Terra Nova Magazine Issue One

ONE | MARCH 2013

Science & Nature · History & Culture · Geography & Travel · Politics & Society

THE BANNING OF THE BULLS THE CORRIDA IN CATALONIA AND BEYOND

A WAR OF WORDS The fight for the Falklands/Las Malvinas

LAND OF OPPORTUNITY China’s strengthening ties with Africa

TRAVEL INSPIRATIONS

The books that made us want to go

Plus!

A HISTORY OF THE SHIP WHICH INSPIRED OUR NAME

Also in this issue: Issue ONE PRAGUE | TIME TRAVEL TURTLE | FINISH LAPLAND | WWII SPIES | DAVID ČERNÝ

ONE | MARCH 2013

EDITOR

DESIGN EDITOR

Adam Woods

woodscopy@gmail.com

Stuart Woods

stuartcwoods@gmail.com

CONTRIBUTORS

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Leigh Woods

Clare Speak

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Luke Winter

woodsio@hotmail.com

clare.speak@seznam.cz

bilbao@hotmail.co.uk

RESEARCH

ILLUSTRATION

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Lucie Scheerova

lucie.scheer@yahoo.com

Alina Kotova

alinadkotova@gmail.com

Frankie Thompson

frances@fmthompson.com

...and special thanks to Michael Turtle (AKA Time Travel Turtle).

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TERRA NOVA MAGAZINE | ISSUE ONE

I N T R O D U C I N G O U R C AT E G O R I E S . . .

Politics & Society

History & Culture

Geography & Travel

Science & Nature

FROM THE EDITOR At long last we can say welcome to the first issue of Terra Nova Magazine. What began as an experiment has become a commitment, and we’re already looking forward to issues two, three, four...and so on.

Firstly, I should mention that Terra Nova Magazine is the work of a group of amateur journalists, designers, photographers and researchers – I include myself amongst them.

We set out to create something that reflected our own personal interests, to employ our muddle of skills in a more gratifying way, and to put together something for which we could feel a collective sense of pride.

In the process we hoped to have a lot of fun – and we did. We can only hope you enjoy reading this first issue as much as we enjoyed making it. And, if you do like what you see over the next few pages, please help us by kindly spreading the word!

Another hope we have is that the project (for that is what we humbly call it) will gather momentum and get better with age, experience, and of course, funding. Already we’re thinking about how Issue Two can be improved and expanded upon, and happily we’ve already enlisted the services of several more contributors. As time goes by, we expect our stories to become more and more revealing.

The success of our “project” will be determined by the people who make it – the writers, researchers, illustrators, photographers and graphic designers who are currently giving up their time to bring it all together. So here I’d like to reach out to anyone who wants an opportunity to showcase their own talents; anybody who wants to be involved in something fresh and new. We’d like Terra Nova to become a platform for your creativity, where you have a say in the scope and direction of your work.

Why Terra Nova? Well, we knew we had our name from the moment of its first mention. Not only did its literal translation of “New Land” embody our pretensions of originality, but its close association with Captain Scott and one of the greatest adventures into the unknown seemed to have parallels with our own (rather more modest) voyage of discovery. In recognition of this, we’ll be looking at the Terra Nova Expedition of 191012 in this issue.

We start as we mean to go on. From Finland in the north to the Falklands in the south, Venezuela in the west to North Korea in the east, we’ll be bringing you stories from the four corners of the Earth, exploring some extraordinary places and meeting some inspiring people. You’ll also come across several pieces set to become regular features in the magazine; they include our “Alternative City Guides”, “Heroes of History” and the Time Travel Turtle blog.

That’s it for now. My next letter will be significantly shorter, I promise!

ONLINE Though our website is a work in progress, you can read all our stories at: www.terranovamag.com Keep up to date with our project, our stories and our interests on Facebook. Like our page and don’t forget to add us to your interest list! facebook.com/terranovamag Join the conversation by following us on Twitter! @terranovamag

Adam Woods, Editor

Fancy getting involved? Send an email with some examples of your work to woodscopy@gmail.com

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08 32 18 43 CHINA’S AFRICA A land of opportunity

POLES APART The ship that inspired our name

ALTERNATIVE PRAGUE Beyond and behind the bridge, clock and castle

12 48 36 A WAR OF WORDS The Falklands or Las Malvinas?

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THE SUN ALSO RISES The future of bullfighting in Spain and beyond

HEROES IN HISTORY How a thief became a spy

PAPERBACK DREAMS The books that inspired us to travel

45 COLD ENCOUNTERS Snowboarding and ice-dipping in Lapland

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TURTLE IN KOREA Travel advice from our guest blogger

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THE RED LIST Terra Nova’s Red List™ watch list

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50

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Must have’s

App Downloads

MUST HAVE

Travel Apps Terra Nova looks at some of the best downloads for iPhone and iPad EDITOR’S CHOICE

AirBnB A stylish, user-friendly interface makes the AirBnB app perfect for booking low-cost accommodation on the go. Searching for a home from home is easy thanks to photographic listings that can be swiped either way to instantly reveal more images and a straightforward “favouriting” facility that enables you to shortlist properties that catch your eye. Booking is quick and simple – an integrated email platform allows you to connect with owners directly.

The best thing about AirBnB is the quality (and novelty) of the properties you can find - from medieval castles and old-world windmills to redwood treehouses and Inuit-style igloos, there’s all kinds of weird and wonderful places to stay.

Recce 3D Maps Sometimes, when you’re out exploring a new city, it’s hard to know where you are and where you’re going (if you don’t know what we’re talking about, try finding your way

out of Marrakech!).

Most static paper maps won’t show what the buildings around you actually look like, making it hard to identify where you are, and Google Maps is hardly ideal when you’re in a foreign country with no 3G and exorbitant roaming charges.

That’s where Recce 3D city maps come in handy. They function without an internet connection, and importantly, they allow you to see exactly what’s around you, making it easy to pinpoint your position. For now, maps only exist for London, New York and San Francisco, but once Recce have the world’s cities covered, we’ll never get lost in a Moroccan medina again!

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XE Currency Exchange Keep up with the latest exchange rates wherever you’re going thanks to this simple, straightforward currency converter. XE lets you enter an amount in one currency and see the value of it in up to 10 others at the same time – perfect for jetsetters who regularly travel between several countries. The display can be customised to feature

ALL APPS AVAILABLE FREE! Share your favourite apps with us and we will review them on our website and in future issues.

Skyscanner Let’s face it, searching for flights online can be a painful experience, so the idea of using a mobile app may not sound particularly appealing. You’ll be pleasantly surprised, however, at just how easy the Skyscanner app is to use.

Skyscanner is a long-standing online favourite for comparing flight prices and the app version holds nothing back, allowing on-the-go travellers to find the best deal for their trip. The basic search function has only a few simple options, which keeps things uncomplicated; however, you can quickly reach a more advanced search facility should you need it.

A welcome feature of the app is its ability to automatically save your recent searches so that you don’t have to populate the search criteria all over again.

Meanwhile, the chart and map search result displays are particularly useful visuals, allowing you to see at a glance how much money you could save by switching dates or airports.

Booking.com

Recce Maps: New York

your choice of currencies, and with over 180 available, you can be pretty sure the currency of your chosen destination is covered.

The app also downloads and stores exchange rates so you don’t have to rack up roaming charges whilst abroad, and those who are interested can even follow exchange rate fluctuations using the app’s detailed graphs. With this indispensable travel app in your pocket you’ll never find yourself paying rip-off prices again, no matter how far from home you are!

Calling itself “Planet Earth’s #1 accommodation app”, the Booking. com app has been downloaded over 10 million times – and it’s easy to see why. This accommodation comparison and booking app is well designed, convenient and reliable.

The simple user interface makes it easy to sort and filter the vast search results to find your perfect place to stay, and once found, the two-step booking process is simple and secure. The latest version of the app allows booking at selected hotels without even using your credit card.

You can view traveller reviews and photos and easily switch between the list and map views when searching.

The latest release of the app for iPhone includes Passbook, a feature that allows users to store and access accommodation bookings, flight tickets, boarding passes and much more - all in one place.

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Chinese investment in Africa

China’s Africa In 2009, China surpassed the USA as the African continent’s largest trading partner. It was the reward for a decade of frenzied investment in African infrastructure, agriculture and manufacturing - a decade that saw billions of dollars pumped into projects from the Mediterranean to the Cape of Good Hope.

Last year, at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), President Hu Jintao announced that China would be offering $20bn in loans for African development projects, amounting to double that lent in the preceding three years.

But where is all the money going and why? Terra Nova looks at the extent of Chinese investment in Africa and the effect it’s having on African society, culture and environment.

IMPORTS AND EXPORTS Like Europe and the Middle East before it, the African continent has become a major market for the sale of Chinese goods. To foster trade in an underdeveloped and instable region, China has had to invest heavily the continent’s infrastructure, getting the politicians onside and generally paving the way for a successful trading partnership.

RESOURCES, RESOURCES, RESOURCES

OFFSHORING As profit margins on the mainland deteriorate, more and more Chinese firms are moving their operations overseas to places where overheads are likely to be lower. Cheap labour and resources make Africa an ideal destination for offshore manufacturing. And better still for Chinese businesses, the absence of strong employment protection legislation in most African countries means they have little obligation to look after their workers, which eliminates many of the costs that they would have to account for back in China or elsewhere. The weaker the legislation, the better it is for the bottom line.

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Illustration by Alina Kotova

China’s own supply of natural resources cannot last forever, so in order to protect its future status as a global economic force, opportunities are having to be sought elsewhere.

By investing in African projects now, China hopes to secure access to the continent’s wealth of natural resources later on down the line.

Critics have called this a blatant exploitation of Africa’s resources, and have accused China of turning a blind eye to dictatorial repression in its unrelenting pursuit of them.

On a visit to South Africa in August 2012, Hillary Clinton took a thinly veiled swipe by contrasting the USA’s commitment to democracy and human rights with their rival’s willingness to apparently “look the other way and keep the resources flowing”. It’s a charge that China vehemently denies.

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CHINA’S AFRICA

THE IMPACT On Society: The Chinese government enjoys a very good relationship with the African political elite, and this, for many, is a problem. As long as African leaders turn a blind eye to rumours of employee exploitation, horrific working conditions and general malpractice in Chinese-owned businesses, China itself will continue to - in Clinton’s words - “look the other way”, ignoring persistent violation of human rights in states governed by dictators. This is a double-blow for ordinary African people who need jobs but long for democracy.

Further, because Chinese financial aid and loans are unconditioned, there are few incentives for despotic rulers to change their practices and principles. A shining example comes from the Sudan, where Chinese money continues to flow despite the country’s leader being accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC). China claims that it does not wish to interfere with African politics; critics say the Chinese are indirectly sponsoring tyranny and oppression.

But throughout the continent, Africans are at least seeing some benefits of Chinese investment. There have been countless schools and hospitals built to serve the local communities - as well as roads to connect them.

