Anger as tourist performs striptease on top of Uluru

I have written before on the subject of whether or not tourists should climb Ayres Rock / Uluru or not; this is going a step too far.


The ignorance and arrogance of some tourist is truly staggering, this French lady has not only stepped over the mark but her subsequent defence just goes to demonstrate the stupidity of some western tourists.


The act of climbing Uluru is already insulting to some Aboriginal people in Australia, who ask tourists not to climb the rock which they consider to be sacred; to then add to this by stripping on the summit seems unbelievably insensitive.


It strikes me that if you have made this kind of fundamental error of judgement the only thing to do is apologise, be humble and keep your mouth shut.


Alizee Sery seems to have decided that rather than accepting she had behaved very badly, she would compound her mistake by trying to excuse it away saying “I am aware that Uluru is sacred. What we need to remember is that, traditionally, the Aboriginal people were living naked”; I feel embarrassed for her as I write this…


When I talk about Cultural Awareness I try and explain things in a way they might better understand them; I often use examples from the point of view of where they were brought up and educated.


Imagine if Alizee were in Paris and visiting the popular tourist attraction of the Notre Dame Cathedral. People are free to view the Cathedral and walk around it, but you are not allowed to behind the altar. How do you think people would react if Alizee walked behind the altar and then stripped to her bikini?


So in our fictitious situation how would she argue her case? Maybe she would say “what we need to remember is that Adam & Eve came into the world naked…”.


The point is no one would see this scenario as acceptable, so why when the scenario at Uluru would equally offend some Aboriginal people, would that be acceptable; the simple answer is, it is not.


The argument surrounding the climbing of Uluru is a different one and has been examined by me in this blog before (Click Here); local people’s feeling should always be considered in these types of situations.


When you travel you are a guest in the country you are visiting and your behaviour should reflect this.


At Safe Gap Year our Independent Travel Safety and Cultural Awareness Workshop considers issues of Travel Safety, alongside sessions on Cultural Awareness, Travel Health, Ethical and Responsible Travel, Travel Equipment, Destination Advice, Transport Options, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more.


Please visit our website at http://www.safegapyear.co.uk/.


For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.


To view the original article Click Here
Source – Northern Territories News
Date – 28th June 2010
Submitted by – Peter Mayhew

‘Out of control’ thrill firms put UK gapers in danger

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Title – ‘Out of control’ thrill firms put UK gapers in danger
Source – The Sunday Times Travel
Date – 28th September 2009

This is a story we first commented on in April 2008:

· Tour group admits errors over river-boarding death
· Family blames daughter’s death on the pursuit of most extreme sports

In my previous blog entry I included some simple ways you can take your own precautions when choosing a company whose hands you intend to put your life.

The good news is that the New Zealand government have realised that their good reputation has been dented and they need to do something to restore it and flashy advertising is no substitute for real control of the ‘adventure sports’ companies.

As always the responsible companies will welcome regulation, those who complain about it, are the ones to steer clear of.

Being safe does not take the edge off these activities and seeking out a reputable company and asking appropriate safety questions should not be something you are embarrassed to do. Reputable operators will welcome your questions and give you reasonable answers or proof of qualifications and safety / quality certificates.

Standing on the ledge of bridge with a rope tied around your legs should be enough of a thrill for anyone; knowing that the bungee rope is of the right length and in good condition should not add to the ‘excitement’.

At Beyond The Blue (Safe Gap Year) our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness Workshop (GYITSA) considers issues of Travel Safety, alongside sessions on Travel Health, Ethical and Responsible Travel, Travel Equipment, Travel Insurance, Destination Advice, Transport Options, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more.

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

For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.

Tour group admits errors over riverboarding death

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Title – Tour group admits errors over riverboarding death
Source – The Times
Date – 25th August 2009

This is a story we first commented on in April 2008:

·

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

This conclusion of the associated court case shows the guilt accepted by the company involved and serves as a reminder that ‘extreme sports’ are not without their dangers. The very concept is to get the adrenaline going and to ‘face our fears’ and there are many excellent companies who allow you to do this in the relative risk managed safety.

However where there are good companies there are also inevitably less good ones. In such competitive businesses, standards are often reflected in the prices charged in the battle to win customers. Independent travellers are often guided by price in their choices, in an attempt to try and squeeze the most out of a tight budget, but price alone should never be the only factor.

Let me give an example from my own experience.

As a very keen diver many of the places I visit offer more than one dive operator to choose from. Out of habit I effectively risk assess them all before I choose. ‘Risk assessing’ often sounds like a dull, formal, boring and over cautious approach, but we are not talking about boring forms or meetings with health and safety managers, rather just a sensible approach to making the right choices. The fact is during this process I also find out more about where each company dives, what their approach is to protecting their environments and which dive masters / crew seem the nicest; all very important in making the most out of what is an expensive activity.

