Isolated tribe spotted in Brazil

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Title – Isolated tribe spotted in Brazil
Source – www.bbc.co.uk
Date – 30th May 2008

All too often we hear that travel was not what it was 10 or 20 years ago, that the tourist trail has ruined the adventure and that the world has nothing new for travellers to discover. If ever there was a story to prove people wrong; then this is it.

The world is a very big place and there are very large parts of it which remain completely isolated and untouched by the ‘developed’ world. That in 2008 there are still tribes in the Amazon that remain ‘un-contacted’ is amazing, inspiring and very reassuring. One of the most important things is to ensure that we allow them to stay that way, that we allow them to live their lives in peace and that we protect them and their environment for future generations.

Many travellers visit parts of the world for the wrong reasons. Anyone who has spent any time in a hostel almost anywhere in the world will recognise exactly who I am talking about. You sit down and exchange travel stories with fellow travellers, something that is an essential part of the travel experience and provides you with ideas, warnings, advice and friendships; but there is always the one there (usually on his own for a reason) who tries to upstage you and everyone else in the room. You start talking about a fantastic trip you took 2km up river, they went 10km up river; you talk about a village you visited, they lived in a more remote village for a month; you met a wonderful local person who invited you in for tea and they married the chiefs daughter…. You know who I am talking about.

The thing to remember is that the world is already an amazing place, it is amazing precisely because of what we have been able to create; our modern cities, the pyramids, Angkor Watt, the aeroplane, the variety of cultures that have developed; and it is amazing for what we have not achieved, the un-contacted tribes of the Amazon, the new species we still discover on a regular basis, the vast areas of land and sea that remain unconquered. You can’t fail to be in awe of what the world has to offer, visit the great barrier reef, the Mongolian Steppe, the blue hole of Belize, the Grand Canyon and you’ll be amazed at what you see and you’ll have enough to boast about for many many years to come. If that doesn’t satisfy you, then the problem is probably closer to home.

Those people who are desperately in need of always having the more extreme adventure to boast about, are the ones most at risk of overstepping the mark. That this story has broken should already worry us, that some idiot will try and make contact with this tribe and will try and be the first to meet them, simply to satisfy their ego. Unfortunately these are exactly the type of people who will ruin the last true undiscovered wonders of the world. Those ignorant of cultural sensitivities, uneducated about the impact on their hosts and who don’t care about their environment. Through ignorance or arrogance, often claiming to be environmentally aware, eco-friendly or ‘green’; they are often no better than the loggers, shark-fin fishermen, oil companies and rogue governments, in the damage they can cause.

Ethical and Responsible Travel is not the domain of the hippie any longer; every traveller should consider their impact on the world’s environment and their host community. During our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop we examine how you can create a positive impact, rather than have a negative effect on the communities you visit, we highlight the benefits of responsible travel to you and your hosts.

Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com or join us on Facebook. For a complete list of Blog entries visit our National Press Archive page.

A woman drowned while giving birth, her dead child half-born

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Title – A woman drowned while giving birth, her dead child half-born
Source – The Times
Date – 11th May 2008

How appropriate this subject is to a travel safety and cultural awareness blog may be debated by some, but even if there was no link I would still feel compelled to write about it. If even one person reads it and is informed even slightly more than they were before it has been worth it and if even one pound more is donated to the Disasters Emergency Appeal (www.dec.org.uk) then it will be doubly worthwhile.

No one can be ignorant of the scale of the initial disaster in Burma, talk of 100,000 dead from the cyclone alone and many many more sentenced to death through the sheer criminal neglect of the Burmese ‘government’ and the weak response of the UN and other world ‘powers’. It seems no one has either the will or the authority to do anything about it.

The stories that are filtering through are horrific and more and more will trickle out over the next few weeks, months and years. The one which should haunt every one of us, is the very real possibility that if nothing changes and this time next year the predictions of Oxfam who yesterday said the death toll could potentially rise to 1.5 million will become a reality. That is a death toll twice that of the Rwandan genocide and about equivalent to the Khmer Rouge murderous regime of the 1970’s. Put another way it is the equivalent to the death of every man, woman and child in Birmingham and Liverpool combined; and we are talking about a slow death through suffering brought on by starvation, thirst and wholly preventable disease.

