Spring is here!
Circumnavigators enjoy every month of the year, but there is something special about April with its flowers, gentle weather and anticipation of summer ahead. Best wishes to all for a wonderful month.
New York Metro Dinner
Join us for dinner and share your travel bucket list with fellow Circumnavigators on April 25 at Evergreen Chinese Restaurant. Guests welcome! Click here for details.
Annual Meeting in May
Our traditional Annual Meeting, now for the 122nd time, will be held in New York City on Friday, May 17. The late-morning meeting (open to members only) is followed by lunch and a presentation. Guests are welcome. Invitations will be coming soon.
Chapter Highlight
Pacific Southwest Circumnavigators celebrated Chinese New Year at the home of Circumnavigator Lynn Payette.
Circumnavigator Greg Wojcicki (Chicago Chapter) sent us a photo with his fiancé at Cape Aghulas, South Africa, the southernmost point of Africa and another shot with his son in Nambia.
Circumnavigators Lion & Donna Curran (New York Metro) were in far west Jamaica on their annual visit to monitor coral reefs there.
Circumnavigator Mark Pross (Washington, DC Chapter) recently visited the two most famous towers of Bologna, Italy — the Torre degli Asinelli and the Torre Garisenda. Both were built between 1109 and 1119. The leaning Garisenda Tower is not accessible and the Asinelli Tower is closed to the public for area maintenance. Mark climbed the Asinelli Tower’s 498 steps several years ago, which afforded unique views of medieval Bologna.
Circumnavigator Brian Baum (Pacific Northwest Chapter) is on his way home from Antartica. On the way, he sailed north via the Atlantic “stepping stone” islands. These included the Falklands, South Georgia, Tristan da Cunha, Saint Helena, and Ascension Island. He also got a look at the uninhabited Gough, Inaccessible, and Nightingale Islands on our way to Cape Verde. Here are a couple of his photos. More photos can be viewed on the Circumnavigators Facebook page.
Circumnavigator Katie Koontz recently was transferred to Los Angeles from Manhattan. Here she takes a skiing junket to Mammoth. Katie writes “Collectors Corner” for the LOG, so she would love to hear from members with travel-related collections.
Circumnavigators Vincent & Fran Cucchiara (Naples Chapter) traveled to Antarctica, their seventh continent. On the way, they stopped in Chile where they got this photo at San Rafael Glacier.
Circumnavigator Bill Ashley (Washington DC Chapter)was supposed to visit Libya in 2006, however, 2 weeks prior to the departure, Muammar Ghaddafi decided that no Americans were allowed to enter. Well, now Bill was finally was able to complete an 8-day sojourn without any hitches. Here is a photo of Bill at Leptis Magna enjoying the best Roman ruins in the world!
Scuttlebutt
This writer had the opportunity to meet television celebrity Margaret Hoover who hosts Firing Line on PBS, thanks to an invitation from WGCU, the Southwest Florida PBS outlet. Margaret is the great granddaughter of President Herbert Hoover who happened to be an early member of the Circumnavigators (1930) and recipient of the Order of Magellan (1963). I told her that I might have some info about her famous relative that she didn’t know. Skeptical, she said, “Try me”. I gave her a packet on Hoover info from our archives. She laughed and said, “You got me!” During her presentation, she called out the Circumnavigators Club and the fact that her great grandfather circumnavigated five times.
The Last Shot
Do you have a good photo for The Last Shot? Please send to club@circumnavigators.org.
Luck to you!
David A. Mink
International President
club@circumnavigators.org