Newsletter Issue 10 - 4th April 2002

Hello and welcome to another newsletter from Karibuni!

Hopefully you will enjoy reading about the latest travel news and features coming up below - and so why not forward this email onto your friends and colleagues. I am sure they will thank you for a chance to win a fabulous Adventure Weekend and at the very least something interesting to read over a coffee!

And, if you are reading this email after it has been forwarded to you - why not visit our website www.karibuni.co.uk and register your email address to ensure that you receive the newsletter first hand - and make sure you don't miss out on any of the great offers or competitions coming up!

Coming up in this exciting issue: -
Karibuni News
- Fun Bank Holiday Trips
- Sporting Days of Distinction - Ascot and Henley
- Skiing 2003- Early Booking Discounts
- Competitions
-Last times Lonely Planet winners
- Win a FREE Adventure Weekend!
Britain News
- London Theatre Update
-Great Sailing coming to Britain
Travel Feature
- Can Sardines Run?
Global Quickies
- News and tips from around the world

Karibuni News
As you would expect, there has been plenty going on with our plans to help you make the most of the great British Summer. Come and join us on any of the exciting trips below…we make it SO easy- there really is no excuse for missing out!

Bank Holiday Trips
Always the most popular trips, we now have the following Adventure Weekends to tempt you with on the long weekends. There is always a mad rush for these weekends, so book early to avoid disappointment as we still keep to small groups and places are limited!

May 3rd - 6th Pembrokeshire £160
Amazing coastal walk, castles, fishing harbours, surfing session, seal/dolphin watching safari and visit to remote monastery island

June 1st - 4th Devon and Exmoor £185 (£180 if booked before May 1st)
Great beaches, charming villages, Exmoor off-road safari, learn to surf/ski surf, kayak, 4 days

August 23rd - 26th Snowdonia £170
Mountain biking, great walking, horse trekking, gorge scrambling, medieval Conwy and beaches

Full details of these and all weekends available at www.karibuni.co.uk/weekends.htm

Sporting Days of Distinction
Full details of our day trips to some of the top sporting and social events are now available. Ideal for groups of friends or colleagues - come with us and enjoy a great atmosphere, sumptuous meal with bubbly, wine, and a top day out for just £50.
Ladies Day at Royal Ascot on Thursday 20th June
Henley Royal Regatta on Wednesday 3rd July and Thursday 4th July.
Full details available at www.karibuni.co.uk/weekends.htm

Snow Capped Adventures
Details of our skiing programme for 2003 are now available. There are some great early booking discounts available - and hurry as the peak weeks in February are already selling fast. Great deals for the school holidays in Feb - so any teachers out there - MOVE FAST!!
With 7 days fully catered chalet and lift pass from just £385 you can see why they are going quickly!
We have some great deal for groups- so get your mates together and see what good value we offer - and with one free place if you bring 9 mates it's worth sorting out soon!
Visit www.karibuni.co.uk/snowhome.htm for full details of the exciting trips.

Competition Winners
Once again our thanks go to Lonely Planet who provided the prizes for the competitions in the last newsletter. We are pleased to announce the following winners -
Winners of Italy Guidebooks are
Dana Moran, Paul Montador, Mel Allan, Lisa Trewartha, and Michael Kemp
Winners of ITW show Lonely Planet Travel Packs
Robert Wakuluk, Clare Anderson, Sarah Lay, Lee-Anne Venter, James Fisher

So congratulations to the lucky winners, and your books are on their way to you.
For details on any global destinations we recommend visiting www.lonelyplanet.com

Win a FREE Adventure Weekend
We strongly believe that everyone should benefit from one of our Adventure Weekends and so we are going to offer one lucky person the chance to come and join us. We are giving away a place on any one of our regular Adventure Weekends throughout the summer…

All you have to do is visit our website at www.karibuni.co.uk and follow the instructions there to register your entry - answering a few simple questions- that's it!
Then make sure you look at our Weekends page to see which one takes your fancy…visit www.karibuni.co.uk/weekends.htm for full listings for the summer.