The cyclone that started this was a terrible natural disaster; it was exasperated by the lack of any credible warning by the Burmese government and by the poverty in which they have held Burmese citizens for nearly 50 years. The fact that more than a week later they are still refusing to let in aid to help their own people, is not just mind blowingly disgraceful, it is no better then them taking to the streets as they have done so many times before and shooting innocent people, but on a scale never before witnessed.

There can be no defence for what is happening, if they think the world is interested in invading their country they are wrong, besides we all know we are tied up in so many other conflicts around the world we hardly have troops left to carry out the odd ceremonial duty at home. Organisations like the Red Cross, Medecins Sans Frontieres, Oxfam, Save the Children and so many other have proved their NGO status over and over, saving lives all over the world. There are few in the world who would not cheer at the juntas collapse, but that is for another time, now all that is important is the people, the people dying every day; the people who will die in greater numbers every hour that the Burmese military government procrastinates.

I have on this blog many times before debated the merits of tourism to Burma and have advised against it on the grounds that it supports the military government’s oppression of its own people and that stance has not changed. If any proof were needed that the Burmese people need our support and solidarity against their own regime, then the inaction of their own government when they need them most is the clearest indication yet that the average Burmese life is worth nothing to their generals. Now it is time for the world to stand up and demonstrate that every Burmese life is worth as much to us, as any other life anywhere in the world.

Now more then ever tourists should avoid Burma. Travelling to disaster areas, places a burden on local resources that many can not handle. Burma certainly can’t but they will direct any resources they have away from those who need it in order to take hard currency off tourists, please don’t be a party to such crimes.

If you want to donate to help the people of Burma then please visit www.DEC.org.uk. Your money will make a difference and save lives, it may take much longer than it should but the aid agencies are the only ones who will persist in trying to save the lives of the ordinary Burmese and they need your support.
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Absence of Burma’s notorious strongman provokes speculation of a power struggle

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Title – Absence of Burma’s notorious strongman provokes speculation of a power struggle
Source – The Independent
Date – 10th May 2008

Remember this face and look into this dog’s eyes, for he is on the cusp of being promoted when history remembers him from his place alongside Ceausescu, General Pinochet and Saddam Hussein and being set sat alongside Pol Pot and Idi Amin on the scale of evil.

He is the current leader of the brutal illegal regime that has ruled Burma and oppressed its people for nearly 50 years. He is the one who sanctions everything that happens in that country from using rape as a weapon of war against the minority ethnic groups, to the shooting of Buddhist monks peacefully protesting on the streets of Rangoon.

That the world believes any form of diplomacy is possible with this man or his ‘government’ is beyond belief; this the dog who consults with a blind soothsayer before making any decision; this the dog that brutally kills not only those that oppose him but also their families; this the dog that had his troops break down the door of the sacred Buddhist monasteries and murder, abduct and imprison monks; and this the dog that will not even answer the telephone calls of the UN Secretary General when he offers to help the 2 million Burmese citizens now believed to be at serious risk of dying as a result not of the cyclone, but directly as a result of the inaction of his ‘government’.

That aid workers who saved tens of thousands of lives after the tsunami of 2004 by acting within hours to help those affected are being turned away or refused visas is simply unbelievable. That they are even required visas is a disgrace, but that the visa office is at this time closed for a 3 day for a bank holiday, is literally incomprehensible.

This dog and his propaganda is fooling no one. The UN and the world should warn him explicitly that failure to act will result him personally being held responsible for every avoidable death, Buddhist leaders should remind him of the sacred lives he is directly responsible for killing and we should go after him and bring him to justice before natural justice gets to him.

The Burmese are devoutly Buddhist; they already widely believe that the cyclone happened because of the raids on Buddhist monasteries in 2007 by the military and the killing of monks. The generals claim to worship within the same religion, but everyone inside and outside Burma know they worship but themselves. Not only are they not Buddhist they are the polar opposite of everything that the Buddhist religion stands for.

There is a time bomb ticking for the people of southern Burma and one ‘man’ has the power to stop it, yet that dog we know is evil, that dog we know has never lost one hour of sleep worrying about anything but his own power, that dog has already killed so many that a hundred more means nothing; that a thousand more means nothing; that ten thousand more means nothing; and most worrying that a million more means nothing.