Unfortunately, however, not all infrastructural projects have been a success. A Chinese-sponsored hospital in Angola’s capital, Luanda, had to be evacuated because of its poor construction, and the road from Lusaka, Zambia’s capital, to Chirundu, a town 81 miles to the south, was swept away by the rains within months of opening.

On Culture: Whether African society has actually improved or not, China is general-

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Above: A miner lights the way at the Luanshya Copper Mine in Zambia, where it’s rumoured that local workers have been asked to work 18 hour shifts, or risk losing their jobs. The Human Rights Watch has accused Luanshya’s Chinese owners of illegal safety practices, exploitative wages and general violation of international labour standards.

Above: A striking miner is escorted by police from the Chinese Embassy in Zambia.

Below: Zambian president Michael Sata meets with a Chinese official in Lusaka.

ly considered a friend of the African people, and Chinese culture has begun to pervade African society - for better or for worse. Some argue that their respective values clash less than do those of the USA and Africa.

In 2007, a Pew Poll found that most Africans (across 27 of 47 countries) viewed China more favourably than the United States.

This might be attributed to China’s policy of “non-interference”, which stands in contrast to the US’s principle of investing only upon certain conditions. Whether these conditions improve their lives in the long run or not, Africans simply prefer not be told how their respective countries ought to be run and how money should be spent.

On the other hand, Chinese and African values have been known to clash – sometimes with tragic consequences. In August 2012, Wu Sheng-

CHINA’S AFRICA

zai, a manager at the Collum copper mine in Sinazongwe, Zambia, was killed by miners on strike over low pay and poor working conditions. At the same mine a year earlier, 13 miners were shot dead by Chinese supervisors. Clearly, China’s endorsement of a ‘workaholic’ culture doesn’t sit well with the local populace.

There have also been several cases where Chinese investment has had a direct negative impact on the ethnic peoples of Africa. Back in 2007, the Tuaregs of Nigeria were forcibly evicted from a strip of land leased to the China Nuclear International Uranium Company, without receiving any compensation. Like on many occasions in African history, their calls for justice were drowned out by the sound of heavy machinery.

LIKE ON MANY OCCASIONS IN AFRICAN HISTORY, THEIR CALLS FOR JUSTICE WERE DROWNED OUT BY THE SOUND OF HEAVY MACHINERY.

Many development projects are taking place in ecologically fragile regions where the slightest impact could have major repercussions. Environmentalists are worried that in order to cut costs and become even more competitive, Chinese business owners will simply neglect any promises that they may have made to protect Africa’s natural surroundings.

There are also concerns with the spate of offshore manufacturers springing up over the continent. How long before the cities of Lagos, Nairobi, Lusaka and Khartoum begin to resemble the smog-smothered metropolises of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou?

On Economy: Chinese investment has undoubtedly aided the growth of African economies, providing the infrastructure needed for them to compete in the wider world. Hundreds of thousands of jobs have been created throughout the region, making commodities more affordable. The trouble is, the commodities are now coming from China or Chinese-owned businesses in Africa, which means much of the wealth is going back to Beijing. Indeed, local production has suffered greatly because of Chinese competition. The result is more African workers but less African owners and entrepreneurs.

Above Left: The Merowe Dam in northern Sudan, where it’s estimated more than 60,000 people were forced to evict their homes to make way for the Chinese-sponsored project.

Above Right: Striking miners voice their grievances outside the Luanshya Copper Mine.

Below: A Zambian miner recovers in hospital after being shot by supervisors at the Luanshya Copper Mine.

On Environment: Given that the Chinese are apparently unwilling to consider environmental impact back in their homeland, it would perhaps be a surprise if they let it come in the way of their interests in Africa. And, in view of the fact that most Chinese investment projects in Africa are tied up in environmentally sensitive sectors such as oil and gas, mining and logging, it’s no surprise that the international community is concerned.

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A WAR OF WORDS With the Falklands referendum on the horizon, we look at the history of the islands and the escalating rhetoric (and oil) that surrounds them.

The Sun’s headline the day after the sinking of the Belgrano by the Royal Navy submarine Conquerer. 323 servicemen lost their lives.

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“GOTCHA”. That was The Sun’s headline the day after the sinking of the ARA General Belgrano back in 1982, the year that Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands (or Las Malvinas, to Argentines). It was just one of many irresponsible, xenophobic messages hot off the press during a 74-day conflict that ended with a formal Argentine surrender on 14 June that year.

And by no means were they all originating from Fleet Street. Gente, a popular Argentine monthly, went with the blatantly mendacious “ESTAMOS GANANDO” (WE’RE WINNING); Clarín told of “Public Euphoria” at the “recuperation of Las Malvinas”; Crónica talked of stopping the “Pirates” and sending them “to the canvas”. In fact, virtually all of the Buenos Aires tabloids towed the official party line - it was an era in which they could do little else.

While state-controlled dailies did their best to strike a patriotic nerve in Buenos Aires and beyond, the free press in Britain did its best to stir things up. Headlines like “GOTCHA”, though widely condemned in Britain as insensitive (and subsequently

pulled by the newspaper’s editor), embittered the Argentine population and helped establish a rivalry that continues to this day. A newspaper, which spoke for nobody except the journalists who ran it, had created ill-feeling amongst an entire nation.

Such headlines also served to remind the British of their own superiority - a remnant from the days of Empire when “Britannia ruled the waves”. To Argentina and the rest of the world, of course, it smacked of arrogance and triumphalism.

Whilst many Brits ignored (and indeed deplored) the spew of jingoism spouting from the press during the Falklands War, a considerable section of society were, for a time at least, all ears for it. British marines became “our lads” and the enemy “the Argies”. The war had turned into a game. Not long after “GOTCHA” came “BRITAIN 6 (Georgia, two airstrips, three warplanes) ARGENTINA 0”.

Of course not everybody took such a bloody-minded stance. The Mirror at the time claimed “The Sun today is to journalism what Dr Joseph Goebbels was to truth” - even British servicemen were quoted as saying headlines like those slapped on the front over of The Sun made them “feel sick”.

Yet the British-Argentine rivalry is a mutual one. Brits generally dislike Argentines, who they feel invaded their territory, and Argentines generally dislike Brits, who they believe stole the islands from Argentina in the first place. Even those born long after the 1982 conflict are taught to loathe the “Argies” or “Ingléses”.

A WAR OF WORDS

Above: Gente’s headline for its May 1982 issue reads “We’re Winning”. Like many Argentine newspapers, the magazine was later accused of misleading the public.

Below: The Malvinas Memorial, Ushuaia, where Cristina Kirchner led Argentine ceremonies commemorating the 30th anniversary of the war.

The chorus of disdain reaches its crescendo at football matches, of all things, and at anniversaries.

2012 saw the 30th anniversary of the war, and a renewed campaign of propaganda by the media. In the weeks that surrounded the 30 years since the war begun, emotions began to resurface. “Malvinas is a symbol of our unity”, wrote Osvaldo Pepe of Clarín, Argentina’s largest newspaper, “that motto which draws us together, provides us with our identity”. He wasn’t the only one talking up Argentina’s togetherness over the Falklands issue. A journalist at La Voz claimed; “Regardless of differences in social and economic status, race and beliefs, the issue of the Malvinas is a flag that encompasses and unites the whole country”.

The escalating rhetoric has dragged on into 2013. In early January, The Sun (again the culprit) published an advert in the Buenos Aires Herald, warning Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner to keep

her “hands off” the Falklands – this within just weeks of the publication of the Leveson inquiry, an investigation into the ethics and practices of the UK press.

Of course, the responsibility of the press in Britain and Argentina is something completely different to the responsibility of the politicians who govern them. If tabloids like the The Sun and Clarín are fanning the flames, it’s the likes of Kirchner and Cameron who are fuelling them.

As the Kirchner government struggles to deal with rising social and economic problems, it finds itself looking more and more to Las Malvinas as a handy distraction. It’s the same tactic employed by acting president General Leopoldo Galtieri when faced with an economic crisis and widespread civil unrest back in 1981-2. Ultimately Galtieri, with the support and encouragement of Admiral Jorge Anaya, took a decision that cost the lives of 649 Argentines, most of them in their late teens and early twenties.

This time around, the Kirchner government aims to reclaim the islands for Argentina by diplomatic means, a policy supported even by opposition newspapers: “An inalienable right of our country”, claimed the editor of El Día, “became an excuse for a bungled war launched by a military government whose true aim was to remain in power... Thirty years after that painful and traumatic experience, Argentina should intensify its work and dedication to seek to regain, through diplomatic channels and in all international forums, the full recognition of our sovereignty over the Malvinas”.

Gauging popular support is more difficult, but it is clear that not all Argentines see the recuperation of the islands as a priority in such harsh economic times. In February 2012, historian Luis Alberto Romero wrote an article for La Nacíon entitled “Son realmente nuestras Las Malvinas?” (Are the Malvinas actually Argentine?).

Questioning the unquestionable was a bold step for Romero – few others in the public eye would dare to put their reputation on the line with such a flagrantly provocative tract, no mat-

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A WAR OF WORDS

FALKLANDS TIMELINE

1764

1765

1774

1816

1820

1825

Louis de Bourgainville establishes the first base on the islands and names them îles Malouines.

Vice Admiral John Byron claims Saunders Island and others for Britain.

Economic pressures force the British to abandon many overseas colonies, including the Falklands.

The United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (later called Argentina) claim independence from Spain.

Colonel David Jewett, an American Privateer, claims the islands for Argentina.

Britain formally recognises Argentine independence.

ter how logical or well evidenced.

In his article, Romero argues that Argentina does indeed have a legitimate right to negotiate with Britain over the fate of the islands. “But rights”, he says, “are not absolute and unquestionable. They are based on assumptions that are not shared by all”.

Like historians are wont to do, Romero gives us a history lesson - a lesson that undermines but does not fully erode Argentina’s sovereign rights. While the Falklands may have been technically “owned” by an Argentine government, he says, they were never owned by the people: “In population, never were the Malvinas Argentina”.

For Romero, like David Cameron, the will of the Islanders is what really matters. The only way of claiming the Falklands for Argentina is to convince them to voluntarily enter the Argentine state. For a while, they had made progress along these roads. “There were planes, Argentine doctors and teachers serving the Islanders...But in 1982, we resorted to clubbing. We destroyed what was done in many years.

We created hatred and fear, perfectly justified. We lost the Falklands. And besides, we lost many Argentines”.

Unsurprisingly, Romero’s article landed him right in the spotlight.

But it was not just anger with which his opinions were received. Indeed, many were inclined to agree, proving

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“WE CREATED HATRED AND FEAR, PERFECTLY JUSTIFIED. WE LOST THE FALKLANDS. AND BESIDES, WE LOST MANY ARGENTINES” ― Luis Alberto Romero

The Art of Propaganda: Argentine soldiers read papers as they await the arrival of the British fleet. Crónica headline reads: “STOP PIRATES: IF YOU ATTACK US, YOU WILL FALL TO THE CANVAS”

that – as Romero himself suspected - not all Argentines conform to the views of the government, the media or the majority.

