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It is easy to make the mistake of thinking that those who live in what we would consider a hut are lazy and stupid. Fortunately, that is often far from the truth. In fact, they are often very resourceful.

My first experience with the ingenuity of Mexicans was during our year of volunteer work in Villahermosa in the state of Tabasco. We were driving a Chevy Nova and it was usually pretty reliable for us. However, Mexican gas disagreed with it and I soon had some trouble with the carburettor.

A friend of mine who worked in the hospital laboratory took me to a nearby repair shop and helped me get a mechanic to help me out. He followed us back to the hospital and pulled the carburettor out of my car. He then headed back to his shop.

Having heard that it was best to keep a close eye on anyone working on your car, I followed him. Over the next half hour, I watched him completely disassemble the carburettor, clean it with solvent, hand make new gaskets and put it back in my car. The car then ran like new.

So, within a half hour, I had a rebuilt carburettor back in my car. I was pretty impressed. I was even more impressed when he said, “Sorry it took so long, but I have never worked on a Chevrolet before.”

A professor from one of the Universities in Texas had a similar experience. He taught Mexican archaeology and often toured remote areas in a jeep. We met him when we were camped on the beach on one of our trips to Tulum.

He told us that one time he was travelling up in the mountains in a remote area north of Mexico City. The road was pretty rough and he hit a rock. The rock totally destroyed his oil pan. Without the oil pan, the jeep was useless and he could go nowhere.

After waiting about 4 hours a farmer came by with a mule and was able to pull the jeep into a town a few miles away.

Now every little town in Mexico has a small mechanic shop that is a combination repair, tire retread and blacksmith shop. He went over there and explained his problem. After asking if the shop owner could order him a new oil pan and install it, the mechanic replied, “Sure, no problem. It should be here within a couple of months.”

He questioned the mechanic if there was any other solution. The Mexican replied, “Come back in three days.”

So, the professor found a lady that would put him up for a few nights. He then got a chair in the yard and watched what the mechanic did. He watched with interest as the owner went to each house in the village and collected any scrap metal or tin cans that they had.

The mechanic then went back to his shop and started working the metal. Over the next few days, he melted the metal down and poured it out forming a sheet of metal. He then pounded it and cut it into the proper shape, made a gasket and fitted it onto the bottom of the jeep.

The professor then told me that he drove the jeep on many trips after that and the handmade oil pan never leaked a drop!

As you can imagine, I have the highest regard for these underrated Mexican mechanics. While caution is always in order dealing with anyone working on your car, you should be able to find someone with excellent skills to work on any vehicle that has problems while driving in Mexico.

About the author: Ron McCluskey and his wife Larose are both physicians. Between the two of them they have done volunteer medical work on all continents except Antarctica. Because caring for people’s physical needs opens up singular opportunities, they have been able to travel where most others could not. You may find more of their travel experiences at http://ilovetravelvacations.com

Hoedspruit – Daktari Wildlife Orphanage is a new conservation initiative that has been started by Ian and Michele Merrifield. Their passion towards wildlife and nature conservation led to the establishment of Daktari which is a non-profit organisation.

As the name suggests, Daktari is a wildlife orphanage that takes in injured, orphaned, or animals in general that for some reason can not be rehabilitated into the wild. People are educated in animal welfare, the environment and nature conservation by being part of teams which provide the nursing for the animals.

Daktari particularly targets underprivileged children from the surrounding rural areas. They are educated in the environment, life skills, and the care of the animals. Sadly, people from the local community suffer from the lack of access to their rich South African natural heritage even though they live right next to private game reserves. This has contributed to the high degree of poaching and environmental abuse in the area. We feel that by generating compassion and understanding, people will care for the environment.

Daktari aims at inviting groups of underprivileged children to stay at the reserve, where they can learn about wildlife, teamwork, responsibility, have a hands-on experience, life skills, and by doing so, develop compassion towards animals. Unfortunately, many children end up unemployed after finishing high School. We expect that the education the children receive here will help them develop their skills and thus provide them with more work opportunities later in life, such as in the eco-tourism industry.

To raise funds, Daktari also invites overnight visitors to come and stay at the centre. The prices range from R150.00 p.p. per night (self-catering) and R400.00 p.p. per night (fully catered). If interested, visitors to the centre will also have a chance to experience the animals up close and learn about wildlife and nature conservation. The centre is placed on a 700ha game reserve so it is possible to go on walks, do game and bird watching, etc.