My risk assessment roughly looks at the following factors:

· How clean, tidy and organised is the dive shop?
· How well maintained does the hire equipment look (even if I am using my own equipment)?
· How new does the equipment look (are the BCD’s faded by the sun, ripped, ragged etc)
· How do the staff approach my enquiry (do they ask to see my diving qualification, log book or enquire about my level of experience)?
· What type of boat do they use and what condition is it in?
· What are their emergency procedures?
· How knowledgeable are staff about the local area / environment; are they going to make my dive more interesting or just functional?
· What experience do the Dive Masters / Instructors have, who registers the dive centre and to what grade?
· I will ask other divers who have already dived for a recommendation or their experiences?

This seems like a long list and a hassle, but all this can be achieved through casual conversation when you visit the dive shop and while you are checking out the area. You will very quickly find which dive operation you are most comfortable with and which one is likely to give you the best experience. Like many ‘extreme sports’ safety must be at the top of your list of concerns when you are planning a dive; otherwise you’ll be uncomfortable and will not enjoy the experience…. And what is the point of that?

You may not be an expert, but common sense and a few well placed questions can go a long way to reducing risk. The behaviour, safety equipment, approach to safety and making that extra effort to make your experience one to remember, will certainly be a first step to avoiding accidents.

At Beyond The Blue (Safe Gap Year) our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness Workshop (GYITSA) considers issues of Travel Safety, alongside sessions on Travel Health, Ethical and Responsible Travel, Travel Equipment, Travel Insurance, Destination Advice, Transport Options, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more.

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

For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.

2009’s hottest destination (and that’s when the trouble started)

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Title – 2009’s hottest destination (and that’s when the trouble started)
Source – The Independent
Date – 21st August 2009

Responsible and Ethical Travel often treads a thin line and those influential bodies in the travel industry have an important role in making sure they stay the right side of it; none more so than Lonely Planet.

In this case it does seem that their decision to highlight the Bay of Fires in Tasmania as the ‘hottest’ destination for 2009 has led to a local battle which the Australians are by now very used to. The three way fight between conservationists, big business and the aboriginal community.

I don’t think we can really blame Lonely Planet for this, maybe they will even have been the catalyst to help preserve this area before it is eroded through human development, much as it may have been ignored until now, it this day and age nothing stays hidden forever.

So what can you do?

Promoting Ethical and Responsible Travel is something you can play your part in. Do your research and listen to all sides of the argument before you decide how to spend your ‘tourist dollars’ and where you decide to visit.

It is very much individual choice as to where you decide to visit and how you visit. Always balance your choices with the desires of local people and the level of ‘harm’ almost any form of travel will cause. We can certainly help you find a balance which will be acceptable to you, where your positive impact can offset some of the negative impact travel inevitably has.

At Beyond The Blue (Safe Gap Year) our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness Workshop (GYITSA) considers issues of Ethical and Responsible Travel, alongside sessions on Travel Health, Travel Safety, , Travel Equipment, Travel Insurance, Destination Advice, Transport Options, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more.

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

For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.

Missing backpacker is found alive / Gap-year teenager who was given up for dead walks out of the Bush

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Title – Missing backpacker is found alive / Gap-year teenager who was given up for dead walks out of the Bush
Source – www.bbc.co.uk / The Times
Date – 15th July 2009 / 16th July 2009

This story is set to run and run, the problem is which story it is which will run? A story of extraordinary survival; a story of doubt and mistrust; a story of great luck; a story of ignorance and stupidity; or a story of the heroics of the Australian teams who were out looking?

Everyone is going to take their angle and the media hype has already started; I watched a Sky News ‘Exclusive’ last night which was no doubt handsomely paid for.

I have to say I feel very uncomfortable with the whole situation; I am not suggesting that this was a hoax, how would I know? I am not suggesting that Jamie Neale is telling lies or spinning his own story and for me these are really not the important factors. However I wholly understand the local feeling, that profiting from the strong sits very uncomfortably when so many local resources went into the search, when searchers were themselves hurt and when goodwill shown is taken for granted.

There are many concerns that we should have:

The first is that unless any profit generated goes towards the costs until they are paid and maybe even beyond to show gratitude for the time and effort put into the search, much of the goodwill (and let’s not forget that many of those searching were volunteers putting their own safety at risk) will be lost. Local people will be much less enthusiastic in future to mount these sorts of operations.

The second is that a perception is given that this was not as perilous as it was and that other travellers think they can profit from such situations themselves. In an age of celebrity, too many people want their 15 minutes and this should not be seen as a way of getting that.

