impact
lately
has been rather limited and short-lived. Travellers overall
have
assumed the risk and have been undeterred by external threats. ”

So where is tourism growing the fastest? The answer
appears to lie in Africa, up by 10 percent, led by Sub-Saharan
countries such as Kenya with a 26 percent rise in arrivals in the first
10 months of the year and Mozambique with 37 percent more visitors in
the first 9 months of the year.

Tourism to Asia and the Pacific grew 7 percent in
2005.
Countries directly affected by the tsunami which washed away hotels and
beachfronts in late 2004 suffered drops; the Maldives received 39
percent fewer tourists while visitor numbers to Indonesia fell 9
percent. And Sri Lanka reported a drop of just 0. 4 percent
but that
figure could have been skewed by the arrival of aid workers and Sri
Lankan expatriates.

Whilst a string of hurricanes hit the southern United
States last year clouded the outlook for the tourist market, optimism
was starting to return and despite lengthy airport security procedures
cause delays on arriving in the US, the number of visitors to the
United States rose 8 percent last year.

Mac has not been very well,
but is still e-mailing strong. Here’s an account of a trip he
made to
South Africa some time ago.

In South Africa I had been cutting my own hair but was
invited to some wealthy South African friends of a friend of mine
home.
(They had their own game reserve, plane etc. ) so I thought I better
get
a better haircut so as to not disgrace my friend. When I went
to the
barber he took one look at my hair and said. “I see you have
been
having a go of it yourself. ‘

At a Catholic church in Johannesburg they hear
confessions in Sesotha, Padi, Tsnamia, Zulu/Xnoise, Chiceno, English,
Afriken, Dutch, Spanish, Italian and French but the priest did not
understand my English (thank heavens!) At Notre Dame Cathedral in Pairs
they hear confessions in Esperanto. Learning Esperanto is a
good way to
meet Esperanto speakers all over the world. I have a friend
that speaks
Esperanto and he goes all around the world spending a day or two with
someone he has met this way. Actually all I think he knows
how to say
is Hello.

A white South African priest in Cape town told me that
when they had apartheid he went out to meet an American priest at the
airport. He could not find him and finally found him in the
black
section. When he asked the priest why he was there, the
American said
the other waiting room read Europeans Only and he was not
European.
This was his way of making fun of apartheid.

When I was in South Africa, a Canadian lady went on
Sabi Sabi Reserve looking for animals. They got up at 5am
each morning
as we did also. They had a guide who warned them to not stand
up if
they saw any animals. They did this for three days and all
they saw
were birds! We were luckier at the Kruger Game Park.
Sometimes you are
lucky and sometimes you aren’t. If unlucky I suggest you go
to the
wonderful zoo in Pretoria. I enjoyed it even after being to
all the
game parks.

At hotel Killarney in Durban South Africa they had a
Monks Inn where they have strip shows with lunch. You often
see signs
Steak, Eggs and Chips. This sign read Steak, Eggs, and
Strips. If you
see a strip show in a Monks Inn is that a double sin?

At Bergkelder winery at Stellenbosch (a university town
in South Africa) I leaned that sweet taste buds are at the front of
your tongue and bitter taste buds are at that back of your
tongue. I
wonder what I will learn tomorrow? Probably that I have a
headache.

I went to see the l000 hills near Durban.
There are
1000 Zulus living in 1000 hills. I asked the Zulu guide if I
only
looked at l5 of them (the hills) could I get a discount? He jokingly
ordered me off the tour bus. He told us some of the Zulu
history. There
was a Zulu King named “Follow Me” in Zulu. He got a young
girl
pregnant. He denied he was the father saying it was a false
pregnancy
(her imagination. ) When the baby was born the new mother named the
baby
boy False Pregnancy, in Zulu, “Shaka. ” Shaka grew up to be a warrior
and leader of the Zulus. He trained the Zulus to walk
barefoot on
thorns to toughen their feet (we did the same thing in basic training.
)
It was rather a long but true story and one of the lady tourists
interrupted this fascinating story to announce that she was
cold.

The oldest bar in Capetown is the Firemans
Bar. Firemen
from ships used to go there. On the wall they have listed a
telephone
service with charges for answering services. He’s not here:
20 cents.
He’s just left: 25 cents. Haven’t seen him all day: 30
cents. Haven’t
seen him all week: 35 cents. Who? 40 cents.

In Durban I wanted to go out to the Hare Krishna Centre
(there are a lot of Indians that live in Durban and some are very
wealthy. ) I had not been out to the Hare Krishna centre in Virginia
but
decided to see this one in South Africa. I was told to take
the Indian
bus out from the Indian market. I asked how I would know the
Indian bus
and was told, “It has Indians on it. ”

En route to Addo Game Reserve 90 kilometres from Port
Elizabeth, the guide was telling us the farmers in the desolate area
raised goats. The German along with us did not know what
animal the
driver was talking about. I pointed to my goatee and then he
knew. They
used to feed the elephants citrus fruit and apples at 4. 30 PM (there
is
a travel book entitled Elephants arrive at half past four. ) But they
have quit doing this as they want the elephants to take care of
themselves so they now issued them food stamps. The elephants
are
smaller at this reserve.

If you would like to get in touch with Mac, he is happy
to correspond by e-mail when he is well. His e-mail address
is:
macsan400@yahoo. com

Ryanair will soon make passengers who wish to travel
with bags that weigh over 10kg (the weight limit for bags permitted as
hand luggage) pay £5 per piece of checked luggage, or
£2. 50 per bag if it has been registered in advance on the
airline’s website - an initiative the budget airline claims will mean
only 25 per cent of its passengers losing out financially.
For those
who have bags that weigh more than 20kg, there will be an excess
baggage fee of £5. 50 per kg.