Further information on Daktari can be found on the web page: www.africanorphange.com, by e-mail at: daktari.sa@mweb.co.za or by telephone at 082 656 2969.

Ever wondered which countries still enforce the death penalty? The United States, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore are said to be the only developed nations to use capital punishment in practice.

According to Amnesty International, during 2005 at least 2,148 people were executed in 22 countries, 94% in China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the United States alone. More than 5,186 people were sentenced to death in 53 countries. More than 20,000 prisoners are on death row across the world.

Source: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777460.html © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Mac is still not very well but is still e-mailing strong. In this month’s Globetrotter e-newsletter, he writes about American Samoa, his friend Frank adds some of his reminiscences about British Samoa and other random thoughts on travels that we love to hear about.

Sending picture postcards to self. For a while when travelling overseas I would go to a department store or cheapest place to buy picture postcards or go to travel bureau and see if they hand any free ones.

I would usually put down name of cheap budget place I stayed and how much and anything else I might forget and would have the foreign stamp on card date etc. This was before e mail. Unfortunately I wrote so small on some of the cards that I can’t make out what pertinent information I wanted to save, but here’s some notes that I made that I can read.

Apia Western Samoa, November 20 1978. Stayed first night at Hotel Tiafu US $19.26 and then moved next door to Appian Way Nala US $11.6l. The owner of the budget place was the sister of a famous sister that owned a more famous more expensive place in Apia.

In WWII Michener met this sister and supposedly got the idea for one of his characters in his South Pacific tales. Anyway, my landlady told me of a trip she and sister took to Rome to have an audience with the Pope (one for the public.) A friend of mine here in Washington DC who was a travel agent had booked an around the world trip for one of the officials in Western Samoa and had asked him to look after me. Mr Pinata Ah Ling, ex member of Agriculture.

He took me to beautiful government sponsored Hotel Tusitala (teller of tales) and then across the island to a beach where some of South Pacific was filmed etc. We passed cattle under Coconut Tree project. Samoans dressed in white carrying bibles were on the way to church where they sing beautifully. I was told Samoa has the most churches per capita of anyplace on earth including Rome. There was a new brewery operated by a German brew master. Valima (pure water,) was the name of Robert L Stevenson’s home on W Samoa.

Later while on my own a laughing Samoan policeman told me that Samoans consider it discourteous to drink or eat while walking. He was not reprimanding me but using this piece of information to open up a conversation with me. An American was running the Returned Serviceman’s Club instead of a Samoan veteran. To keep club open, they took in associate members that had not been in the service. He told me that he taught the children of man that befriended me and that this gentleman was dying and that is why he took a trip around the world and why so much of his conversation was about religion and how we should all try to get along. I am glad I got to meet him. If you write picture postcards to yourself write more legibly than I did.

Frank, also an American retired serviceman adds to Mac’s e-mail: British Samoa was one of the finest places in the Pacific. I was there from December 1942 to May 1943, then went to American Samoa to June 1943 next to Wallis Island French Polynesia and then in October 1943 back to American Samoa for one month, then to Maui until January 1944. I left there and went to Marshall’s for combat etc.

British Samoa was a great place. Frank explains that the woman who ran the expensive place in Apia was Aggie Grey. She was the girl friend of MG Charles F. B. Price, CG of Samoan area. He used to send his PBY, (airplane) over Apia to bring her over to his place in Am Samoa.

I still speak a little Samoan. It came in handy in early 90’s when I was working in Hawaii. A lot of Samoans live there. When they found out I could speak some Samoan they couldn’t do enough for me. I like British Samoa better than any place I was in WWII. When someone died, there would be a feast and I would go out to the village Luemwinga, can’t spell it, that is a phonetic version. It was about two miles from airport. If I heard the drums being beaten, they actually were hollowed out logs, I could tell which were from Luemwinga. I would go out to the village and go in the bush and shoot a couple pigs for them. I always made it to the feast. I was sort of adopted by the village. Have never been back to British Samoa but have passed through American Samoa several times, last time in December 1999. I could tell you many tales about the place…

Mac is a huge fan of Lew Toulmin who wrote book The Most Travelled Man on Earth wrote about a rare British (Scottish) Medal, The Order of the Thistle which is granted to only sixteen distinguished Scotsmen, making it the probably the most exclusive order in the world.