The third is that we don’t brush over the errors that Jamie made which led to him being in this situation in the first place. Watching a few episodes of Ray Mears (great as he is) or some of the other more ‘high octane’ survival specialists, in no way guarantees your survival. I’m not saying it will not help, but it is a little like using a plaster to fix a fracture…

There is talk of Jamie now going into all sorts of projects, no one will be surprised to see the book, dvd, magazine and TV appearances; there was even talk already of him holding talks on survival skills…. All a little premature I think, it took Ray more than ten days to learn his skills.

Spending two weeks lost in the Blue Mountains in winter is no joke, the Australian Search & Rescue crews know their stuff and if they were on the verge of giving up the hunt, then you can be sure the chances of survival are slim.

It is so important for travellers to realise that the UK and what they are used to at home is one of the safest environments in the world and that we have some of the best facilities for dealing with people in distress. We are a small country, dwarfed by somewhere like Australia, searching and finding people who are lost is made easier by our relative size. If you get lost in the outback or in a jungle being found or finding your way back is really not straight forward and often results in people never being found.

On a trip to

Madagascar in 2003 I went in search of the elusive Red Lemur, deep in the jungles in the north of the island. With two villagers as guides, I trekked for several hours along single tracks. I was acutely aware that these tracks while easily distinguishable while you were on them, effectively disappeared once you wandered more than 5 meters off them. When one of my guides finally found two red Lemurs high in the canopy, the chase to get a good view was on. Only being able to hear the second guide by his animal calls we scrambled off the track to catch up with him, fighting our way through the sometimes dense undergrowth, sliding down muddy banks and using jungle vines to climb up the other side. When we eventually caught up with him and looked up, there was the most magnificent sight of two Red Lemurs casually foraging.

Right there (as has happened on several trips) I realised I was 100% in the hands of other people. Had I lost my guides, there was no way for me to find the path or a way out of the jungle and had I hurt myself, help was a long way away. You can not always be 100% safe, sliding down a bank in the jungle of Madagascar is as likely to end in a twisted ankle as sliding down a slope in Dorset. It’s just that in Dorset my mobile phone calls for help which arrives like the cavalry; in Madagascar, my guides, my preparations and my kit go some way to helping protect me, but the cavalry is nowhere to be seen.

In the Blue Mountains there are systems in place to help protect hikers; simple steps all of which Jamie seems to have ignored, steps which would undoubtedly have speeded up his rescue. Registering his destination with his hostel, seeking advice from the National Parks and Wildlife Service and taking one of their free beacons, taking more appropriate equipment, understanding the environment and his own capabilities.… hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Independent Gap Year travellers are often referred to by the Foreign Office as the ‘Invincibles’ because they believe they can conquer the world almost without any forethought. Pride, peer pressure and boastability often get in the way of common sense. In a choice between luck and judgement, judgement is always the preferred option.

At Beyond The Blue (Safe Gap Year) our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness Workshop (GYITSA) considers issues of Travel Safety, alongside sessions on Ethical and Responsible Travel, Travel Health, Travel Equipment, Travel Insurance, Destination Advice, Transport Options, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more.

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

For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.

Row over climbing at Ayers Rock

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Title – Row over climbing at Ayers RockSource – www.bbc.co.uk
Date – 9th July 2009

Well if you are reading this expecting a definitive answer to this question from me you are going to be sadly disappointed. Do I have a personal opinion on the matter? Well I know what I would do when I was confronted with the decision.

The first step is what should we be calling this majestic rock; Ayers Rock or Uluru? Here again I think the arguments are divided, but I don’t believe that they are significant, in fact I am not a great believer that indigenous names or ‘British’ names have a great deal of significance unless they were devised to offend, oppress or deride local cultures.

To climb or not to climb is slightly more complicated. As always I think our role is not to dictate but to educate. Let’s not tell people what to do or what to think, but give them the information to think for themselves; at least while the decision to climb or not is still one they can make.

Australia has been battling with its conscience for several decades; they have tried hard to right many of the wrongs of history since colonisation. It’s a battle not easily resolved, colonisation happened and it can not be undone, but a ‘happy’ medium can be found.

The Aborigines have won many arguments and concessions from the Australian government and lost others. Some would say the Aborigines have done well out of recent settlements while others say that having lost everything, any concession they win is not a victory but merely a small step towards recouping what was theirs anyway.

The argument with climbing Uluru / Ayers Rock (delete as appropriate), for me is relatively straight forward. There is no doubt it is a sacred site to the Aboriginal people. Their belief is that it disrespects their spirits to climb the rock. Where is the argument?