A pilot study conducted by the University of Liverpool from December 2009 to June 2010 showed that many Argentines, and young ones in particular, had no interest in the islands whatsoever. Almost all of the 18-29 years olds polled believed there were more important issues for the government to deal with. Dr Matt Benwell, who led the research, said that international trade, education, drugs and general insecurity all featured higher in their list of concerns.

“We found that if interviewees had a family member, or knew of someone who had taken part in the 1982 conflict, then the issue was more important to them, although that didn’t necessarily mean they supported the government’s actions”. According to Benwell’s research, young Argentines were more concerned about the recent drilling for oil and gas around the islands, rather than the islands themselves.

Oil. That old chestnut. For some, it’s what the entire Falklands debate boils down to. Conservative estimates suggest there are at least 8.3 billion barrels to be garnered from offshore prospects around the archipelago, but so far, only one of the five London-list-

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1826

1831

1833

1965

1982

2012

Attempts to establish an Argentine settlement fail after a Brazilian blockade prevents access.

The US declares the islands free from government after a second attempt at colonisation ends in failure.

Britain re-establishes control over the islands. Charles Darwin visits for the first time.

The first settler arrives one year later.

The UN designates the territory as a “colonial problem”.

Argentina invades the islands. 649 Argentine and 258 British service personnel are killed.

30th Anniversary of the Falklands War. British government announces plans for a referendum.

ed explorers has found recoverable reserves, and these only tot up to around 500 million barrels. Nevertheless, for Kirchner, preventing British drilling in the South Atlantic has become something of a crusade.

But it’s a crusade that forms part of a wider agenda of reclaiming for Argentina what’s ‘rightfully’ hers. Last April, Kirchner shocked the oil industry by announcing plans to nationalise YPF, the Argentine arm of the Spanish oil giant Repsol. She justified the move as necessary in reducing the state’s energy bill, whilst at the same time taking a swipe at Repsol for failing to produce enough oil to meet the country’s demands.

Oil matters little to the Falklanders, of course, who are expected to vote for the status quo in the upcoming referendum, to be held on 11 March.

“The Falkland Islands are largely self-governing”, says Mike Summers, a member of the Falklands Islands Legislative Assembly, “We have our own government, we make our own laws.

The British sovereignty contributes a defence deterrent and assistance in foreign affairs, and that’s it”.

For another islander, sovereignty is not up for discussion. “We are not a colony of the United Kingdom; we are a British Overseas Territory by choice”, said Roger Edwards in an article for The Guardian, “We are not

A British soldier pays his respects at a war memorial near Stanley.

governed by Britain, but are entirely self-governing...it should be noted that the Argentine constitution requires the outcome of negotiations to be nothing but full Argentine sovereignty over our home”.

The bureaucrats of Buenos Aires have made little mention of what might happen should the Falklands ever be absorbed into the Argentine state, but what is clear is that the islanders would be divested of their right to self-govern. When recently invited to discuss the issue with the Falklands Legislative Assembly, the Argentine Minister of Foreign Relations Héctor

Timerman said that “the international community does not recognise a third party in this dispute”.

Whatever the outcome on 12 March 2013, the Falklands issue will continue to rumble on. But while the politicians squabble, while tabloids conduct their war of words, and while the oil companies strike black gold around them, the islanders will continue to fish, farm, trade and fight for the right to determine their own destiny.

CONTINUE TO THE KEY YEARS

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1820-1833: THE KEY YEARS IN FALKLANDS HISTORY

When, in January 1833, a British naval task force arrived in Port Louis to reclaim the islands for King and Country, the fate of the Falklands for the next 150 years was effectively settled.

They would remain in British hands, first as a Crown Territory, then as a British Dependent Territory, and more recently as a British Overseas Territory, right up until 1982, when an Argentine invasion momentarily interrupted sovereignty. But in the years prior to 1833, the Falklands were anybody’s for the taking...

In October 1820, forty-six years after Britain had left the islands, an Argentine frigate captained by American privateer David Jewett entered Port Louis after eight months at sea. The ship, Heroína, had been damaged in a storm and was in need of repair. On 6 November, whilst his frigate and sick crew were being tended to, Jewett raised a flag over the Port and claimed the islands in the name of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (the former name of Argentina).

“Sir”, he wrote to British explorer James Waddell, who was in port at the time, “I have the honor of informing you that I have arrived in this port with a commission from the Supreme Government of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata to take possession of these islands on behalf of the country to which they belong

by Natural Law”. Jewett however, did not report his claim to his paymasters back in Buenos Aires. Even after three years, the Argentine government had still not formally asserted its rights to the islands.

Yet in 1823, the United Provinces granted a concession of land on East Falkland to one Louis Vernet, a merchant from Hamburg who had come to the region in search of new opportunities five years earlier. By 1828, the entire island had been given over to him – and more: if he could establish a new colony there within three years, all his fishing, sealing and farming enterprises would be exempt from taxation.

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He arrived a year later in Port Louis with several Dutch and German settlers, keen to establish a settlement as quickly as possible. Before departing, however, Vernet, aware of British claims over the islands, had gone to the consulate in Buenos Aires to ask their permission. It was granted, but in return, Vernet was to produce a full report on the islands for the British Government.

By now the Americans were also getting involved. In the early months of 1829, several North American sealers had begun raiding the rookeries around the islands, which under an earlier grant Vernet had been given exclusive rights to. The Hamburg merchant applied for intervention from his benefactors, requesting a warship be sent immediately.

The request was denied, but on 10 June the government in Buenos Aires made Vernet “Military and Civil Commander of the Falkland Islands”, giving him authority to deal with the raiders himself. The British, who were by now re-stating their claims to the islands, strongly disputed the appointment.

Two years later, in 1831, Vernet finally caught up with the raiders, seizing three of their ships and confiscating all of their goods.

Demanding justice for the violation of his rights to the island’s rookeries, Vernet returned to mainland, bringing the senior officers of the captured vessels with him – they would stand trial for their transgressions in Buenos Aires.

Vernet would never return to the Falklands, for greater forces were working against him.

The American consul in Buenos Aires, outraged at the seizure of US ships, protested to the United Provinces and sent reports of this effrontery back to Washington. The events that followed would seal the fate of Vernet’s East Falkland enterprise.

While Vernet made his way to the courtroom, the USS Lexington made its way south to the Falklands, bringing charges of piracy.

The three American ships and their crews were freed from their captors in Port Louis, and all arms and powder stores on the island were destroyed. The settlement Vernet had worked so hard to establish was laid to waste. But it didn’t stop there: the Lexington’s captain, Silas Duncan, arrested seven senior islanders and took them back to Montevideo. Most of their families followed.

A portrait of Luis Vernet in the Museo Histórico Nacional, Buenos Aires. For many Argentines, the injustices against Vernet were tantamount to injustices against Argentina, since the Hamburg merchant had been in the Falklands under the authority and patronage of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata. His face has become a symbol of their cause.

A WAR OF WORDS

“IN POPULATION, NEVER WERE THE MALVINAS ARGENTINA”. ― Luis Alberto Romero

Above: “View of a seal rookery”, Beauchene Island, Falkland Islands - taken from Edmund Fanning, Voyages around the World (New York, 1833). Much of Falkland Islands’ history has been dominated by the sealing industry. Many of the early visitors came here to profit personally from the rookeries rather than to claim the islands for their respective nations.

Below: A view of the harbour of Port Louis, East Falklands by AR Grieve.

Duncan reports that “the whole of the [Falklands’] population, consisting of about forty persons, with the exception of some ‘gauchos’, or cowboys who were encamped in the interior”, were persuaded to leave the islands. He also tells us those on board “appeared greatly rejoiced at the opportunity thus presented of removing with their families from a desolate region where the climate is always cold and cheerless and the soil extremely unproductive”.

But such conditions wouldn’t deter the British. In January 1833 they were back – this time for good. The recently installed Argentine governor of the islands, who had been sent to re-establish order in the wake of the Lexington raid, was given written notice that he should take down his country’s flag and depart immediately. After having had their demands refused, the British sent him on his way by a show of force.

And so the Falklands were absorbed into the United Kingdom’s growing empire of overseas territories. The settlement at Port Louis was gradually restored and repopulated, and in 1841 a British Letters Patent brought the islands under formal jurisdiction. But what happened to Vernet?

Upon leaving the islands, the then-appointed “Commander” had left his Irish storekeeper, William Dickson, in charge. When the British arrived in early 1833, Dickson was given permission to continue running Vernet’s commercial enterprises. But later, when Vernet himself attempted to return to the islands, he found the Brits had reneged on their promise. He would spend the rest of his life pursuing compensation for his losses, first from London and Washington, and later from Buenos Aires.

He died in 1871, and was interred in the cemetery of Recoleta, Buenos Aires.

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The City

The Czech Republic

A LT E R N AT I V E C I T I E S

PRAGUE The historic city of Prague is best known for its gothic spires, baroque facades and cobbled streets, which together create one of most beautiful cityscapes in Europe. The twisting lanes of the Mala Straná, the iconic silhouette of the Charles Bridge and the medieval edifices of the Old Town Square have all become familiar to a generation of inter-railers, backpackers and budget travellers. Such iconic landmarks should not be missed, but scattered throughout the city are a wealth of cultural gems that can take you deeper beneath Prague’s surface, providing an alternative insight into this extraordinary Bohemian metropolis.

DOX “In an age when growing numbers of people tend to think dangerously alike, art´s capacity to suspend, even for a moment, our habitual ways of seeing may well prove to be its greatest value”. With mottos like this, it’s pretty clear what DOX - a contemporary centre of art in one of Prague’s trendiest neighbourhoods - is all about.

DOX is an extraordinary arena of the uninhibited and unexpected, where art is about as experimental and abstract as art comes. The gallery, which is continuously refreshed with new exhibitions every few months, has exhibited artworks by the Czech Republic’s standout artist, David Černý, whose bizarre creations sometimes defy reason and reality.

Permanent fixtures include Petr Motyčka’s six-foot sculpture, Shoe Christ – a representation of Jesus’ crucifixion made entirely out of used shoes!

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GRAND CAFÉ ORIENT Renovated to its original, early 20th Century style in 2005, the Grand Café Orient is a throwback to a bygone era in which coffee was a luxury and quickbuck coffee shops, like the kind springing up all over Prague today, were non-existent. Extravagantly furnished and beautifully decorated to the cubist style of the day, it certainly makes a change from your average Starbucks.

The Grand Café Orient was originally opened in 1912 in the House of the Black Madonna, a department store designed by one of the founders of the Czech Cubist movement, Josef Gočár. At the time, Czech artists were at the very forefront of the European avant-garde, and this opulent first-floor café is a definitive example of their pioneering artwork and architecture.

From Wednesday to Saturday, live music from the piano accompanies your double-espresso, providing an old-world ambience unrivalled anywhere in the city.

The City

The Czech Republic

Out of the guide book and into the alternative.

THE ČERNÝ TRAIL David Černý may not be a household name, but his unsubtle and at times controversial creations undeniably draw the attention of the onlooker’s eye. Love him or hate him, the Czech artist’s work certainly cannot be accused of being dull or unwitty. Many of his intriguing (and in some cases jaw-dropping) sculptures lay nestled within the historic nooks and crannies of Prague’s cobble-stoned streets, and make for a captivating if not slightly perplexing observation. To help you find them, we’ve put together a handy David Černý sightseeing spread (overleaf).

SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS CHURCH In the heart of Prague’s Nové Město (New Town) stands the inconspicuous though hugely significant church of Ss. Cyril and Methodius.

Despite an unremarkable outward appearance (especially when set against the city’s other great religious buildings), its walls hide a truly fascinating story of bravery and betrayal in one of the most poignant moments in Czech history.

It was here in 1942 that Czechoslovakian patriots Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš sought refuge after assassinating the former Gestapo Director and incumbent Deputy Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, Reinhard Heydrich. And it was here that they would make their last stand.

After their whereabouts was revealed by a co-conspirator, the assassins found themselves encircled within their temporary safe-haven by SS and Gestapo forces. Bullet holes in the church’s Baroque façade bear testimony to the fierce gun battle that took place before Gabčík, Kubiš and several other comrades retreated to the crypt where, faced with certain death or capture at the hands of their Nazi oppressors, they decided to take their own lives.

The crypt now serves as a small memorial to the men who gave their lives for liberty. A visit is a worthwhile though harrowing experience.

Contribute to our Alternative City Guides by telling us your favourite places to go and the alternative things to do in your city!

PRAGULIC There’s a darker side to this seemingly fairytale city, which fortunately most of us will never have to see – but if you want to see it, you can. Take a look at Prague’s sights through different eyes, and you may never see them in the

same way again.

Pragulic is a student-run project offering guided tours given by homeless people who know the city inside out.

What you’ll learn about Prague on this particular tour isn’t the sort of information you’ll find in any tourist guidebook, as the guides share their perspective on well-known sights as well as places which mean a lot to them personally. The guides tell their stories frankly and honestly, revealing some shocking truths and a city full of untold secrets.

Seven guides have created eight different routes, and one which is especially popular with visitors is the nighttime tour starting at the main train station, taking in Wenceslas Square before crossing the bridge to Kampa, Charles Bridge and Mala Straná. Seen through the eyes of your guide, these well-known spots can suddenly feel very unfamiliar.

You’ll learn about the harsh realities of life on the streets of Prague, and see the historic buildings along the “Coronation Route of Kings” – a popular tourist route – in a very different light as your guide recounts harrowing and sometimes comical stories from personal experience and local legend.

Half of the cost of each 200kc ticket goes straight to the guide, and thanks to volunteer translators you can experience the tours in English and other languages.

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A LT E R N AT I V E C I T I E S

QUO VADIS

EMBRYO

Quo Vadis (Latin for “Where are you going?”) is situated on Vlašská Street, which divides Petřín Hill from Prague’s beautiful Malá Strana. After a short walk up from Šporkova bus stop, you’ll reach the German embassy, where, peeking through the back fence, you can gaze upon a golden Trabant, with four human legs replacing the wheels. The sculpture is a tribute to the 4,000 East Germans who sought asylum in the gardens of the West German embassy back in 1989: the Trabant had been one of the most popular cars in East Germany in the latter part of the 20th Century, and many of the asylum seekers left theirs outside the embassy before heading West.

Embryo was installed at the theatre of Na Zábradlí in celebration of its 50-year anniversary, and as you might have guessed from the name, it’s not exactly pretty. Sculpture purists should head for Florence, because this repulsive installation is a far cry from a David. Embryo shows a human foetus stuck in a drainpipe, a horrific pink blob hanging from the building’s facade. The sculpture is best viewed at night, when LED lights within cause it to light up in the dark.

Vlašská - German embassy

Divadlo na Zabradli

HANGING OUT BROWNNOSERS

Na Perštýne 7, Staré Mesto - U Medvídků beer hall

Sometimes Černý’s work can be difficult to read, but that certainly can’t be said of Brownnosers, a highly politicised sculpture in the FUTURA free art space on Holeckova. Two giant pairs of legs are bent over into a wall; against them are two ladders, leading to the figures’ backsides. Climb one of the ladders, look into the ‘void’, and you’ll see Černý’s adversary President Václav Klaus and the Head of the National Gallery, spoon-feeding one another to the tune of Queen’s “We are the Champions”.

Nestled as it is deep within the passages of Prague’s old town area, Hanging Out often goes completely unnoticed. If you didn’t have this map you’d probably miss it altogether!

Created in 1996, the sculpture depicts Sigmund Freud dangling one-handed from a pole attached to a rooftop, overlooking the many shoppers and tourists below. It’s thought that Černý was questioning the role of intellectuals in modern times, but the man himself never tells us of the motives behind his madness, so we’ll never truly know!

FUTURA – Holečkova 49

PISS

Franz Kafka Museum One of Černý’s more interactive installations, Piss showcases two naked male bronze statues urinating over a pool shaped in the form of a map of the Czech Republic. Next to the statues is a sign displaying a phone number, which when texted will set the statues peeing out your message into the water.

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BABIES

Žižkov Television Tower/Kampa Park

Illustration by Alina Kotova

HORSE

SHARK

Horse is the name given to Černý’s bastardised parody of the St. Wenceslas statue that can be found a few hundred metres away, overlooking Václavské Náměstí. Located within the beautiful, art-nouveau style Lucerna Pasáž, Horse depicts the Czech Republic’s patron saint St. Wenceslas astride his dead, upside-down steed.

Hanging from a domed ceiling and dominating the attention of passersby, the twisted sculpture is thought to be Černý’s way of lampooning the establishment and questioning modern day Czech national heritage.

Undoubtedly one of Černý’s darkest and most controversial installations, Shark is a twisted parody of Damien Hirst’s critically-acclaimed (and critically-derided) The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, which shows a tiger shark ‘pickled’ in a tank of formaldehyde. In Černý’s version, however, it’s an eerily realistic sculpture of Saddam Hussein that’s on display, floating spookily with his hands and feet bound by rope and nothing but underpants to cover his modesty. You can find it within the Artbanka Museum of Young Art (AMoYA), not far from the Charles Bridge.

Lucerna Pasáž – Between Vodičkova and Štěpánská

Černý’s Babies are visible from almost any location in Prague. Attached to the Czech Republic’s tallest building, these fibre-glass sculptures portray crawling, mutant-like babies with a coin slot replacing all facial features. Originally installed as a temporary ‘exhibit’ in 2000, the babies were designed to embellish the futuristic and notoriously ugly Žižkov TV tower. The sculptures were returned as a permanent installation in 2001 after receiving widespread approval from the Czech public. For a closer observation, head to Kampa Park, where three of the giant babies can be seen without need of binoculars!

AMoYA – Karlova Street

GUNS

AMoYA – Karlova Street Upon entering the Artbanka Museum of Young Art (the same where you’ll find Shark), you’ll notice four giant pistols suspended as if floating in midair. This is Guns, another of Černý’s elaborate creations. The pistols, which face one another, emit an assortment of offensive sounds, including flushing toilets and slamming doors. Created in 1994, the piece was first installed in New York’s World Trade Center, but was later brought to the Czech Republic.

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Illustration by Stuart Woods

El sol tambiĂŠn sale

THE SUN ALSO RISES The Future of Bullfighting in Spain and Beyond

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Story by Adam Woods

Spain

year has passed since bullfighting became illegal in the region of Catalonia. For many, its abolition marked the beginning of the end for the toreo; the death knell for a highly divisive, though deeply entrenched tradition not just in Catalonia and Spain, but throughout the Hispanic world. The corrida had had its day; interest was dwindling; the rest would inevitably follow.

Similar predictions were made in 1991, when bullfighting was illegalised in another of Spain’s semi-autonomous communities, the Canary Islands. It has taken two decades for Catalonia to follow suit, despite a feeling that most Catalans have for a long time abhorred the bloodshed of the bullring.

So is this latest banning of the bulls really the prelude to the end for bullfighting and all its forms? Are we witnessing the last days of the matador and the death of a 600-year-old tradition? Can we take the ban as a sign of public indifference and indeed growing unpopularity, or were there other, more complicated forces at work behind the movement towards prohibition? One year on, these questions remain for the most part unanswered.

On 25 September 2011, Barcelona played host to its

last bullfight in La Monumental, the largest bullring in the region. The event was a sell-out, with some fans paying up to eight times the face value of a ticket just to get one last glimpse of the toreo in Catalonia. Others camped outside the box office for up to three days to get a seat at the official going rate.

Did they go to cheer on the matador or just to be there at the end of an era? That some spectators took handfuls of sand from the arena as souvenirs is perhaps indicative of the latter. Maybe, then, their interest was not in the sport but the moment.

Nevertheless, 20,000 Catalans witnessed the death of six bulls that day, suggesting that the decision to ban bullfighting, though backed by 180,000 petition signatures, was not entirely down to a lack of interest in the region, nor indeed because of any high motives surrounding animal cruelty.

Many instead see the hand of Catalan nationalism at work - the ban was not so much about the bulls, but more of a way of defying Spain and defining Catalonia as a modern, forward-thinking state with its own customs and traditions.

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Preparations are made as the sun rises over La Monumental on the day of its last bullfight. Plans are currently in place to turn the region’s last bullring into a multi-million pound shopping complex.

Since Franco’s death in 1975, the idea of a Catalan nation has steadily gained momentum, not least because of a revival in its previously outlawed language. Today it is the dialect of choice for education and in general conversation: most Barcelona-based TV stations, radio stations and newspapers also use it. Catalan flags are far more prominent in the region’s towns and villages than the Rojigualda, and many local football fans chose not to support the Spanish team during the successful campaigns of 2008, 2010, and 2012.

Most importantly, many Catalans feel that they pay more than their fair share of tax, and that these public revenues never seem to be reinvested in their region. Parliamentary demands for greater autonomy in fiscal administration are repeatedly rebuffed by the bureaucrats of Madrid, who are increasingly seen not only as obstacles to independ-

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ence, but indeed foreign suppressors of civil liberty.

In this context the decision to ban bullfighting in the region can be seen more clearly: it’s not a case of animal rights, but of Catalans’ rights.

This theory holds more than a grain of truth.

Between the 1920s and the late 1960s, Barcelona hosted more corridas than any other Spanish city. Only when Catalan nationalists began propagating the myth of bullfighting as an alien imposition of Franco did public interest in the sport begin to wane. Indeed, a striking correlation can be found between the rise of Catalan separatism and the decline of the matador in a region with as strong a tradition in bullfighting as the rest of Spain.

All things considered, it would be difficult to deny or even downplay the importance of politics in the bullfighting debate.

IF THE NATIONALIST AMBITIONS OF PERIPHERAL REGIONS NO LONGER THREATEN TO PUT AN END TO THE CORRIDA, THEN SPAIN’S WORSENING FINANCIAL SITUATION MIGHT.

One only has to look across the border to the southern provinces of France, where Catalans continue to defend their own corrida as a cultural entitlement and constitutional right, to see that bullfighting is far from an “un-Catalan” practice. And this begs a serious question: how many Spanish Catalans would have signed that 2010 petition, had the initiative been led from Madrid? If the reception to Parisian intervention in the French south is anything to go by, not many.