And the competition is open to anyone, so pass this onto your friends and colleagues and get them to enter as well!

Britain News

London Theatre Update
Shakespeare's Globe
This season the Globe takes "Love" as its theme. Opening on May 11th is Twelfth Night - with an original practices production using clothes, music and settings possible when the play was originally produced in 1602. Next comes A Midsummer Night's Dream - in a modern practice which opens on May 16th.
Full details at http://www.shakespeares-globe.org

Half Price Ticket Booth becomes tkts
The Half Price Theatre ticket booth in Leicester Square has undergone a number of changes. It has now changed its name to "tkts" and adopted a new look, as well as offering an even wider choice of shows on offer at full price, 25% discount and half price. They now also accept credit cards but still keep the maximum of 4 tickets per person.

Bollywood comes to Victoria
The new musical to replace Starlight Express has been announced as Bombay Dreams and will open at the Apollo Victoria Theatre (Wilton Street) on 19th June with previews from 31st May.
It's a love story set against the backdrop of the Indian movie industry in vibrant Bombay - but the story also reflects the harsh realities of life in this teeming city. The show is produced by Andrew Lloyd Weber's company using the music of AR Rahman. The book and script is by Meera Syal who is best know for her roles in Goodness Gracious Me.
For details call the Box Office on 020 7416 6070

Mayors New Initiative
London's mayor Ken Livingstone has announced plans aimed at attracting visitors back to the capital. A new website has details of discounts and offers in the capital to woo back visitors who may have put off a trip during last years troubles of Foot and Mouth and September 11th. Hotels, short break tour operators, rail, air and coach companies are all offering deals for Spring/Summer and beyond - visit the website for full details at www.greatlondondeals.co.uk

Great Sailing coming to Britain
As well as Cowes Regatta (which incidentally Karibuni visit) Britain is playing host to a number of top sailing events this summer.

Tall Ships Race
Portsmouth Harbour is to be the final destination for ships involved in the Cutty Sark Tall Ships Race. The magnificent display of ships will be arriving in harbour between the 15-18th August - after completing the last leg from Santander in Spain, and crossing the finish line out in the Solent. It is expected that there will be over 100 ships in the harbour, along with displays and a mini festival to mark the end of this historic race!
Full details can be found at www.cutty-sark.co.uk and www.portsmouthand.co.uk

Can Sardines Run?

It's one of nature's magical marine events - and in terms of wildlife spectacles it rates up there with the annual migration of the wildebeest in the Serengeti - but rather than four legged prey it is millions upon millions of sardines…and yet the predators they attract for a feeding frenzy are equally impressive.

Once a year, usually in June, the cold-water currents of the South Atlantic shift northwards and hug the Transkei and Kwazulu Natal coastline of South Africa. The sardines which depend on the nutrient rich ocean currents simply move with them and come together in huge shoals - some of which can be up to 5km long and turn the water black with the staggering density of fish. Of course this does not go unnoticed by the rest of the marine world, and following the migration is a huge host of creatures fighting for their share.

There are thousands of dolphins, including the bottlenose, common and dusky dolphin, seals, sharks, including the Zambezi, tiger, hammerhead, bronze whaler and even the occasional great white, whales, turtles, and multitudes of seabirds including albatross, petrels, gannets and even African penguins.

Its not unusual to come across pod's of 1,000 or more common dolphins charging around the ocean in search of food, also accompanied by sharks and flocks of seabirds. Humpback Whales are often seen as well, and much of the southern oceans' marine life comes in to this fertile region during the migration time.

One of the most impressive phenomena to be seen here is the elusive "Bait Ball" effect which occurs when the sharks and dolphins herd the sardines towards the surface and force them into a tight ball for easy pickings. The water turns black in front of you and a real feeding frenzy ensues, with sea birds raining down on the bubbling feast and sharks and dolphins gorging from below.

As well as the wildlife interest the locals along the coastline are also looking out for the sardine migration for the bounty it can bring -both in tourism and for fishing! The arrival of the shoals is keenly awaited and a Sardine Hotline informs you of local sightings and prediction of where the shoal will come close to land.