The argument that we don’t scramble over mosques, churches and temples when it offends those people who worship in those places seems quite reasonable. After all when entering a Buddhist temple we remove our shoes to avoid offending local sensibilities, in a Sikh temple we will when directed cover our heads and we wouldn’t stand on the alter in a church to get a better view of the murals…

Maybe I have just revealed my view point after all.

The fact is it is still down to each individual to make a choice. My suggestion would be that on a visit to the rock, first one of the tours with an aboriginal guide, not only to understand the fascinating stories they will tell of their heritage and of the rock, but because it will give you the information to make your own informed decision.

The rock itself will continue to inspire anyone who comes across it and although the tourist facilities now take a little away from it’s splendid isolation, anyone not impressed by sunset at the rock should probably consider a rethink on the rest of their trip…

At Beyond The Blue (Safe Gap Year) our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness Workshop (GYITSA) considers issues of Ethical and Responsible Travel, alongside sessions on Travel Health, Travel Safety, , Travel Equipment, Travel Insurance, Destination Advice, Transport Options, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more.

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

For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.

Here come the hoards

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Title – Here come the hoards
Source – The Independent
Date – 29th April 2009

I found this article very interesting and a good example of the difficulty I have sometimes within myself in deciding where to travel next. It made me examine my motivations and reminded me that every individual has unique criteria for the travel and how everyone has to make those choices which are right for them.

I struggle with my choices sometimes because I am naturally drawn to more remote locations, the less other travellers the better. It is a bit of a selfish approach, but I never begrudge other travellers I bump into when I’m there; why would I, after all they have just made the same choices I have, so they can’t be bad people….

Where I would feel guilt is if I ever reached the point where I tried to stop tourism for any but the best reasons, such as; the fragility of the environment, for justifiable political motives (such as Burma) or where the impact on the local communities are actually detrimental or unwelcome.

Where tourism has an unsustainable environmental impact, we have to protect those areas. Where possible this should be done through limiting sustainable numbers, a practise which normally results in higher costs to visitors, but one which must be accepted for the greater good. These practices can already be seen in places like Galapagos and Machu Picchu, although some might argue they don’t yet go far enough.

A similar principle can be seen where local people have chosen to limit tourism to avoid either harming their traditional way of life or eroding their society. Bhutan for example has limited the number of visitors through a quota system and charges a US$200 a day tax on visitors used to support this very resource poor / culture rich country. Other communities have shunned tourism completely and banned it from their shores, including some islands in the Indian Ocean or towns and villages within countries that have decided to keep themselves to themselves; I was lucky enough to be invited into one such village in Vanuatu and experienced a fascinating festival of music and dance.

The key point in all of this is that visitors should realise the privilege it is to visit another country, meet local people, to view the incredible natural and man-made sights. Even somewhere like Angkor Wat with it’s 2 million visitors; it is not our right to visit, it is our privilege to be invited to visit by the Cambodian people.

I will not pretend that I would not rather visit Angkor with only a handful of other visitors about, but I will never begrudge the Cambodian people the opportunity to generate an income to better their lives by encouraging as many people as possible to this most magnificent monument to human endeavour.

Too often I hear travellers from the UK complain that tourism is ruining local culture; people visiting Angkor and complaining of the crowds; visitors stating that money is making local people unhappy because they can’t continue with their traditional way of life; very very rarely do I hear these same people ask genuine locals those same questions. After all what if a visitor from Papua New Guinea to London complained about the crowds at the Tower of London and commented on how our way of life had been ruined by money, preventing us from living our ‘traditional way of life’ or their disappointment not to see Morris Dancing on every street corner…

The ‘traditional way of life’ we all strive to see on our travels is often very tough. We ‘dip’ in and out of it and think it quaint, but we would never accept poor health care, poor sanitation, lower life expectancy, toiling for 12 hours a day in basic subsistence farming which leaves you open to famine and flood or the lack of education and opportunity for the next generation; why should anyone else?

People often ask me where they should go and what they should see. Angkor is certainly one of those sights near the top of my list. The next question they ask is ‘has it not been ruined by the hoards of people visiting?’ I visited Angkor before the 2 million visitors of today, it was a much more serene place than today, there was more of an ‘Indiana Jones’ feeling to it and I loved that. Stories I tell of having to bribe soldiers and forestry officials in order to visit the ‘River of 1000 Lingas’ and uncovering whole ‘Reclining Buddha’ statues under banks of mud are among my favourites; these days I hear they do guided tours and many of the carvings have been damaged, stolen or removed. I may not be helping my own argument here….