So what of the rest of Spain; has bullfighting had its day here too? Not quite. The underlying forces that brought Catalonia to ban the sport exist only in the northern Basque region, an area that in any case has a deep-rooted bullfighting tradition. But if the nationalist ambitions of peripheral regions no longer threaten to put an end to the corrida, then Spain’s worsening financial situation might.

Since the beginning of the global recession in 2008, the number of bullfights taking place across Spain has almost halved. In 2011 there were 1,177 recorded fights, down from 2,176 in 2007. Bull rearers feeling the pinch have begun sending their animals not to the bullring but to the abattoir in an attempt to cut their losses: it takes four years and an estimated €4,000 to rear a fighting bull.

The public funds that once supported the industry (around €500 million in 2007) are running dry. Spanish town halls, which have traditionally provided financial support for local bullfights, are suffering from the effects of a downturn in the construction industry, from which they had made a healthy income in the sale of building licenses.

With economic pressures growing, Spain now finds itself in a difficult situation: does it continue to sustain a dwindling industry in bullfighting, or does it use what available funds it has to get its people back into work and the economy back on its feet?

Bullfighting’s aging fan base is a concern for many connected with the industry. The rising cost of a ticket and a lack of television exposure has made the corrida inaccessible for many of the younger generation.

SPAIN’S AGING AFICIONADOS Arguably the biggest challenge facing bullfighting is its aging demographic. A 2009 survey showed the practice to be most popular with people over the age of 45, while a 2006 Gallup poll found that 82% of Spaniards between 15 and 24 had no interest in the corrida whatsoever.

With youth unemployment rising and the cost of tickets spiralling, very few young people can afford to attend a bullfight, meaning that the graceful turns of the matador are failing to connect with a whole generation of would-be aficionados.

Children are increasingly found to be inspired not by the deft manoeuvres in the bullring, but by the deft left foot of Lionel Messi on the football pitch. Spain’s recent dominance in world football has unsurprisingly contributed to this change of sentiment, as has the level of TV exposure it receives.

Ultimately, it is likely to be indifference amongst the young, rather than unpopularity amongst the old, that consigns bullfighting to the history books in Spain.

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A lone matador casts a shadow over the sands of Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza, Seville, one of the oldest bullrings in the world. Even here, in the traditional heartland of the fiesta, the sport’s popularity is beginning to wane.

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BULLFIGHTING GLOSSARY

Aficionado – A mid 19th century term for someone with an “affection” for bullfighting, today commonly used in the English language.

Banderilleros – “Flag-planters”, who uses two brightly coloured barbed sticks to weaken the bull.

Corrida de Toros – Spanish term for “bullfight”

“SOME OF US WEPT AT THE SIGHT OF SUCH EXCELLENCE, OF PERFECTION. I WRITE THIS WITH SUNNY TEARS, BLINDED BY EMOTION”. ― Vincente Zabala de la Serna, El Mundo.

Popular demonstrations against what Catalans see as fiscal misadministration are increasingly common in Barcelona and other large Catalonian towns.

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Estocada – the killer blow applied by the Matador.

Matador de Toros – The lead protagonist: the “Killer of Bulls”

Bullfighting aficionados would argue that the two are not mutually exclusive. They insist that the corrida brings immeasurable economic benefits to industry as a whole, and that to reduce its funding (or indeed to ban it) would be to suffocate a number of sectors that are either directly or indirectly dependant on it, such as hotels, restaurants, travel agencies - even sword-makers and sequin sewers. A 2008 investigation by the conservative, Madrid-based newspaper ABC showed that bullfighting was responsible for “3.7 million working days; 378 permanent jobs and 2,950 temporary”.

Whether this is true or not, the Spanish authorities may have a hard time convincing their creditors of bullfighting’s sustainability, particularly given that the figures do not suggest a rosy future for the sport.

Yet the dramatic fall in the number of bullfights across Spain does not necessarily denote a diminishing interest in the sport. In times of economic hardship, it’s often the arts that bear the brunt of the cuts. That does not mean to say that people no longer have an appetite for them.

In Guija de Galisteo, a small municipality in Extremadura, western Spain, the priorities are clear. In June 2012, residents across three villages were asked in a referendum whether the town hall should spend €15,000 on hiring bulls or paying the local unemployed to carry out odd jobs. Despite an unemployment rate of almost a third, the people opted for the bulls.

And Guija de Galisteo is not necessarily an exception to the rule. Bullfighting continues to feature heavily in the dailies, taking centre-stage - as it always has done - in the arts and culture columns of national newspapers such as El País and El Mundo. When legendary matador José Tomás fought six half-tonne bulls in the Roman amphitheatre in Nîmes last September, his face made the front pages back in Spain. “Some of us wept at the sight of such excellence, of perfection”, wrote Vicente Zabala de la Serna, El Mundo’s bullfighting critic. “I write this with sunny tears, blinded by emotion”.

Picador – Horse-mounted lancer who weakens the bull’s neck muscles

Quadrilla – The collective noun for a group of Matadors, Picadors and Banderilleros

Plaza del Toros – Spanish name for the local bullring

In 2012, a revived interest in the sport saw Televisión Española (TVE) revoke its 2006 decision to stop live coverage of the tercio de muerte (third stage of death). It said, “TVE believes that the potential audience that might be attracted to this lineup is, in itself, a sufficient reason for broadcasting it”. The network had previously pulled live bullfighting from its schedules after it was deemed inappropriate for pre-watershed hours.

Whether this signals a new dawn for bullfighting is unclear. In the wake of Catalonia’s ban, it has been hard to distinguish genuine, long-standing interest from the reactionary, and therefore temporary kind. Less than a week after the last bullfight took place in La Monumental, another took place at Las Ventas, Madrid. 25,000 sneering Madrileños crammed into the arena, and amongst those demonstrating their contempt for the ban was Princess Elena, daughter of King Juan Carlos.

Tercio de Banderillas – The second stage of the bullfight. involving the Banderilleros

Tercio de Varas – The first stage of a bullfight, involving unarmed Toreros

Tercio de Muerte – The third and final stage of killing.

Toreo – The art or practice of bullfighting

In the weeks and months that followed, government officials in Madrid, Salamanca, Valencia and Valladolid began working on plans to make the corrida an activity of cultural interest, thereby giving it legal protection against further prohibition.

Whilst three in four Spaniards say they have no interest in bullfighting, they are certainly not about to let Catalonia and its people carve away at their customs and traditions. Despite their indifference towards the sport itself, more than half of those polled were against the prohibition of bullfighting in Catalonia.

And so the corrida de toros, a sport so synonymous with Spanish culture, becomes nothing more than a political vehicle in a tit-for-tat rivalry between two feuding ‘nations’, much in the way that fox-hunting came between England and Scotland in the early 2000s. When anti-Catalan sentiment begins to subside, so too will public interest in bullfighting.

EL CORIDA EN NÚMEROS

Bullfighing costs and other figures

€300 The amount demanded by touts for Barcelona’s last bullfight.

533 Estimated number of professional bullfighters who have died in the ring since 1700.

€2,5 billion Estimated value of bullfighting to the Spanish economy.

€4,000 The estimated cost of rearing a fighting bull.

€40 The price of a ‘cheap seat’ in Seville’s Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza.

In 2011 there were 1,177 recorded fights, down from 2,176 in 2007.

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A Catalan “Senyera� adorns the balcony rails of a townhouse in Girona. Growing unpopularity with central government has seen a stark rise in nationalist sentiment.

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Spain

THERE REMAINS A GLIMMER OF HOPE FOR THE MATADOR AND HIS ENTOURAGE. IT COMES NOT FROM THE ARENAS OF MADRID OR SEVILLE, BUT FROM THOSE OF MEXICO, COLOMBIA AND, TO A LESSER EXTENT, FRANCE.

BULLFIGHTING IN OTHER COUNTRIES FRANCE

La touromachie, as it’s known in France, enjoys legal protection in areas with an “uninterrupted tradition” - largely the south-western Catalan provinces. Bullfighting became popular in France in the 19th century, and today exists in more than one format; course libre, course landaise (both bloodless sports), and the Spanish-style corrida. Nîmes, Arles and Bayonne play host to a large number of bullfights every year, particularly during Easter and Whitsun.

PORTUGAL

Yet there remains a glimmer of hope for the matador and his entourage. It comes not from the arenas of Madrid or Seville, but from those of Mexico, Colombia and, to a lesser extent, France. Though the sport remains under pressure from animal rights activists in all three countries, it continues to be fiercely embraced by a large number of aficionados.

On a Sunday evening in Mexico City, the Plaza de Toros Monumental rings to the sound of 48,000 “Olés”. Here a figura, or superstar matador, can earn over £300,000 in a single appearance. Meanwhile in Nîmes, Arles and Bayonne, tens of thousands of people stream through the turnstiles of the city bullrings to get a glimpse of their sequin-suited heroes.

Nearly two million people attend bullfights in France each year.

For now bullfighting exists in a state of perpetual twilight. Its future depends much on the political and economic destinies of the nations in which it has history. With the right funding and the right party in power, the sun may yet rise on the gods of the arena.

Further Reading: Into the Arena: The World of the Spanish Bullfight, by Alexander Fiske-Harrison Classic Literature: Death in the Afternoon, by Ernest Hemingway

Portuguese bullfighting varies from the Spanish toreo in a number of ways, the main difference being that the bull is killed away from public view. The fight takes place in two stages, with Cavaleiros (and sometimes Cavaleiras, a female equivalent) fighting from horseback and a group of eight unarmed forcados challenging and subduing the bull before the entry of the matador.

CENTRAL AMERICA With capacity for 48,000, Mexico City’s Plaza Monumental is the largest bullring in the world. A matador’s training begins at the age of six. In Spain it is illegal for anyone under the age of 16 to take on a fighting bull. Bullfighting also had a presence in Cuba until it was banned 1901. In Costa Rica, a bloodless form of bullfighting similar to the French course libre is practised.

SOUTH AMERICA

Corridas still take place in many South American nations, including Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador, though the sport remains under threat in all four. Ecuador recently voted to follow the Portuguese example by removing the death of the bull from public view.

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More information on the rediscovery of the SS Terra Nova at schmidtocean.org

Ice-Breaker The Rediscovery of an Icon

On 11 July 2012, the wreck of the S.S Terra Nova was discovered off the southern coast of Greenland by the team of the Schmidt Ocean Institute. They had been testing their echo sounders in preparation for a research cruise set to begin in 2013 when Jonathan Beaudoin, a survey expert from the University of New Hampshire, happened to notice an irregular scar upon the seabed.

Suspecting that it might be the wreck of a ship, the team decided to investigate further. The dormant hulk they found matched the exact dimensions of the Terra Nova, the fabled ship that had carried Captain Robert Falcon Scott on his journey to Antarctica back in 1910.

Leighton Rolley, a technician onboard the research vessel Falkor, had been vaguely aware that the Terra Nova had sunk in these waters whilst carrying supplies to and from US base stations in Greenland during the Second World War. Closer inspection using underwater cameras revealed that it was indeed Scott’s famous expedition ship.

