The Globetrotters eNewsletter
eNewsletter Archive

Sometimes you don't know you're being conned, but here's a scam surely to end all scams: a fake Zimbabwean traditional healer has been found guilty of scamming a businesswoman out of $30,000 to pay for “mermaids” to recover her stolen car. The healer said that money was necessary to import the mermaids from the UK and put them up in a local hotel and also to pay for a bull, whose genitals would supposedly help find the thief of her luxury vehicle. The woman healer also asked for money to buy mobile phones to contact the mermaids.

Need help? Want a travelling buddy or advice about a place or country - want to share something with us - why not visit our Mutual Aid section of the Website: Mutual Aid

Chris needs your ideas: he is planning to travel to India buy an Enfield motorbike and ride it back to the UK. If anyone has any information or knows any websites that could help him, please contact him on: glanrid@tiscali.co.uk

Can anyone help Bob? Here is his appeal: please don't think I'm a bona fide nut but I am going daffy trying to think of the international association of people who partake of exotic and eccentric foods. It's a well known “club”, of sorts, but the name eludes my friends and I. If anyone can shed some light on our dilemma, we'd love to hear from you - many thanks, Bob. E-mail address: ching3us@yahoo.com

At a time when if you lock your case flying from the US, it will be forcibly opened and searched, news comes in from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics that more bags were lost, damaged, delayed or pilfered by U.S. airlines last year than in at least eight years.

Reports of mishandled bags on domestic flights rose 23 percent in 2005, from 4.91 per 1,000 passengers in 2004 to 6.04 per 1,000. That's an average of about 9,700 lost or damaged bags each day.

Of the 20 carriers that reported to the Transportation Department, Atlantic Southeast Airlines had the highest rate of baggage complaints — 17.41 per 1,000 passengers — and Hawaiian Airlines had the lowest, at 2.95 per 1,000.

The European Union has issued a blacklist banning 92 airlines from operating in the region, stating that they fail to meet international standards. Most of the airlines are African based, including 50 carriers from the Democratic Republic of Congo, 14 from Sierra Leone and seven from Swaziland. The list is available from the BBC here.

If you have a travellers tale that your aching to tell. Then why not visit the “Travel Sized Bites” section of the Website and share it with the world. Travel Sized Bites

A high-speed Japanese ferry has collided with what is thought to be a whale, leaving 49 people injured, 13 of whom in a serious condition. The two-deck ferry, carrying more than 100 passengers and crew, was near the city of Kagoshima on the southern island of Kyushu when it happened. Ships in the area often collide with whales, a ferry company spokesman said.

A recent BBC report tells of a British magazine, the New Scientist, that says Pentagon scientists are planning to turn sharks into “stealth spies” capable of tracking vessels undetected. Apparently, they aim to remotely control the sharks by implanting electrodes in their brains, “to exploit sharks' natural ability to glide through the water, sense delicate electrical gradients and follow chemical trails”. The next step for the Pentagon scientists will be the release of blue sharks with similar devices into the ocean off the coast of Florida.

At the end of 2005, the Beetle was diving around Sipadan, East Sabah, so she was particularly interested in an Australian travel issued 28th Feb warning to its nationals: “We strongly advise you not to travel to coastal resorts and other centres on and islands and dive sites off the east coast of Sabah because of the high threat of kidnapping by terrorists. Terrorists have, in the past, kidnapped foreigners from the eastern coast of mainland Sabah, and from the islands and sea off its east coast. If you are in these areas you should consider leaving. We cannot rule out the possibility of kidnappings.

Now at the beginning of March, the Malaysian authorities are a little upset by this warning and have asked Australia to retract its advisory to its nationals against visiting Sabah because of the risk of a terrorist threat. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the statement that Sabah was at risk of a terrorist threat was inaccurate. He said Malaysia had no knowledge of any report that might have been referred to by the Australian government for it to issue such a travel advisory.

“We can't do anything if a foreign country wants to issue travel advisories but, in the case of Sabah, we're sure the security situation there is under control, with many police and military personnel being deployed there. There are no untoward incidents happening in Sabah,” he said after receiving about 30 Umno Youth leaders led by Umno Youth Chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, at his office.

“Any travel advisory would cause worry among foreign tourists and, therefore, it's our responsibility to do something so that this will not continue.

“Though we don't agree, though we're not happy with what has been done by Australia, we've to do something so that they can withdraw the travel advisory as soon as possible,” he said.

CNN recently ran an article, spotted by Webmaster Paul about what do you do when you are on a plane and surrounded by people coughing and snuffling or you are the one with a cough and cold. A US doctor recommends these actions: as colds and the flu spread through droplets and close contact, it's important to wash your hands frequently with soap and warm water, particularly after touching surfaces others have recently touched or after shaking hands. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth, because germs are easily spread that way. If you're coughing or sneezing, it use a tissue to cover your nose and mouth, if you want to go that extra mile, wear a mask that covers your nose and mouth.

The Chinese government is introducing a 5% tax on disposable wooden chopsticks in a bid to preserve its forests. It produces about 45 billion pairs of chopsticks a year, consuming millions of trees and bamboo plants.