Moby Dick has been spotted off Australia!

Captain Ahab has said to be readying his boat...

Ok maybe not, and maybe it isn't Moby Dick, but a white humpback whale has been seen near the Great Barrier Reef by tourists in the past week. Said to be a 12ft calf, Moby was seen with its pod on their south migration, where he/she is fattening up ready for the cold of the Antarctic.

Very jealous of the lucky so-and-so who happened to be diving nearby at the time, as there is estimated to be only 10-15 white whales amongst the 15,000 humpback population around Australia's East Coast.

The (New) 7 Wonders of Nature

A new list is being compiled to select the new 7 wonders of nature. The vote has been shortlisted from over 440 entries from over 220 different countries down to 28, all of which are up against each other to make the final 7. This is a follow up to first Wonders of the World Vote, which attracted over 100 million votes.

Several TID countries and their landmarks figure, with Australia being represented by both Uluru (Ayers Rock) and the Great Barrier Reef. New Zealand's Milford Sound has made the list, as has Mount Kilimanjaro from Tanzania, and Iguazu Falls from Argentina.

If you would like to show your support for any of these amazing natural wonders (or any of the none TID ones), please go to www.new7wonders.com and click on vote!

Fantasy Football Update

Just a quick up date on how the the TID Fantasy Football League is going.

After 6 games of the season, Von is edging out Kieran by 9 points to hold on to first position, while Paul is slightly further behind, but still well within reach.

The team made up from players with (mostly) TID nationalities is bringing up the rear. This team has had a few injuries of late, so we'll wait until the end of the season before making too many judgements!

Falkland Islands Oiled Wildlife Facility

We and our clients here at TID have made a donation to the The Oiled Wildlife Facility Appeal which is building a new oiled penguin facility on the Falkland Islands to replace the old one which unfortunately has never had electricity or water.

As well as the buildings, proper pools are being built to aid the rehabilitation of the penguins. Species rare in the Falklands, such as Chinstrap penguins, have turned up oiled with other successfully treated species include Gentoo, King, and Rockhopper penguins.

Building permission has been approved and the appeal is going well having now reached over the £8,000 mark. With a £10,000 target, it is nearing its goal but still needs that final push!

It's a vitally important project and a noble cause - click here to go to the site if you wish to help out too.

Things are on the up!

After we highlighted last months football dreamland for Guyana at the expense of Wales, things are looking good for our next door neighbours, and not just in sport!

Wales are improving at football, (up 27 in the latest FIFA rankings) and are doing their bit to help save the rainforest.

Through donations to a cause named 'Size of Wales' run by the The Waterloo Foundation, the Welsh are striving to save an area of rainforest the size of (... you guessed it) Wales. The project area includes parts of Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania (a TID destination), Mozambique, as well as some offshore islands.

So far 400,000 trees have been planted, and sustainable projects set up to help earn an extra $65,000, though initiatives such as eco-tourism, herbal products and selling honey.

Football, futbol, soccer...

Travel In Depth Fantasy Football league now set up (Fantasy Premier League).

Some personal teams in there but also a Travel In Depth team made up of players from our destination countries.    I bet they're top by the end of the season (well, at least above my own team).

Let us know if you want to join......

Guyanese or Welsh? (I know what I'd pick)

In sporting news, great news for Guyana is terrible news for Wales.

According to FIFA, the Guyana National Football Team are now the 114th best team in the world, compared to the Welsh, who have dropped 5 places to lie in a lowly 117th (the teams separated by North Korea and Haiti).

Guyana have never made it to a World Cup or CONCACAF Gold Cup (The North American and Caribbean Championships), and have a best ever record of finishing 4th in the Caribbean Cup in 1991, competing against football heavy weights such as Antigua and The Netherlands Antilles.

They boast players from teams such as England's Croydon Athletic and Cray Wanderers (.. me neither.. ) and Guyana's own Buxton United!

Compared to players such as Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey (Spurs and Arsenal respectively), Guyana shouldn't, on paper, compare, but according to the folks who run football, they not only compare, but are better!

Iechyd da!

You can't go wrong with rum and coke on the menu

Last Wednesday saw the annual, always-a-pleasure, Wilderness Explorers organised, Guyanese Evening, this year held at the University Women's Club in Mayfair (a lovely venue it was too).  And if the Guyanese rum flavoured beverages weren't enough to remind you of why Guyana gets under your skin, there was plenty of Guyana-themed chat to be had, not least in the form of a handful of entertaining and inspiring talks given by the guest speakers - two of which were Donald Greig of Bradt Travel Guides and writer John Gimlette, whose latest excellent publication "Wild Coast: Travels on South America's Untamed Edge" is a must-read for anyone with even the slightest hint of interest in that part of the world and I'd argue even for anyone with an as yet unknown interest in the area.

After the informal formalities and after-talk chit chat came to an end, or rather after the rum came to an end, there was just enough time for the tail-enders to head to the pub for a nightcap before the evening drew to a close.  I left the usual suspects with glasses still not empty and headed for home, home for me for the night being an airbed at the Florin Court Hostel, which was much appreciated albeit a little surreal, being there by myself.

Big thanks to Claire and Tony for once again organising such an informative and fun evening, the event and the company was delightful as always. Roll on next year's do!

On a lighter, and smellier note...

Have you heard the one about smelly, worn socks saving hundreds of thousands of lives every year? Well it looks like it could happen!

Malarial carrying mosquitos appear to be attracted to smelly socks and in Tanzania they've been using smelly socks to lure mosquitos into an insecticide laced trap that then kills said mosquitos.

How simple is that?! And how simply ace would it be if it can be turned into an effective and commonplace method of reducing the occurrences of malarial related deaths?

This is just one of many articles on the web reporting the ongoing research......

Zanzibar adventure

From The Guardian's online travel pages from Saturday.......

The full article can be seen here....