In this first issue of Terra Nova Magazine, we chart the history of the ship that inspired both our name and our ethos...

The Steam Ship (S.S.) Terra Nova was launched in the port of Dundee, Scotland, in December 1884. Built by Alexander Stephen & Sons Ltd for the whaling and sealing fleet, she spent her first decade of service in the far reaches of the Labrador Sea, proving her worth amongst the pack ice. But in 1903 she was earmarked for more perilous exploits in the South Atlantic.

Thus Robert Falcon Scott became acquainted with ship that would carry him on his final adventure. But that wouldn’t happen for another seven years. On this occasion, the Terra Nova had been sent to the Antarctic alongside another Dundee whaler, SY Morning, to rescue the polar explorer and his crew on the first of his two polar expeditions.

Finding Scott’s expedition ship, the RSS Discovery, icelocked in the McMurdo Sound, the crews of the Morning and the Terra Nova set their respective ships side by side and began to smash their way through the pack ice, creating a channel of clear water between the open sea and the stricken ship. Only by a stroke of good fortune, though, was the Discovery set free from her icy confinement.

Neither explosives nor sawing parties could open up the last 3 kilometres, and on 10 February, Scott wrote in his diary that he might have to abandon her. But four days later, the ice broke up of its own accord: the Discovery was able to sail home alongside the two relief ships.

The Terra Nova showed her mettle amongst the ice again in 1905, when she came to the rescue of the Fiala-Ziegler Arctic Expedition, whose ship America had been damaged beyond repair by the shifting floes, leaving the crew stranded for nearly two years. “The Terra Nova was a glorious sight as she materialised out of the mist”, wrote Anthony Fiala in his book Fighting the Polar Ice, “her form glistening in the sunshine as the fog lifted”.

Back in England, Scott had begun planning a second expedition to Antarctica. Whilst the decorated explorer (King Edward VII had made him a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order) was telling the Royal Geographic Society of his intentions to become the first man to reach the South Pole, the Terra Nova was back on duty in Newfoundland, under the ownership of C.T Bowring & Co. But she wouldn’t be out of the thick of it for long. In 1909, the newly promoted Captain Scott purchased her for the sum of £12,500. She would carry the British Antarctic Expedition of 1910 to the most southerly reaches of the White Continent. On board would be geologists, meteorologists, biologists, zoologists, and course, adventurers from all over the world. Also on the expedition was Herbert Ponting, a professional photographer whose images have become the lasting legacy of Scott’s ill-fated adventure.

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ICE-BREAKER SS Terra Nova

More information on the rediscovery of the SS Terra Nova at schmidtocean.org

After a thorough refit, the Terra Nova was loaded up with the necessary supplies and finally set sail from the port of Cardiff, South Wales, on 10 June 1910. To this same port she would return three years later, minus the expedition’s leader.

En route to Antarctica, Scott learned that Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen was heading directly to the Ross Sea and making straight for the South Pole. Though the Terra Nova had departed before the Fram (Amundsen’s ship), it had yet to call into the ports of Cape Town, Melbourne and Port Chalmers, where the expedition expected to obtain additional funding. It meant Amundsen would have several months’ head start. But Scott had made a plan and would stick to it; he refused to sacrifice the team’s scientific objectives just so that he could win a race.

And so the Terra Nova left the shores of New Zealand on 29 November, making its way slowly, but surely, towards the McMurdo Sound, where Scott and his Discovery team had been rescued seven years earlier. Once again, her reinforced bows were called upon to smash through the pack ice. “The little ship,” wrote Wilfred Bruce, Scott’s brother-in-law, who was also onboard, “nine feet thick of solid timber in the bows, charging at the heavy floes and going through them up to four feet thick, was a very fine sight. Rising up over it, crunching down on to it, crashing and bashing it about in all directions – the view at the bows was quite exciting then”.

By the end of January 1911, the party had established a base at Cape Evans (named after Scott’s second in command), and the Terra Nova had been emptied of most of her contents, including the expedition dogs and ponies.

Taking heed from what had happened on his previous expedition, Scott decided that it would be safer for the ship to remain at a distance, particularly in the winter months.

So for now the Terra Nova returned to New Zealand, though not before a brief encounter with Amundsen at his camp in the Bay of Whales. Back at Cape Evans, the scientific work was beginning to get underway. Small parties of men set out in every direction in search of new discoveries. But it wasn’t until 13 September, after nine months of research and depot laying, that Scott revealed his plans for the expedition to the South Pole.

Still hopeful of beating Amundsen and claiming the honour for the British Empire, a party of twelve set out from camp on 1 November – only five would make the final leg to the pole; the rest would turn back and head for home at different stages of the journey.

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Above: Underwater cameras confirm the identity of the ship.

Below: Echo-sounders reveal the whereabouts of Scott’s Terra Nova.

It was with great difficulty that Scott and his team reached the Geographic South Pole on 17 January 1912, but with greater regret when they realised they had been beaten to it by Amundsen. The Norwegian flag had been spotted from 15 miles off.

That night, a disconsolate Scott wrote in his diary: “The Pole. Yes, but under very different circumstances from those expected ... Great God! This is an awful place and terrible enough for us to have laboured to it without the reward of priority.”

Exhausted and dejected, the team began the cruel march back to Cape Evans. What followed was one of the most remarkable but ultimately tragic journeys in the history of polar exploration.

ICE-BREAKER SS Terra Nova

Further reading and resources at the Scott Polar Research Institute - www.spri.cam.ac.uk

ON 12 SEPTEMBER 1943, THE S.S TERRA NOVA RAN INTO SEA ICE ON THE NORTH EAST COAST OF GREENLAND, DAMAGING HER ALREADY LEAKY HULL.

Captain Robert Falkon Scott, leader of the British Antarctic Expedition of 1910-12.

In some of the worst conditions on record, all five men perished amongst snow and ice. Three frozen bodies, including Scott’s, were found huddled in a tent just 11 miles from the safety of One Ton Depot, a food and fuel dump laid the previous year. Scott’s diary revealed the fate of the other two team members: both had died of hunger and cold several weeks earlier.

While Scott became a national hero, ranking alongside Cook, Drake and Raleigh in the roll-call of great British explorers, his ship, the Terra Nova, went into relative obscurity.

She returned to Cape Evans in January 1913 to carry home the remaining members of the British Antarctic Expedition. Shortly before their departure, several of the ex-

pedition members raised a memorial cross overlooking the camp. On it were the names of the lost Polar party and a quote from Lord Alfred Tennyson’s Ulysses: “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield”.

When the Terra Nova finally arrived at Cardiff on 14 June 1913, some 60,000 people were there to see her.

But it was not enough to earn an early retirement. Later that year she was sold on to her former owners, C.T Bowring & Co., and sent to resume her work amongst the seal fisheries of Newfoundland.

Only the coming of war interrupted her employment as a sealer. During the First World War she was pressed into service as a cargo ship, delivering supplies between Canada, Newfoundland and Great Britain. In the Second, she was chartered to carry supplies to US base camps situated along the coast of Greenland – this would be her last service.

On 12 September 1943, the S.S Terra Nova ran into sea ice on the north east coast of Greenland, damaging her already leaky hull. Despite an attempt at repair, the leak worsened, and on the following day, she began to sink. At 0920hrs, the US Coast Guard Cutter Atak received a ‘Mayday’ call from the Terra Nova’s captain, Llewellyn Lush.

All on board were rescued.

The War Diary of the United States Greenland Patrol records that “after abandoning ship the master set it afire”.

Hours passed, and yet the Terra Nova still had not sunk. It being too dangerous to leave the burning wreck afloat, the US Coast Guard decided to fire upon her. Finally, after an incredible twenty-two shells from a three-inch gun, the S.S Terra Nova slipped below the surface of the Arctic Sea. It was perhaps fitting that the Terra Nova would be found 69 years later, in the centenary year of Scott’s polar expedition, by an institute dedicated to ocean exploration and discovery. From beyond the grave, she seemed to be reminding us of her own part in the great age of polar exploration. And for once, she wasn’t going to be upstaged by the man who famously captained her.

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Illustration by Stuart Woods

PAPERBACK DREAMS ~

We take a look at some of the books that have inspired us to travel...

~

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The Seven Pillars of Wisdom – T.E Lawrence

There are few places on earth that are less like earth than Wadi Rum. Its barren valleys, towering jebels and timeless sandstone sculptures make up an extraordinary desert scene that’s more akin to the landscapes of Mars or the moon. No real surprise then, that this otherworldly corner of southern Jordan has become a prime filming location for sci-fi movies.

But not just sci-fi movies. It was here that David Lean shot much of his 1962 wartime epic Lawrence of Arabia, a film as memorable for its setting as it was for the performance of Peter O’Toole, who played the famed British Army Officer in thawb and keffiyeh (traditional Arab dress).

Though Rum was not the only wadi (valley) to be visited by T.E Lawrence during the Arab Revolt of 1917-18, it was certainly the most beautiful, a fact made clear by the man himself in his Seven Pillars of Wisdom, the autobiographical account that inspired the later movie: “Again we felt how Rumm inhibited excitement by its serene beauty. Such whelming greatness dwarfed us, stripped off the cloak of laughter in which we had ridden over the jocund flats”.

Lawrence’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom took

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Publisher: Private Publisher, 1922

western readers right to the very soul of the desert wadis he crossed en route to Damascus. Not only did he paint a vivid picture of the isolated, unearthly landscapes and star-strewn skies, but also gave insight into the lives of the people who have called this place home for thousands of years – the Bedouin.

“He has lost material ties, comforts, all superfluities and other complications to achieve a personal liberty which haunted starvation and death”, wrote Lawrence of the Bedouin people.

It’s a kind of noble existence that many of us could not possibly imagine.

Today Wadi Rum is one of Jordan’s foremost tourist attractions, with thousands of Western visitors paying homage to Lawrence and the indomitable landscape every year. Despite this, Rum’s beauty remains for the most part unspoilt, and the Bedouin, if anything, seem to have been galvanised by the traveller’s desire to sample their way of living - if only for one night.

HOW DO I GET THERE?

Jordan

Wadi Rum

Wadi Rum lies in southern Jordan, around an hour’s drive from Aqaba and its eponymous Gulf.

Wadi Rum’s visitor centre can easily be reached from Amman (3.5hrs) in the north or Aqaba (40mins) in the south. From here you can hire local Bedouin guides to escort you; modes of transport include camel, horse and 4x4. A day’s camel trekking and a night in a Bedouin camp with food and music costs around 50 JOD (£48/€54). Temperatures in summer often exceed 40°C, so try to time your visit for Spring or Autumn. easyJet flies direct from Gatwick to Amman from £87.99 one-way.

PAPERBACK DREAMS

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning - Laurie Lee

Few works of literature capture the romance of the road like Laurie Lee’s semi-poetic memoirs of his time in Spain. As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning is his lyrical account of an epic journey that took him from his home in the Cotswolds to the Andalusian town of Almuñécar – a journey for the most part undertaken on foot.

