Launching my regular blog column for WellBeing magazine

From February 7, I have my own regular blog on the website of the Australian and New Zealand magazine, WellBeing (wellbeing.com.au and click on ).

The bi-monthly WellBeing magazine has been in existence for over 20 years and is Australia’s leading natural health and lifestyle journal. It is also available in 18 countries. Each issue of WellBeing focuses on health and spirituality – inspiring people to live a happy, healthy, well-balanced lifestyle. WellBeing contains practical information and articles for the mind, body, and soul to improve the quality of people’s lives, the lives of those around them, and the health of the planet. Topics include sustainability, organic products, medical and natural therapies.

My regular WellBeing magazine blog is called Giving Naturally, Giving Ethically.

My WellBeing blog is based on a practitioner’s perspective of donating, volunteering, fund-raising, giving time and effort, disaster relief, and humanitarian work. I have been a practitioner in aid work and international technical assistance for about 30 years. In that time, I have gained experience in the many ways people can give their time, money, goods, skills, or services to individuals, communities, causes, relief requests, and/or projects – domestically and internationally. My WellBeing blog aims to assist people gain information in ways to be charitable, to be a volunteer, or to contribute to communities and the planet in order to make a positive difference. Topics will include: voluntourism, volunteering, humanitarian highs, funding fatigue, sustainable development, advocacy, food security, global development, and current campaigns.

http://www.wellbeing.com.au

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2016 update on Rike Park, Tbilisi: from construction to busy park

From a flat patch of uninteresting dirt, Rike Park in Tbilisi, Georgia, has transformed in four years (from 2014-2016) into a busy park full of trees, flower beds, sculptures, fountains, and events. Rike (Rikhe) Park is on the left bank of the Mt’k’vari River (the Kura River) near the Old City of Tbilisi. The Peace Bridge links the right bank to Rike Park. Rike Park is below the hillside Presidential Palace and, via cable car, it is the starting point for the ride to Sololaki Ridge (with the Narikala Fortress and the Mother of Georgia statue). The glass box-shaped cable car terminus was opened on 23 June 2012, and since then the park has continually developed into a ‘people’s park’ where people can walk around, eat at the nearby restaurants, sit next to the statue of American president Ronald Reagan, climb the steps to Avlabari district, and access the sights of Meidan Square, the Peace Bridge, the Metekhi Church, the Old City, the waterfall, the sulphur baths, and t...

The acacia thorn trees of Kenya

There are nearly 800 species of acacia trees in the world, and most don’t have thorns. The famous "whistling thorn tree" and the Umbrella Thorn tree of Kenya are species of acacia that do have thorns, or spines. Giraffes and other herbivores normally eat thorny acacia foliage, but leave the whistling thorn alone. Usually spines are no deterrent to giraffes. Their long tongues are adapted to strip the leaves from the branches despite the thorns. The thorny acacia like dry and hot conditions. The thorns typically occur in pairs and are 5-8 centimetres (2-3 inches) long. Spines can be straight or curved depending on the species. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Suda...

Hop on hop off bus tourism comes to Tbilisi, Georgia

City Sightseeing buses have arrived in Tbilisi. The iconic red double-decker buses, a feature of many cities around the world since the company was established in Seville, Spain in 1999, is now in six continents and almost 100 cities. The company established its Tbilisi business in November 2013, with its operations commencing in February 2014. The 90-minute tour stops at 11 major locations in Tbilisi (with 2 to 5 minute waiting times at each location): the Old City (where it commences), Freedom Square, Rose Revolution Square, Marjanishvili Square, the Dry Bridge, Konka, Avlabari, Metekhi, Akhundov Museum, the Sulfur Baths, and European Square. Passengers can hop off at any stop and see the sights, hopping back onto the next bus at any time. Alternatively, passengers can remain on the bus for the whole tour and take photographs when the bus stops at each location. There are one day (24-hour) passes (for 35 lari – about $20) and 48-hour passes for 55 lari, with family d...

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