My point is this; yes things change, maybe it is for the worse for some travellers, but it is for the better for many who may never have had the opportunity before (or known the right person to bribe…). It is better for local people who can now make an income from tourism, there are more jobs available for guides, wardens and the compulsory hawkers who I am sure now work that area as well.

Would it ruin it for me now visiting Angkor? Certainly not, if I were going for the first time, I can guarantee when I first laid eyes on Angkor I would still be speechless; it is the most magnificent of human achievements. It would be a different experience now, but experiences by their very nature are individual and today’s experience will be totally different from the one five or ten years from now. Not better or worse just different and individual. You haven’t missed the boat by not having visited before, you are just on a different type of boat.

It is very easy to get selfish when travelling, we all do it. Try and really think local, buy local and stay local; that way your travel fulfils your need for adventure and discovery, helps those places you visit meet their need for sustainability and helps to improve their lives the way they want.

At

Beyond The Blue (Safe Gap Year) our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness Workshop (GYITSA) considers issues of Ethical and Responsible Travel, alongside sessions on Travel Safety, Travel Health, Travel Equipment, Travel Insurance, Destination Advice, Transport Options, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more. Travel is one of life’s great privileges and as with any privilege it should be appreciated and respected.

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

For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.

UK backpacker dies in beach crash

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Title – UK backpacker dies in beach crashSource – www.bbc.co.uk
Date – 19th April 2009

I try not to comment on the circumstances behind individual tragedies like this one, that is for the authorities to work through and I don’t think speculation helps. Rather I use these sad stories as examples of the potential consequences when circumstances conspire and the result is injury, the loss of life and the loss to families of their precious son, daughter, brother, sister, cousin, uncle, aunt, friend or soul mate.

Sadly that this tragedy occurred will come as no great surprise to anyone who has been to Fraser Island, the worlds largest sand island and one of

Australia’s most beautiful locations.

The problem is how people travel round Fraser Island, especially young people. The most common way is to hire a 4 x4 and camping equipment and take off for a few days. Fraser doesn’t have any roads as such, the beach is used as the highway and tracks take you inland; all of it driving on sand…

Anyone who has driven on sand knows it is a completely different skill to normal driving and a 15 minutes briefing can hardly prepare you for this. Add to this difficulty the issue of driving along a beach which seems deceptively straight forward until you encounter a problem and the ‘problems’ come in many different forms; the speed at which some people seem comfortable driving which far exceeds the recommended limits; the sand itself whose consistency changes from almost solid to very loose, yet never changes in appearance; the tide and ‘freak surges’ which can catch out those who choose to drive too close to the water’s edge and change the consistency of the sand underneath the vehicle making it uncontrollable; the gullies which appear with the inland water run-off, crisscrossing the beach and sometimes invisible until you are upon them (they can be a foot across and a foot deep in places; and then there is the vehicles themselves.

The vehicles are not in bad condition, but the way these trips generally operate is that the hire companies act as co-ordinators. They will get a number of young people (some individuals, some smaller groups) and bring them together to form a group of 10-12 people to hire one vehicle. Generally different people within that group will take turns driving while the majority sit in the back often without seatbelts. So although you may know and have some control over the people in your own group, you are leaving yourself open to being driven by a complete stranger who has joined you. Most people have never driven off-road, let alone on sand, they may be young and inexperienced and worst of all may feel peer pressure to show-off; dare I mention the number of groups who visit the ‘bottle shop’ before they leave for the island; all in all a potential accident waiting to happen.

Looking at the statistics of 120 recorded (and you can bet your life there are quite a ‘few’ unrecorded) accidents in 6 years or two a month, the dangers are certainly there for all to see.

Now again I can’t emphasise enough that I am not suggesting that any of these factors had anything to do with this particular accident, but rather just that there are inherent dangers in driving on Fraser Island.

I also am not suggesting for one second that Fraser Island should be excluded from your itinerary. I loved my time there, I remember celebrating a Birthday there with 11 complete strangers who somehow bought me a cake to celebrate… but I do advise that caution should be used when you are there. The good thing about the island is that your safety is very much in your hands, with the only exception being someone else crashing into you; which is no more likely there than anywhere else.

Take some sensible measures and you can reduce the risks considerably, without loosing any of the experience; Try and choose your group yourself (at a hostel or as you travel the rest of the country) and have a conversation about driving skills and driving styles before you leave; come up with a democratic way of vetoing an individual who drives badly and stopping them driving for the rest of the trip; drive sensibly and don’t drink and drive (remember drinking heavily the night before is likely to mean you are over the limit the following morning); listen to the briefing and follow their guidance, they know what they are talking about; if there are seatbelts wear them; speed kills generally, on sand speed is substantially more dangerous; if you are uncomfortable speak up or walk away, there is always another group and another time; and above all enjoy the island, not the driving!