From the time-forgotten hamlets of the Sierra Morena to the squalid streets of Valladolid, Lee encounSpain ters the very best and the very worst of 1930s Spain. Along the way he’s warmly welcomed by imAlmuñécar poverished locals whose hospitality at times knows no bounds, and for whose cause he would later return to Spain and fight in the Republican International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War. Through a distinctive poetic style, Lee manages to faithfully recreate a deeply traditional society and an utterly beautiful country at a fascinating moment in time. And in many respects he was a man of his time,

Publisher: André Deutsch & Atheneum Publishers, 1969

belonging to that reckless generation of British ‘sophisticates’ who left the comforts of home in search of adventure elsewhere.

Equipped with little more than a fiddle and a sense of adventure, Lee walked from Vigo in the north to Almuñécar in the south in just over 12 months, taking in all manner of towns, villages and open countryside as he went (many of which, including the “salt-cod fishing village” of Marbella, would later draw tourists in their thousands).

At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, Lee was picked up by a Royal Navy destroyer searching for British subjects along the Mediterranean coastline, bringing a premature end to his remarkable journey.

HOW DO I GET THERE?

To follow in Lee’s footsteps, you’ll need to start in Vigo, making your way east and then south to Valladolid, Segovia and Madrid. Then comes the cruel slog down to Cadiz (via Cordoba and Seville), after which you can follow the coast round to Almuñécar, which today is a thriving little tourist resort. Though many of us would love to spend a year gallivanting around Spain, most of us do not actually have the time.

If that’s the case, head straight to Segovia, one of the book’s chief settings, and a city littered with historic monuments attesting to Spain’s tumultuous past.

Almuñécar sits on the Andalusian coastline between Nerja and Motril.

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PAPERBACK DREAMS

The Lost World – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Straddling the borders of Venezuela, Brazil and Guyana is Mount Roraima, the highest in the Pakaraima chain of tepui plateau. This colossal ‘table-top’ formation is said to have inspired Arthur Conan-Doyle’s 1912 adventure novel, The Lost World, and though few pterodactyls can be seen circling at its summit today, the fabled mountain certainly retains an air of mystery.

Roraima rises like a natural fortress above the Amazon jungle below. Its circumferential cliff faces are, in places, beyond the vertical, leaving the cloud-shrouded plateau cut off from the rest of the rainforest. This geological phenomenon forms the crucial subplot of Conan-Doyle’s narrative: completely isolated from the world around it, Roraima provided a safe-haven where all manner of prehistoric life could survive the challenges that inevitably led to extinction elsewhere.

While this may seem a little outlandish, Conan-Doyle had in fact stumbled upon a truth. Ongoing exploration and research on Roraima and other tepui plateaus has revealed that up to 70% of all animal and plant life found on South America’s tablelands is endemic.

Indeed, nearly 30% of all flora and fauna on Roraima itself cannot be found anywhere else on earth. Many of these living species are identical or at least very similar to prehistoric fossils discovered in the rainforest

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton, 1912

Mount Roraima Brazil

Roraima straddles the borders of Brazil, Guyana and Venezuela.

below, giving Conan-Doyle’s hypothesis at least some semblance of reality – particularly if we excuse the stegosauruses and iguandons as romantic licence.

The Lost World follows Edward Malone, a reporter for the Daily Gazette, as he travels to distant and strange lands alongside the erratic, bombastic and at times enigmatic Professor Challenger. With the help of scientists, adventurers and local guides, they make it to the top of the mountain – only to find their route back down cut off by a discontented guide. With no other means of escape, the party must go in search of an alternative, taking them deeper into the heart of a land that time forgot.

HOW DO I GET THERE?

Climbing Roraima is no mean feat, and even getting there in the first place takes some degree of effort and patience. But it remains possibly the most accessible of South America’s tepuis. Many tours depart from Caracas (Venezuela), making stops in Ciudad Bolivar and Santa Elena de Uairén before the trekking begins in earnest. A round trip takes a minimum of five days (including two days of exploration at the top) – expect stunning vistas and strenuous exercise. Explore! combines Roraima and nearby Angel Falls in a 15-day trip. Time your visit with Venezuela’s dry season (December to March) or prepare for persistent rain.

The Beach

In his quest for Thai paradise, Richard comes across a secret beachside community unknown to anybody save a few local druglords who cultivate cannabis on the island. He and his French companions Étienne and Françoise are accepted into the village, but things soon turn sour when Sal, the leader of the group, discovers Richard has copied the map and given it to some American tourists back on the mainland.

The Beach touches on the age-old theme of a traveller’s pursuit of paradise, but also explores the consequences of finding it, and exposes the inhuman lengths we can go to in order to keep hold of it.

- Alex Garland

In 1996, when The Beach first featured in our bookstores, less than six million foreign nationals made a visit to Thailand. 17 years and one eponymous film adaptation later, the figure stands at over twenty million. Of course, the miraculous boom in Thailand’s tourism industry cannot be wholly attributed to Alex Garland’s novel, but it did provide us with a glimpse of that untouched beach idyll we so long for – a glimpse that whetted the appetite of thousands of readers and potentially millions of viewers.

The plot centres on Richard, a young English backpacker with an unhealthy obsession for video games and a knack of finding himself in the right place at the wrong time. In Bangkok he is given a map leading to a secret beach on an island in the Gulf of Thailand; a setting so vividly brought to life by Garland and so tantalisingly depicted in the 2000 Danny Boyle film (though Maya Beach, where the film was shot, is actually on Phi Phi Ley in the Andaman Sea).

HOW DO I GET THERE? Publisher: Penguin, 1996 Phi Phi Ley

Maya Beach

Maya Beach is accessible by boat from Ko Phi Phi Don.

Since “The Beach” doesn’t actually exist, you’ll have a hard time trying to find it. Thailand’s real secret beaches aren’t too easy to pin down either, by the very nature of them being “secret”. In truth there are very few undiscovered beach paradises left in Thailand, but there are several in the Gulf of Thailand, as well as the Andaman Sea, that remain mercifully low-key. Kuoni’s “small island hideaways” are an ideal place to start if unspoilt beaches are what you’re after.

Maya beach on Phi Phi Ley (the setting for Danny Boyle’s film adaptation) can be reached by boat from the larger island of Phi Phi Don.

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PAPERBACK DREAMS

Green Hills of Africa – Ernest Hemingway

It certainly wasn’t one of his best-sellers, but in Green Hills of Africa, Hemingway managed to make the valleys, creeks and canyons of northern Tanzania stand out as the central characters in a compelling real-life story – something which alienated many readers who preferred the direct, non-descriptive style characteristic of his earlier novels (not to mention those with a distaste for big game hunting).

Making a land such as Eastern Nairobi Africa come alive in words perhaps isn’t the most difficult of literary undertakings, but Hemingway does it with consummate ease, taking us Lake Manyara through every ravine and over every Tanzania ridge as if we were following over his shoulder. Throughout the account we get a deep sense of his appreciation for an untamed frontier, the kind of which was fast disappearing in his native America.

And although Hemingway displayed a typically disinterested (and at times colonial) attitude towards the native Maasai of East Africa, he did at least introduce

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Publisher: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1935

them as a charismatic, self-sacrificing people to a western audience which otherwise had little or no understanding of them.

HOW DO I GET THERE?

Hemingway never actually specified the exact whereabouts of his “Green Hills of Africa”, but we do know that in 1933 he visited the northern areas of Tanzania, particularly Lake Manyara lies Lake Manyara, and that it was this in the Manyara trip that inspired his account. ManNational Park, a yara was once a favourite haunt for section of East big game hunters like Hemingway Africa’s Great Rift nowadays, thankfully, that’s well Valley. off the agenda, and the so-called “Big Five” (lion, elephant, rhino, leopard and cape buffalo) can roam at the water’s edge with only each other to fear.

You can reach the Manyara National Park by light aircraft from Arusha Airport (25 mins). For a luxury retreat within the Park’s borders, try the Lake Manyara Tree Lodge, a scenic three hour drive from the Manyara airstrip.

Endangered Species

More at iucn.com/redlist

the red list

Terra Nova looks at three species added to the IUCN Red List™ in the last quarter of 2012, and examines their chances of survival.

NAME: “Purring” Caquetá Titi Monkey SCIENTIFIC NAME: Callicebus caquetensis IUCN STATUS: Critically Endangered (A4cde ver 3.1) WHERE: Eastern Colombia HABITAT: Tropical lowland forest REASON FOR ENDANGERMENT: It’s estimated that there are fewer than 250 adult Caquetá titi monkeys remaining in the wild, representing around an 80 percent decline in numbers over a period of 24 years. Threats come from deforestation and fragmentation of habitat caused by increased agricultural activity, as well as from contaminants used to reduce and prevent the production of cocaine.

CHANCES OF SURVIVAL: Guerrilla activity in eastern Colombia has made it difficult (but not impossible) for scientists to access the titi’s habitat and gather solid data. However, as Colombia’s terrorist threat diminishes, things are expected to get easier. The control of cocaine cultivation may reduce the titi’s exposure to contaminants such as glyphosate, but agricultural cultivation continues unabated. Without conservation, it’s expected that the species will die out within 30 years.

NAME: “Little Flat-Top” SCIENTIFIC NAME: Neoplanorbis tantillus IUCN STATUS: Extinct (Ver. 3.1) WHERE: Alabama, USA HABITAT: Coosa River shoals REASON FOR EXTINCTION: The “Little Flat-Top” - a small, air-breathing gastropod mollusc endemic to the shoals of the Coosa River in Alabama - was one of the four species declared extinct by the IUCN at its bi-annual survey last October. Its extinction is thought to have come as a direct result of past impoundment of the Coosa River, which happened first in 1914 and most recently in 1967.

CHANCES OF SURVIVAL: NAME: Ruby-eyed Green Pitviper SCIENTIFIC NAME: Cryptelytrops rubeus IUCN STATUS: Vulnerable (B1ab(iii) ver 3.1) WHERE: Cambodia, Vietnam HABITAT: Forest REASON FOR ENDANGERMENT: First described as a species in 2011, the ruby-eyed green pitviper has already been listed as vulnerable and in decline, chiefly because its estimated extent of occurrence is less than 20,000km². The continued development of rubber and cassava plantations in the region has caused a severe decline in the extent and quality of its natural habitat. As a venomous snake, the Cryptelytrops rubeus is also subject to human persecution.

CHANCES OF SURVIVAL: Pitviper numbers are falling throughout the region, though they remain more stable in specially protected areas (nature reserves, etc). The more land that is set aside for conservation, the more likely the ruby-eyed green pitviper is to survive.

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Photo Essay

Finnish Lapland

COLD

ENCOUNTERS Frankie Thompson on Finnish Lapland

Frankie Thompson is a freelance writer, blogger and digital nomad. She recently spent two weeks in Ylläs and Levi in Finnish Lapland, blogging about her experiences online. asthebirdfliesblog.com Twitter: @bushbirdie

T

en years ago I strapped a snowboard to my feet for the first time. Several bumps and bruises later I’m hooked and am always looking for new places where I can fall down a mountain. Towards the end of 2012 I started to research a few unusual places to go snowboarding in Europe, somewhere away from the Alps. Somehow, the northern reaches of Finland crept to the top of my list and before I knew it my bags, board and camera were packed.

