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“The approaching Olympic Games in Beijing offer an unprecedented opportunity for President Bush to urge China to help end the genocide in Darfur. For years, China has acted as both an enabler and protector of the government of Sudan.

The United States cannot stand idly by while one of its largest trading partners supports a genocide that is intensifying each day. The fact that China is hosting the Olympic Games provides the U.S. with a unique opportunity to demand changes in China’s relationship with Sudan. Please join us in calling on President Bush not to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games unless all of the following conditions are met:

• China ends all arms transfers to Sudan;
• China strongly and publicly condemns the atrocities in Darfur; and
• China demands that the government of Sudan comply fully with existing U.N. Security Council resolutions and rapidly facilitate the deployment of the United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force.”

[Sign petition]

[Link to Punta Gorda]

The first Frozen Boulder was performed by a loose group of 150 people who’d never met, but who’d all received the same invitation to join a “mission” by newly formed Boulder Improv. Equally stirred by the Frozen Grand Central Station video in the e-mail invitation, they were here to make town history—or at least do their small part to keep Boulder weird.

Video and links:

• Rocky Mountain News, by Monika Bunting
• Frozen Boulder, by Ryan Van Duzer
• Denver Post article, by Jenel Stelton-Holtmeier
• Frozen Grand Central Station

The author of the article, Kevin Brass, after describing the still-”funky” atmosphere of Ambergris Caye, says, “But the water is too shallow for cruise ships and megayachts, and there are few of the all-inclusive resorts that lure the spring-break party crowd to destinations like Cancún or Jamaica.” Thank God. There is still plenty of construction, especially big (for Belize) “condotel” properties. Still, “Most of the developments on the island are in the 20- to 70-unit range. Government restrictions limit buildings along the waterfront to three or four stories.”

This goes along nicely with Belize’s overall small vibe–the vast majority of hotels have ten rooms or less, and the signs on the streets of Caye Caulker still say “GO SLOW.”

[Link to the IHT article]

[My links to Belize]

Here’s a great roundup of language instruction programs to help you brush up before your next trip: “Eight Free Online Resources for Learning a New Language.” From the BBC’s online courses in French, Spanish, German, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, and Greek, to MIT’s “open course ware,” in which you can subscribe to RSS feeds from their academic classes, to courses in ancient tongues like Sanskrit — there are many options and no excuses not to learn at least a few phrases. Buena suerte! [LINK]

[LINK TO WORLDVIEW]

Travelling & Seeing: Johnny Just Come, by Kofi Quanston, as found in the university bookshop in Accra, Ghana. I didn’t buy the book, already had too many things in my pack and I don’t remember what it was even about, but I took the picture to bust out and look at on a rainy day …

“The Kohnstamm revelation further cements in my mind—and I’m betting in a few of yours—the belief that guidebooks are by and large a sham … Guidebooks are the CliffNotes of travel writing, nothing more than a hand-holding exercise. They’re good for a few names and a few addresses, some initial info, and maybe even the surprising fun fact … Beyond that, they’re useless. They’re often wrong, more often skewed, and they seek to rob you of the only thing you have as a traveler: your impression.”

As a guidebook author, I’m actually not too upset by this, though obviously, I disagree that all guidebooks are “useless”—the maps alone are often worth the sticker price (when they are done accurately and carefully, and when they are designed correctly).

I agree with White, that guidebooks should be used as rough sketches of a region or country, certainly not a “bible” to light readers’ paths. Plus, most travelers (those who don’t travel often, or perceive some risk in their destination choice) legitimately need a little hand-holding; a guidebook can get them to the country, find them a safe, comfortable room, then encourage them to explore on their own. It’s also true that any traveler worth their salt needs to be able to ask a few questions to find a restaurant or bus on their own, especially since it’s guaranteed that by the time a book goes to press, some of the establishments in it will have gone out of business.

Another “threat” to printed guidebooks (as noted by a recent commenter), their impending obsolescence in the face of Internet travel sites, e-books, and online reviews, is, I believe, exaggerated. Guidebook publishers are already rolling with the times, making entire books available online, individual chapters for sale, etc. Savvy travelers combine guidebook info with their own online research. Many authors are responding in their own proactive ways. My coauthor, Randy Wood, and I, for example, started a Nicaragua website and a user forum, where we post updates and answer queries from our readers.

I agree with White’s conclusion: “I hope what the Kohnstamm affair really does is to get people thinking long and hard about relying on a guidebook for anything in the first place.” Maybe knowing that guidebooks aren’t perfect (and come on, who didn’t know this before?) will encourage potentially creative travelers to come out of their shells and maybe even leave their guide in their hotel room for a night, exploring the city on their own.

LINKS:

“Thoughts on the Lonely Planet scandal: Guidebooks are a sham,” by Jeffrey White

New York Times: “Lonely Planet Rejects Fabrication Claim”

Kohnstamm Responds on World Hum

Authors’ website: GoToNicaragua.com