At Beyond The Blue (Safe Gap Year) our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness Workshop (GYITSA) considers issues of Transport Options alongside sessions on Travel Safety, Travel Health, Travel Equipment, Travel Insurance, Destination Advice, Ethical and Responsible Travel, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more. Tragedies like this accident sadly do happen and our condolences go to the families of those so tragically killed and injured. There are judgements future visitors to Fraser Island can make to reduce the inherent risks these types of activities present.

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

For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.

Fiji devalues dollar in crackdown

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Title – Fiji devalues dollar in crackdownSource – www.bbc.co.uk
Date – 15th April 2009

On the face of it a good news story for tourists, but Fiji has been slowly taken down a very dangerous road towards effective dictatorship and people should consider carefully before they plan to travel there.

Fiji is used to coups there have been 4 in the last 20 odd years, but this one is turning out to be more sinister then most. When it first took place it almost seemed like a joke as it was postponed by a day to accommodate the annual army vs police rugby match (an important fixture in the rugby mad country), but with delay after delay in the promises of fresh democratic elections; there seems to be something distinctly more worrying afoot.

In the last few weeks that has become more apparent; when any country sacks it’s independent judiciary, it is time for the rest of the world to stand up and be heard. The concerns about Fiji which have long been talked about in Australia and New Zealand are now being strongly echoed by other nations including the UK and USA.

Amnesty International has joined the chorus of organisations voicing serious concerns at the slow erosion of freedoms in the country and the increasing grip the general has over the Fijian people.

This situation is one which makes me very sad, I have a affinity with the people of Fiji, it was among one of the first countries I visited as an independent traveller nearly 20 years ago and I have had the privilege of going back several times since. Fiji has a society (with the exception of the current military regime) from which the rest of the world has so much to learn; the emphasis on the wisdom of village elders, the fundamental respect of others being enshrined as a cornerstone of the community, honesty being respected and a welcome for visitors which is almost unparalleled anywhere else in the world.

Fiji was the reason I fell in love with the South Pacific, not only with the beauty of the islands themselves, but more fundamentally with the Fijian people. That these people should be undermined by an ever more repressive regime is not just unfair but immoral.

So where does that leave us when it comes to travel?

Well we should keep a very close eye on the situation to see how it develops and we must aware of how travel to Fiji affects local people and supports this now illegal regime. There is no evidence as yet to suggest that the current situation poses any danger to travellers so the argument is based on our desire to promote Ethical and Responsible Travel.

The Fijian Dollar has been devalued by the puppet Reserve Bank Governor precisely to promote tourism which is the major source of foreign currency income in the country and has suffered greatly over the last few years.

My suggestion is this; visiting Fiji is certainly not any more dangerous now then it was before the coup and I am not convinced that tourist should be discouraged from visiting. However I would strongly suggest that tourists and independent travellers consider how they spend their dollars when they visit. It is the Fijian people who require our ongoing support and in Fiji this is not too difficult to do without directing the bulk of your ‘tourist dollars’, the way of the government.

Buy local and stay local, both very easy to achieve in Fiji. I would advise against staying in the big international resorts and hotels which ‘feed’ into the government coffers. These big businesses are often not owned by Fijians and import much of the produce they use; besides they hardly give you the authentic Fijian experience, you’re more likely to get that at a Hawaiian night in Malaga….

My memories of Fiji and of the Christmas we spent in a village there are cherished. We were invited to join in their local celebrations and experience a lovo (feast prepared in an underground ‘oven’) which would never have happened in a five star hotel. The meagre cost of that experience went straight into local pockets.

At Beyond The Blue (Safe Gap Year) our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness Workshop (GYITSA) considers issues of Ethical & Responsible Travel alongside sessions on Transport Options, Travel Safety, Travel Health, Travel Equipment, Travel Insurance, Destination Advice, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more. Ethical travel is always at the discretion of the individual and we never dictate where we think people should and shouldn’t travel; those are decisions independent travellers need to make for themselves. We feel that our role is to provide a balanced view, suitable information and our unbiased opinion in order for others to have the relevant information to make those decisions for themselves.

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

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Nation of swimmers shuns the sea as fresh shark attack confirms a gathering menace / Are shark attacks on the rise and can anything be done about them

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Title – 1. Nation of swimmers shuns the sea as fresh shark attack confirms a gathering menace / 2. Are shark attacks on the rise and can anything be done about them?
Source – The Times / The Independent
Date – 2nd March 2009 / 3rd March 2009

I certainly don’t want to add to any slight hysteria there may be as a result of Australia’s recent spate of shark attacks and I have defended the risks before in this blog; see:

I tried to gouge its eyes: surfer battles to drag girl from jaws of 16ft shark

Obviously there is no upside to any attack, but if some of the indicators are correct and the increase in shark numbers are due to an improvement in water quality and thus the increase in the number of small fish which the sharks prey on; then at least there is a positive twist in all of this.