Of course, before I left I began to gauge that there might be more to Finnish Lapland than snowboarding - after my arrival I realised it was foolish to think otherwise! I travelled first to the town of Levi, a modern ski resort with the feel of an Alpine village, but with even more magic, and then on to Ylläs, which brought more unexpected experiences as I met up with the local tourist board to see what else was on offer besides snowboarding and skiing.

And it turned out there was plenty: a snow-mobiling tour into the middle of nowhere, ice-dipping in a frozen lake, a naked sauna and an encounter with a Mongolian camel.

Never let it be said that there isn’t something special about Finnish Lapland.

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Close to the village of Äkäslompolo - a town that is home to only 400 residents but has beds for thousands of visitors - is Konijänkkä animal park, a sanctuary for abandoned and unusual animals which can be visited throughout the year. I never expected to see so many animals living happily in the snow, including a family of Llamas, an army of horses and this striking Mongolian camel.

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Photo Essay

Finnish Lapland

The three hours of daylight we had in Levi were a spectacular display of sunrise merged into sunset, and as I reached the top of the fell for the first time (for these are not high enough to be called mountains), I felt my jaw drop at the views across miles of snowy Lapland.

Despite all the distractions, skiing and snowboarding in Finnish Lapland comes highly recommended. For what the slopes lack in height they make up for in great grooming, stunning views and some exciting off-piste opportunities.

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www.asthebirdfliesblog.com

This traditional Sami drum, made from wood and animal hide, is used in shamanistic rituals as a kind of fortune-telling device. Once presented to its owner it cannot be used or even held by anyone else, as this is thought to bring bad luck.

Snowmobiling is a way of life for many in Finnish Lapland, but for tourists it’s a great way of exploring the region’s stunning forests and frozen lakes.

The practice of plunging one’s body in a hole in an iced lake dates back many generations and is as much a social event as it is a tradition. The shock you get upon entering the icy water after having spent some time lolling in the steam of the sauna (both done wonderfully naked, of course) is an enlightening and invigorating experience.

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Story by Luke Winter

Hero of History Eddie Chapman - Trickster, Traitor, Theif, Spy.

Edward Arnold Chapman Born 16.11.1914 Burnopfield, County Durham, England.

Died 11.12.1997

Further Reading: Agent Zigzag

By Ben Macintyre

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The Second World War produced many an unlikely national hero: Alan Turing, the code-breaker of Bletchley Park; Vasily Zaytsev, the sniper of Stalingrad; Oskar Schindler, saviour of Jews; even Churchill could be considered an improbable icon prior to 1939. But one such man you probably haven’t heard of is Eddie Chapman.

Before the war, Chapman was nothing more than a lowly thief - although he was a very good one. He specialised in blowing safes using the explosive gelignite, and, along with his cohorts, was part of the infamous “Jelly Gang” that became notorious in the criminal underworld of London.

By the end of the war, Chapman would have played a hugely significant role in the demise of Adolf Hitler and the defeat of Nazi Germany this despite him being given an Iron Cross by the Nazi leader for his “outstanding success” in the fight against the Allies. But his wartime story starts from a prison cell on the Nazi-occupied island of Jersey...

In attempt to evade arrest for his misdemeanours on the mainland, Chapman had headed to the Channel Islands. But his plan was ill-conceived – the “Jelly Gang” were arrested and sentenced to two years at Her Majesty’s pleasure.

Like most thieves though, Chapman was a slippery character, and managed to escape from prison whilst attending to the garden of the prison’s governor. This latest indiscretion earned Chapman another year-long sentence, and ensured he would stay in prison on the island of Jersey until it fell under Nazi occupation in 1940.

Not long after being transferred to the Fort de Romainville in occupied France, Chapman wrote to the German Abwehr (Secret Service) to offer his services as a spy, citing his hatred of the British establishment as his motive. Convinced

of his sincerity, the Abwehr in Paris sent him to a camp to undergo a year of integration and training before being given his first assignment as a German spy.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, 1943, Chapman was parachuted into the British countryside with £1,000 in notes and fake documents in his pockets. His mission? To blow up the De Havilland aircraft factory at Hatfield, twenty miles north of London.

However, thanks to the code-breaking work being undertaken at Bletchley Park, the British were expecting his arrival. In any case, Chapman turned himself in at a local police station, and was promptly sent to MI5 for in-depth interrogation. Seeing that Chapman had the Nazi’s trust, the British employed him as a double agent, to be known as ‘Agent Zigzag’.

To hide the truth from the Nazi’s, Chapman and his new employers devised an ingenious plan to cover the aircraft factory in tarpaulins and corrugated metal, so that when German reconnaissance planes flew overhead, they would think he had done as promised and blown the factory sky high.

A fake news report in the Daily Express and radioed messages back to his spymasters in France completed the ruse. The Abwehr fell for it. Chapman was awarded the Iron Cross, made an Oberleutent, and given the handsome sum of 110,000 Reichsmark (plus a luxury yacht).

More importantly, he had earned German trust, which he held, and abused, for the remainder of the war.

Thanks to a series of books written by Chapman himself, the release of MI5 files on ‘Agent Zigzag’, and the research of historian Ben Macintyre, this onetime professional thief is now seen as one of the War’s most successful double agents - and an unlikely British hero.

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In 2011, Michael Turtle quit his job in Australian TV to travel the world - indefinitely. His experiences are documented in his thought-provoking blog, timetravelturtle.com. As part of a regular feature, we will be following in his trail, bringing you the best bits from his adventures as he seeks out the world’s most extraordinary places.

Time Travel Turtle — In North Korea Secretive. Isolationist.

Dangerous. These are the words often used to describe North Korea, one of the world’s last truly communist countries. But what’s it like to travel to North Korea? This Time Travel Turtle guide will give you an idea…

NORTH KOREA TOURS The best (and only reasonable) way to travel into North Korea is with a tour company. Several thousand Western foreigners are allowed into the country this way each year. There are several organisations that run North Korea tours – usually you would go in and out via China. There are slight variations in price and length of the tours with different companies but, because the North Korean government has final say on the itineraries, they all go to generally the same places.

I would recommend Koryo Tours, which has been around the longest and is probably the most reputable company.

Other options which I have heard good things about include Young Pioneer Tours and Korea Konsult.

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WHAT WILL I BE ALLOWED TO DO IN NORTH KOREA? You’ll be surprised at how much you are able to do – and how much you’re unable to do. Your itinerary will be decided for you by the North Korean authorities and you’ll have two guides with you the whole time. If you would like to make any changes it would normally take about three days to get them approved, so speak up early.

Your guides will take you to see a lot of things – monuments, museums, transport systems, factories, parks, and artistic performances.

From the regime’s perspective, all the sights are supposed to be painting a positive picture of the country.

But you will find yourself seeing a lot of the country as you’re driven between all these places and on the streets around them.

You won’t be able to wander off on your own, though. You’ll always have to be in the company of the guides and you’ll have to follow their in-

TURTLE IN NORTH KOREA

structions on what you can or can’t do. You will be allowed to take photos, except of military personnel and from moving vehicles. You will be allowed to take your camera and your computer in with you, but not your phone or anything with GPS capability. There will be no contact with the outside world except in emergencies.

THINGS TO SEE IN NORTH KOREA Most of the main ‘sights’ of North Korea are in the capital, Pyongyang, and this is where the shorter trips will focus their time. The highlights of the capital are:

■ The Kumsusan Memorial Palace: This is the mausoleum of the country’s founder, Kim Il Sung, and has a bizarrely-grand feel to everything about it inside.

ing at the perplexed tourists from the North Korean side.

■

Juche Tower: The tower is about 170 metres high and has an elevator to the top. It gives a great view of all of Pyongyang.

■ International Friendship Exhibition: This is promoted as being a display of the presents given by world leaders to Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, although I’m convinced the bunker built into the mountain is actually a lair for when nuclear war breaks out. It will be a highlight of the trip because of the bizarre collection of gifts.

■ The Revolutionary Martyr’s Cem-

etery: The war memorial at the top of a hill for those who died fighting the Japanese.

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The Triumphal March: Intentionally-built to be three metres higher than the one in Paris, it is the world’s largest Arch de Triumphe. It will be hard to avoid seeing this as you drive around the city.

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The Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum: This is interesting for the exhibitions but even moreso to understand how the propaganda system works in North Korea.

Getting outside Pyongyang will be slightly harder unless your tour is longer than a few days. You won’t have much control at all over which areas you visit. Here are some of the highlights and it would be worth seeing if they are included in any trip you’re considering.

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DMZ: You can visit the de-militarised zone from South Korea as well but there’s something fun about wav-

■ Preparations are made as the sun rises over La Monumental on the day of its last bullfight.

Ryongmun Cave: A strange warren of caves lit up with different colours all along. It’s a popular spot for school groups to visit, it seems.

■ West Sea Barrage: This is an eight kilometre dam built during the 1980s and is the industrial pride and joy of North Korea.

WHAT ABOUT THE LOCALS? Visitors to North Korea will get limited interaction with locals. But it will be rare to find many who speak English, so unless you speak Korean you won’t be able to talk to them much. Many of the locals will try to ignore you, because that’s clearly what they’ve been told to do. Children

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will often look at you in fear until you smile and wave, when they’ll smile and wave back even harder.

The guides you are with won’t stop you from talking and interacting with local people. But they will keep a watchful eye on things to make sure there is nothing suspicious going on.

SAFETY As long as you don’t go into North Korea with the clear intention to cause trouble, you will find things to be extremely safe. You are always being looked after by two local North Korean guides and so you can’t really get into trouble with the authorities because the guides will stop you from doing anything that could land you in hot water.

One of the aims of the trips for foreigners is to send a positive message about the country. The regime essentially sees it as a big PR campaign – with you as part of the propaganda machine – and so they don’t want anything to go wrong. If you do what you’re told, it will be one of the safest trips you ever take.

THE ARIANG MASS GAMES The Mass Games, the enormously epic 90 minute performance, has rightly been described as ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’. It takes place several times a week during August and September in the May Day Stadium, the largest stadium in the world (holding 150,00 seated people). The performance is a huge patriotic display of marchers, dancers, acrobats, musicians and more. About 100,000 people take part in it, including 20,000 children who hold up coloured cards to make the tableau backdrops.

If you’re thinking of a trip to North Korea, it would be worth finding out the latest information about dates for the Mass Games and try to coincide your travels with it. You’ll have to pay extra for a ticket to the performance but it is worth it. I would recommend

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the first class ticket, which costs around €150.

CONCLUSION Overall, a trip into North Korea will be an experience unlike any other you’ve had in the world of travel. It will open your eyes to a country with so few parallels to any you have lived in before. The trip will be safe and comfortable. But your opinions will be challenged.

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Published by Adam Woods & Stuart Woods 1 March 2013

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