It may be an odd blog to include, after all surely everyone now knows tourism in Burma is wrong and they should stay away until this dog and his puppies are gone for good. I make no apology for including it, it is a subject that is important for people to read about and the National League for Democracy flag flies proudly outside our offices every day, we can only hope that the NLD are one day allowed to take the power they rightly won at elections in 1990. It seems that this is more urgent than ever now, as I don’t know who else will allow the world to help the Burmese people.
Please visit http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com or join us on Facebook. For a complete list of Blog entries visit our National Press Archive page.

Family blames daughter’s death on the pursuit of most extreme sports

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Title – Family blames daughter’s death on the pursuit of most extreme sportsSource – The Independent
Date – 1st May 2008

In our ultra competitive world, everyone strives to outdo each other. Travellers were once seen as adventurous simply by travelling to New Zealand, now this seems little more than an expensive extravagance. Those seeking a more extreme experience visit countries where the political situation is not stable or which are so remote that if you get lost you stay lost. The problem is that many people take these extra risks simply for the bragging rights.

The same is true of the activities people undertake when they arrive in these countries, we seem to leave all our inhibitions and instincts at home and take risks that are simply not justified. When at home we are partially protected by health and safety laws that sometimes seem oppressive; but mostly we are protected by our own instincts learned from our parents, friends and peers and from the laws of our country and our society. New Zealand is not a particularly dangerous country and the controls on activities offered to backpackers is generally well controlled. But it is a country of adrenaline junkies and adrenaline junkies are always looking for the next fix and that fix has to be better than the last one.

Adrenaline is our body’s natural reaction to fear amongst other things. It is not something we can stop, but it is something we can control to a degree by our actions. Adrenaline is released into our bodies as a defence mechanism that evolution graced us with. That in itself should be enough of a warning to us, if the adrenaline is pumping then something is not right and instinct is telling you to take extra care while your body prepares itself naturally for the impact of the danger.

But with control comes complacency, the more we get used to adrenaline rushes, the more of a rush we need and the greater the risk we are willing to take.

Now I am not suggesting we avoid these activities. It has long been a rite of passage that backpackers to Australia and New Zealand consider a sky dive or a bungee jump and hundreds of thousands undertake these activities without incident every year, but as the market grows and more and more people travel, so does the demand for varied and more ‘exciting’ experiences. Even I had not heard of river boarding until I read this tragic article.

This should be a wake-up call to all travellers and we must learn from these cases. If an operator asks you to sign a disclaimer, it means two things; firstly it is dangerous or very dangerous and an accident can easily result in death; secondly they probably can’t get comprehensive insurance, if they can’t get any do you really think your travel insurance will cover you? Why is this important? Well put simply if you do have an accident and are lucky enough to survive, without insurance you will be faced with medical expenses that could mount into the tens of thousands.

Be sensible where you choose to do these activities, much as they may be dangerous I would much rather river-board in New Zealand than some parts of South East Asia. If I do choose to take part in an activity which is potentially very dangerous I want to know there is some regulation that makes health & safety a priority and that if something does go wrong emergency medical help is of the best standards and will be administered even if I don’t have my credit card on me (the bill can be paid later, unlike some countries where the ambulance will not even stop unless a credit card is presented first). Just think before you undertake these activities, check out the conditions for yourself and if your gut feeling tells you something is not right listen to your gut; don’t feel you have to compete with others, it is a much greater sign of courage and self confidence to say no than it is to say yes sometimes.

Many ‘adventure sports’ are fantastic fun and although they can not be classed as entirely safe, not many activities can. Every time we cross the road we take a risk, but we mitigate that risk by looking BOTH ways. Queenstown New Zealand lives on it’s reputation as the adventure sports capital of the world, you can guarantee they will do all they can to make sure these activities are as safe as they can ever be. That is no consolation to the families affected by this tragic accident, but adventure rarely comes without risk, otherwise it would probably not be adventure. As long as people have a spirit and a zest for life that Emily obviously did, people will work hard to seek out adventure and live life to the full.
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