As soon as the water near the "breakers" turns black the boats are launched and the seine-netting begins (encircling a small part of the shoal). The price for a crate of sardines is high in the early days - but falls away as supply overtakes demand - and so the challenge is to be the first to find and reap the extra-ordinary harvest. For some fishermen, 2 catches in a day can net up to 60,000R (£4,000) if you time it right.

The sardines are in demand all along the coast and the migration is an important part of the local culture and a time of celebration (in a slightly "Sardine Fever" kind of way).
Nearby Durban has a large Indian population which started when indentured labourers from India were brought over by the British to work on the sugar plantations in the 19th century. The cuisine of the Indian community relies heavily on seafood and is predominantly fish based, and so the sardine run is a social event where people will gather on the shore with buckets and pans to catch the fish as they come in. Indeed some restaurants in the city serve nothing but sardines for the duration of the sardine run.

The migration is now also a tourist attraction for South Africa, and many groups of divers and marine enthusiasts are to be found travelling up and down the coast in search of the sardines and the amazing associated marine life. As ever with nature - she does not follow a timetable or fixed route, and so many people are left waiting and hoping for their chance - or speeding from sighting to sighting hoping to glimpse the sharks and dolphins which are the main crowd draw.

It's a special time for divers and one of those unique chances to observe wildlife up close and personal! The sharks are focused on the sardines and are oblivious to any wetsuit clad diver, meanwhile thousands of dolphins burst and penetrate the silver wall of sardines chasing their meal. A number of diving tour operators now offer expeditions to witness this spectacle, but they do require diving experience and it's still hit and miss as to what you will see! Nature always stays a step ahead!

And you may be wondering what happens to the sardines who escape the nets and gaping jaws…Well, after several weeks of moving north­wards, they swim offshore to be carried along the inner edge of the Agulhas Current back to the southern Cape to spawn again and deliver a fresh batch to feature in next years amazing "Sardine Run"

For details on South Africa visit http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/africa/south_africa/
For more details on the Kwa Zulu Natal Province http://www.kzn.org.za/kzn/
For the South African Tourism Information http://www.southafrica.net/index2.html SA tourism

Global Quickies

Long Distance Talking!
If you thought that your mobile phone bill was expensive then spare a thought for a group of Kent (UK) villagers who are fed up with getting a particularly raw deal on their mobile phone calls.
Each time they make a call - no matter where to - they are being charged at International Call rates as their calls are routed via Paris!
The villagers of St Margaret's at Cliffe enjoy great views out across the English Channel, but this means that their Vodafone reception can come via a French network and they end up paying £1 a minute to receive a call and £1.34 to make one!

More Boozing Animals!
Following on from our story about the drunken elk in the last newsletter - we have uncovered more examples of closet alcoholics in the natural world!

Many animals eat fruit. But do they appreciate the effects of the fermented version? In Africa the marula tree attracts herds of elephants. They eat the ripe fruit and it ferments in their stomachs. These heavy tipplers are discrete in their habit but their cousins aren't as good at holding their drink. Indian elephants have a tendency to raid illicit stills and go on the rampage through villages. Captive elephants are also quite happy to drink huge amounts of beer-strength booze until they become intoxicated.

In the 1800s, on the Caribbean island of St Kitts, vervet monkeys, introduced from Africa, became partial to fermenting sugar cane. The cane was used in the rum industry but some was left over from the harvest. Vervet monkeys on the island are still partial to the odd tipple and they often raid local bars for rum rations. Research has shown that the monkeys have varied drinking patterns. Some never touch a drop, some just drink socially, some drink a moderate amount regularly and others simply don't know when to stop. The studies indicate that a liking for alcohol is probably genetic.

These stories were found on www.bbc.co.uk/nature which is an amazing site packed full of great information on the natural world!

Well, that's all again for this time - and we hope you enjoyed it. If you have any comments, feedback or amusing stories or travel articles to share, then please send them through to info@karibuni.co.uk

Many thanks, and happy travels

Paul