The overwhelming danger to swimmers in Australia is not the shark or even the salt water crocodile, but rather drowning; which accounts for several hundred times more fatalities then shark attacks.

I’m not trivialising these attacks as clearly they are devastating for those involved and their families, but we need to keep a clear head about the probability of a shark attack. The point is that fatalities from shark attack have not dramatically increased and remain at around 1 fatality per year in Australia; still below the number of fatalities from domesticated animals…

What is interesting and important to take from this article is the steps you can take to reduce the risks. Firstly know that very few of the 400 species of shark are actually known to be dangerous to humans; those which are worth worrying about are the Bull Shark, Tiger Shark, Oceanic White Tip and the infamous Great White. There are a few others worth giving a wide berth to and don’t forget that different countries give these sharks different names; for example the Australians refer to the Great White as a White Pointer and the Bull Shark as a Bull Whaler (or a Zambezi Shark in Africa). As an experienced diver, these are the four which would get me out of the water. The reason I fear them is that they are generally very aggressive sharks and tend to bite in order to taste you…

As a diver you are not an attractive prospect for any shark, so it is as a swimmer that I take most care and when swimming it is the Bull shark that I consider the highest risk. They have a tendency to come into shallow water, ‘dirty’ water and can live in brackish water. This ability to live in brackish water means they frequent coastlines, estuaries, entrances to rivers and mangrove swamps which they share with swimmers and sport fishermen; making contact inevitable. Bull shark attacks have taken place in muddy, murky waist-high water without the victims ever knowing they were in any danger.

At Beyond The Blue (Safe Gap Year) our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness Workshop (GYITSA) considers issues of Travel Safety alongside sessions on Transport Options, Travel Health, Travel Equipment, Travel Insurance, Destination Advice, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more. Sharks should not keep independent travellers out of the water, they just need to take certain risk avoidance measures and seek local advice on ‘safe’ places to swim. There is nothing better when travelling in the tropics then a cool dip in the sea or snorkelling and seeing the amazing marine life; sharks should not ruin that they should enhance it.

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

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Never mind the crocs, the pubs are running dry

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Title – Never mind the crocs, the pubs are running drySource – The Times
Date – 5th February 2009

It is a disaster of massive proportions, this season has seen floods for much of Queensland and many of the Pacific Islands have also suffered badly at the hands of an especially tough cyclone season.

Fiji, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea and other islands in the region have been badly affected with millions of dollars worth of devastation and many deaths. Only today reports coming out of the Solomon Islands of flooding, displaced populations and destruction are adding to the burden the area is under.

As if that is not bad enough South Australia has been suffering from its most destructive and most deadly bush fires with over 150 deaths already reported and many more yet unaccounted for. The weather really has played a tough hand to Australians and other in the region over the last few years, with drought and flooding causing crop failures and land erosion on a grand scale.

The tourist brochures paint a pretty picture for travellers, as do the guide books, they are after all selling a product and who wants to see their holiday destination under 4 foot of water. It is down to the individual to do the research and make sure the time of year they are going suits their requirements, that recent events will not adversely affect their plans and that they factor in any risks that natural cycles bring.

Many places round the world give the impression of 362 days of sunshine, few can deliver. Rainy seasons, Monsoon Seasons, Dry Seasons, Winter, Summer, Spring and Autumn; all affect activities we might want to take part in, how the landscape looks, what fauna and flora will be about and how safe it is to travel. Most importantly it will affect the enjoyment of our trip.

Obtaining Destination Advice such as political situation, climate, infrastructure, Ethical Considerations and general Travel Safety issues before you go, will go some way to allowing you to plan your trip more effectively. Once you arrive the locals will be able to tell where to avoid local problems like rogue crocodiles or which pubs have beer left. If however Australian pubs run dry, that will be the time to leave before serious social unrest, wild cat strikes and the fall of society follows… Just kidding Australia… I know you’ll never let that happen… the pubs running dry that is…

At Beyond The Blue (Safe Gap Year) our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness Workshop (GYITSA) considers issues of Destination Advice alongside sessions on Travel Safety, Travel Health, Travel Equipment, Travel Insurance, Transport Options and more. The Crocodiles in Australia are something to be aware of, not something to fear or to make you change your plans. Take local advice and you should be fine. We teach people not to ignore threats, but to manage them.