This means that for example, two people cannot share
their luggage allowance. This is a u-turn to existing policy
where
Ryanair used to allow passengers travelling together to pool their
baggage allowance. The move will penalise families with young
children
in particular, as children do not have a separate baggage allowance so
their belongings must be included in their parents’
allowance.

For passengers travelling with hand luggage only, the
new rules could be good news, as those in possession of an EU passport
will now be able to check in online at


www.
ryanair. com


,
before going to the airport and will be eligible for priority
boarding.

The charges will apply to bookings made after March
16.

Also from March 16, Ryanair
will allow passengers to by-pass airport check-in if they have
previously checked in on the carrier’s website. This service
is
available to EU passport holders travelling with hand luggage only and
mirrors a similar recent move by smaller low-cost rival
Flybe. These
passengers will be given ‘priority boarding’ which will also reduce
boarding gate queues. However, passengers checking in baggage
on
flights booked after March 16 will now pay a fee — 2. 50 stg (3. 50
eur)
per bag, per flight, if booked in advance on the website, or 5. 0 stg
(7. 00 eur) per bag, per flight, if presented unbooked at the
airport.

Simultaneously, Ryanair is increasing each passenger’s
luggage allowance from the current 25 kgs to 30 kgs — comprising 10
kgs carry-on and 20 kgs checked in luggage, a move it reckons will
substantially reduce excess baggage fees.

Passengers who check-in on the web claiming hand
luggage only but then turn up at the boarding gate with baggage will be
sent back to the check-in desk and ‘fined’ £25.

While thinking of ways to celebrate Globetrotters’
Club’s 60th anniversary we came up with the idea of awarding people who
have been members for 30 years or more, with a certificate.
Our
President, Janet Street-Porter has signed 17 certificates.

Using my own membership of exactly 30 years I was able
to use my membership number of 1202 as a useful gauge.
However, some
members ended up with new numbers if they renewed slightly late at one
point in our club’s history and the original numbers were
destroyed.
So, if you are one of these people and you know you joined before 1976
then please contact me:


e11fdj@yahoo.
co. uk


We offer our sincere apologies to anyone omitted from the list
below.

At our London meeting on 7th January 2006 we presented
the certificates to those there, the rest will be sent out.
One member,
who was omitted deserves a special mention. She has been
coming to our
meetings in London for many years and has been a member since
1968.
Joan McConn will receive her own presentation at a future
meeting.

The list of long serving members:

• Norman Ford
• Jean Clough
• Betty Dawes (Browning)
• Joan McConn
• Susan Mew
• Anne Ross
• Isabel Ramsay
• Margaret Hayward
• John Baker
• John and Julie Batchelor
• Jill Dunisthorpe
• Sylvia McMaster
• Francesca Jaggs
• John Barnes
• Winifred Manders
• Malcolm Kier
• Irene Richards

The

British Foreign and Commonwealth Office

advise against all
but essential travel to Eritrea. We advise against all travel
to the
border areas with Ethiopia and Sudan. In recent weeks,
restrictions
placed on the UN Monitoring force by the Government of Eritrea have
further heightened tensions along the Ethiopia/Eritrea
border. This
advice includes Tesseney, near the Sudan border. We also
advise against
travel in the area north of Afabet in the Sahel region and along one
road in the west of the country (see Local Travel Section below for
details).

In November 2005, UN agencies in Eritrea withdrew
families of their personnel in response to increased tension between
Ethiopia and Eritrea over their disputed border. On 6
December 2005,
the Government of Eritrea told UN Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea
(UNMEE) staff from USA, Canada, Europe and the Russian Federation to
leave the Mission within 10 days. The relocation of these
personnel to
Ethiopia is now complete.

You should be aware that there is a continuing threat
to Western, including British, targets from terrorism in Eritrea as
there is in other countries in East Africa and the Horn.

You should be aware that travel restrictions may limit
our ability to offer immediate consular assistance outside Asmara,
Keren, Dekemhare, Mendeferra and Massawa.

Travel options to and from Asmara are limited following
the cancellation of scheduled flights between Asmara and
Nairobi.

If any Globetrotters member would like to start a
branch, whether it is in Aberdeen or Zanzibar, please see our FAQ or
contact our the Branch Liaison Officer via our Website at

Meeting
FAQ

.

A member of Globetrotters Club? Interested in a
£1,000 travel award?

Know someone who is? We have £1,000 to award
each year for five years for the best submitted independent travel
plan. Interested?

Then see

our legacy
page

on our Website, where you can apply with your plans for
a totally independent travel trip and we’ll take a look at
it. Get
those plans in!!

A Brisbane woman has been killed in a shark attack at
Amity Point, North Stradbroke Island near Brisbane. She was
swimming
about 15m (49ft) offshore when she was attacked in water which had
become murky and muddy after a recent storm. Police believe
that
possibly three bull sharks could have attacked the young woman as they
are known to be aggressive during mating season. Before you
start to
worry, let’s put this into perspective: there have been 10 fatal shark
attacks in Australian waters in the past five years.

In December 2005, a drunken male passenger on a flight
from northern England to the Spanish tourist island of Tenerife was
dropped off at a small island off the African coast after he swore at
the cabin crew. Press reported that the plane’s captain
decided to
leave the man at Porto Santo, just 10 miles long and four miles wide, a
volcanic outcrop in the Atlantic, after he became abusive when he was
refused more alcohol. (The island does have a few hotels, so
he wasn’t
left to sleep on the beach in case you were worried. ) Needless to say,
police met the man at the airport who is due to appear in court in
mainland Portugal in January.