In one chapter of his book, he wrote about the last Japanese soldier hiding out in Guam - seeing Guam the hard way, living twenty eight years in a hole. The ironies of his situation are amazing. While Yoki crouched in his cave, planeloads of Japanese tourists arrived every hour delighted to sun themselves on Guam’s beaches just miles from his cave.

Within nine months of his return to Japan he married a younger woman. They took their honeymoon where many Japanese couples do - on Guam. His call up letter in Japan had read, “Leave home as if you were going out for a stroll. Do not pack. Do not say goodbye to your family.”

Nearby Johnston Atoll is a chemical weapons facility southwest of Hawaii and run by the US government and Raytheon. The only way to really see the island is to get a degree in chemical warfare and join Raytheon.

One time I wrote a fan letter to a deal lady that travelled on her own in China and wrote book I Never Heard the Temple Bells. She answered that she was leaving that morning driving to California.

Another interesting nugget: I read somewhere that Paul Warren of Pitcairn Island descendent of Fletcher Christian has two necklaces that include nails from HMS Bounty.

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 recently lost its claim against the website www.ryanaircampaign.org which allows users of Ryanair complain about the service they receive. The airline took its case to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Centre which sorts out disputed internet domains. Ryanair claimed that the website was misleading and claimed that it infringed on its trademarks. It also claimed the site was set up in bad faith for: “the purpose of to unfairly disrupting the business of the Complainant and causing it unfair loss and damage”. The one man WIPO panel said the site is not acting in bad faith, nor is it causing confusion among internet users searching for the actual Ryanair website.

Ryanair will seek to block some Web sites from selling its flights at what the airline called inflated prices. Some travel sites (Lastminute.com was mentioned) are routinely doubling the price of the carrier’s flights, said Ryanair and that operators have also misled passengers about baggage allowances and other terms and conditions. “Ryanair sells directly to the public, so passengers should avoid these tour operator Web sites, which charge extortionate mark ups and mislead passengers,” said Peter Sherrard, a spokesman for the company. The carrier will block credit card numbers and Internet addresses from certain travel Web sites, he said.

A late April Fool’s joke from News Biscuit, spotted by Webmaster Paul: Budget airline RyanAir today unveiled their new ‘pay as you weigh’ pricing policy that will mean extra charges for customers exceeding the airline’s recommended flying weight. Under their revised terms and conditions those passengers deemed to be ‘fatties’ will be charged an increasing scale of penalty charges for the extra fuel costs they incur the airline.” The Beetle: we like it, (the joke that is) and then maybe BA will follow suit.

Yes, you can now renew your membership or join the Globetrotters Club on-line.

It is secure and you can pay by all major credit, debit or charge cards. Transactions will be in Pounds Sterling and your bank will convert this to your local currency for you.

So, just click here to join and become a Globetrotter! Costs are left in the main body of this e-newsletter.

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office has this advice to visitors:

Around 5,000-7,000 British nationals visit Azerbaijan every year, mainly on business. Azerbaijan has a large expat population who work mostly in the oil and gas sector. Visitors are generally welcomed. Crime against foreigners is generally low, but does occur. Corruption is an every day aspect of life in Azerbaijan, despite regulations prohibiting corrupt activities by public officials and others. We do not recommend the payment of bribes under any circumstances.

Crime levels in Baku are generally low, but muggings do occur from time to time after dark in the centre of town around the western bars and clubs. Some incidents have also occurred near dimly lit entrances of private apartments.

We advise against all travel to Nagorno-Karabakh and the military occupied area surrounding it. This area is the subject of a continuing dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia and although a cease-fire has been in place since 1994 there are regular exchanges of gunfire across the Line of Contact. Some areas may be heavily landmined.

You should not attempt to enter or leave Azerbaijan via the land borders with Russia (i.e. Dagestan) as these are closed to foreign nationals. If you hold a valid visa it is possible to cross the Iranian border at Astara.

If any Globetrotters member would like to start a branch, whether it is in Aberdeen or Zanzibar, please see our FAQ or contact our 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 gym in Amsterdam is offering “Nudfit” training sessions for nudists. The Sunday morning sessions were added by popular demand and “anyone who shows up just to ogle will be thrown out,” said the gym manager. So, if you find yourself in Amsterdam feeling the need for exercise and don’t mind baring all, sessions start on March 4. Interestingly, the gym staff will remain clothed during the sessions, and in the interests of hygiene (someone was going to ask,) machinery and bikes will be covered with towels or disposable covers.