WORLD SERVICE To mark the 20th anniversary of his assassination, Nick Maes looks at the life of Chico Mendes, the highly significant green activist who helped to galvanise the race to preserve the Amazon.
Link http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/documentaries/2008/05/080507_living_with_chicomendes.shtml
WORLD SERVICE A documentary about the life and faith of Father Henri Des Roziers, a priest and Human Rights Lawyer in Para, Brazil. This programme was nominated for an Amnesty International media award
GUARDIAN I guessed argan was a rare gas or a spear-carrying lard-arse in Lord of the Rings. It is, I discovered, a slow growing thorn tree similar to the olive that’s found in just one place on the planet, southern Morocco’s coastal strip. Continue reading
THE TIMES Hong Kong has earned a gaudy reputation as a metropolis where consumption is nothing if it’s not conspicuous. China’s new emperors of bling revel in flashing the Yuan and deliver master classes in glitz. Fortunately, for a city so obsessed with economic might, it’s still possible for those with more modest monetary means to visit without stir-frying their finances. This is the way to do the city on a budget without skimping on style. Continue reading
DAILY MAIL Who’d have thought a Deux Chevaux could happily off-road along deeply rutted tracks, over foot-high boulders and negotiate steep mountainsides? If it’s the real deal sporting eight legs rather than the four wheels on some tinny French car, then anything’s possible. Continue reading
DAILY MAIL An ethereal, ghostly mist shrouds Hanoi before sun-up and the city’s early morning traffic is nothing but a quiet hum. Yet there’s more life on the street than you might expect at this ungodly hour. Dozens of locals gather beside the shores of West Lake in the Tay Ho area to gently practise tai chi and insomniac fishermen wobble precariously on stepping stones as they cast their lines into the grey waters. Continue reading
GUARDIAN I don’t think I’ve ever been so captivated by a narrative I couldn’t understand. Thousands of symbols, cartouches and countless pictograms made up a vast, sophisticated strip cartoon that patently meant the world to others – but its meaning completely eluded me. Continue reading
INTELLIGENT TRAVELLER Situated high in the Svalbard Archipelago – some 300 miles above the northernmost tip of Norway – is one of the most northerly human settlements on the planet. Only the hardiest of souls survive in this inhospitable environment: a place where the polar bear population easily outnumbers the 2000 human citizens. No roads connect it with any other community – the only means of transport is by boat, plane or snowmobile. Welcome to the surreal, isolated blue-white world of Longyearbyen. Continue reading
GUARDIAN In the oppressive, dead-weight heat of midday, an improbably polite man ushered me through security at Georgetown’s dusty domestic airport. Behind him I could hear the gurgling of a Dam-Busterish, chocks-away type plane waiting for me on the tarmac – I was euphoric. Old-time civility – a rarity almost everywhere these days – is a quality you’ll find by the trunk-load in Guyana. It’s very old school: a bit knackered, louche and shambolic – traits that I love. Continue reading
GUARDIAN A dramatic combination of sea and mountains is usually the setting for rugged adventure, a signal for bursts of aerobic activity. But there are some places that demand you slow down. Even though the terrain is apparently calling out for crampons and scuba gear, sometimes it’s better to put your feet up and learn to drift. Continue reading
Nick Maes 