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.

For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.

I tried to gouge its eyes: surfer battles to drag girl from jaws of 16ft shark

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Title – I tried to gouge its eyes: surfer battles to drag girl from jaws of 16ft shark
Source – The Times
Date – 13th January 2009

After a spate of shark attacks in Australia this winter (UK winter that is) some people will hear the classic Jaws music in their heads as they enter the water off the coast of Australia. Should they worry?

Australia does have a reputation as a country full of dangerous and deadly animals both on land and in the water, but it is also a country that understands these dangers and where they manage these risks through information and preventative measures.

Snakes although being some of the world’s deadliest kill very few people in Australia and in comparison with South East Asia; the numbers of fatalities is so low as to be insignificant. Why? The answer is that people in Australia generally wear footwear which those working the fields in South East Asia don’t.

What I am getting at is that we need to have perspective, the fear from shark attack is completely disproportionate to the threat they pose. In Australia the far greater threat comes from your vehicle breaking down in the outback.

Understanding risk goes a long way to reducing it. Should you swim off the coast of Australia? Absolutely, but be careful and listen to local advice about the safest place to swim; the rip tides and currents are dangerous in Australia and are responsible for some 15 tourists fatalities a year; make sure that you are a capable enough swimmer and physically fit enough for the conditions. Lifeguards in Australia rightly complain about the number of ‘poms’ they have to drag from the water because they are drunk, have a hangover or generally do not pay attention to the warning signs. Ask a lifeguard on Bondi Beach around Christmas time what they look out for most and the answer of a ‘pasty pom’ will be near the top of their list.

These stories of the great courage shown by those attacked and those who helped save them, tell of punching sharks when attacked or gauging at the eyes. In the case of attack you should try anything you can, but it still remains the case that prevention is so much better than the cure. Humans are not natural prey for sharks, many bite and ‘spit’ people out; avoiding those places they are known to frequent is the best way of preventing an attack and the Aussies know where most of those high risk places are. Being afraid of sharks is natural if a little disproportionate; being afraid to ask for advice and to take it is actually quite dangerous.

At

Beyond The Blue (Safe Gap Year) our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness Workshop (GYITSA) considers issues of Travel Safety, but how to protect against shark attack is not high on the agenda; understanding risk, evaluating it and putting proactive measures into place to prevent risk are. To do this we take a very rational view and look at the facts not the myths. It is still the case that on average there are about 1.2 fatal shark attacks a year in Australia’; that makes Sharks about 10 times less dangerous than swimming itself.

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.

For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.

‘Bug’ could combat dengue fever

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Title – ‘Bug’ could combat dengue fever
Source – www.bbc.co.uk
Date – 2nd January 2009

Another step in the fight against Dengue Fever and serious outbreaks such as the 2008 outbreak in Paraguay (

Paraguay put on dengue alert) has been achieved in Australia.

Developments that provide even a partial solution to reducing the number of Dengue Fever ‘victims’ is something to be welcomed, not only by the local communities who suffer badly from this potent virus due to lack of health care facilities, but also by travellers who travel to those areas where it is so prevalent.

But as with every advancement in science, it still has a long way to go and even if it is eventually successful, will take time to implement and will take some time to be effective.

As with all insect borne diseases, prevention should be your primary defence. There is no prophylactic drug to protect you against Dengue Fever as there is with for example Malaria; so it is doubly important to take preventative measures.

To take these measures you first have to be aware of the nature of the carrier. Most people assume that it is at dusk and during the night that mosquitoes are at their most active and take measures to protect themselves at these times. Many travellers who catch Dengue took all reasonable steps at night time, but did nothing during the day. The female Aedes mosquito, which is the Dengue Fever carrier, is however most active during the day…. That is what catches most people out.

When you travel to the tropical region where these mosquitoes thrive you must take proactive preventative measures 24 hours a day. The people who tend to catch Dengue Fever are those who think ‘it won’t happen to me’ and ignore the risks. No one is immune to the risks, no one can claim they don’t get bitten and those who do are either ignorant of those risks or enjoy the ‘game’ of Russian Roulette’; They should take the time to speak with people who have caught Dengue, which although rarely fatal in travellers who have access to medical care, is excruciatingly painful, can be very expensive and has the ability to ruin your ‘once in a lifetime experience’.

At Beyond The Blue (Safe Gap Year) our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness Workshop (GYITSA) considers issues of Travel Health; what you need to do before you go, including what Travel Equipment you might consider; protective and preventative measures you can take on your travels; how to recognise the signs and symptoms of diseases so you can seek medical help as soon as possible and thus reduce the consequences to a minimum; and the level of Travel Insurance required.

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.

For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.