111. Ella Al- Shamahi; Lost Kingdoms of the Amazon, Charismatic Tanzanian Animals and Yemenis in Birmingham
Release Date: 12/10/2020
125. Christmas Special 2021; Sathnam Sanghera, Lisa Jewell, Matt Forde, Anne Sebba, Olly Mann, Greenham Common and more
The Big Travel Podcast
Authors Anne Sebba on the Royal abdication, Sathnam Sanghera's dismal Christmas restaurant, Lisa Jewell's Boney M in Barbados, adventurer Jamie Douglas-Hamilton rowing to the Antarctic, satirist Matt Forde in an NYC Irish bar, podcaster Olly Mann’s disappointing LA Santa, artist Firouz FarmanFarmaian Muslim Catholic Christmas in Marrakesh, adventurer Sam McManus's ancient Spanish fiesta, Festival promoter Huw Win's Thai rainforest & Nobel Peace Prize winner Rebecca Johnson's Christmas at Greenham Common.
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124. Firouz FarmanFarmaian; Escaping Tehran, Kashmiri Houseboats, Trekking Kyrgyzstan, Rock Bands and Contemporary Art
The Big Travel Podcast
Born in Tehran, the descendent of a nomadic tribe, Contemporary Artist Firouz FarmanFarmaian's family scattered after the Islamic Revolution. He grew up trekking mountains and deserts, touring with his Indie rock band and now with his internationally acclaimed art. With a gallery in Tarifa, Spain, and a new base in Athens, he travels the globe sourcing ideas and materials with craftswomen in remote regions and will be representing Kyrgyzstan at the Venice Biennale with the exhibition Gates of Turan.
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123. On Location in Marbella Old Town with Tour Guide Javier Gonzalez
The Big Travel Podcast
A journey through the maze of Marbella's 16th Century cobbled lanes surrounding the old 'Orange Square', encountering flamenco singers and opera stars and sampling some of the coast's most wonderful tapas. With tour guide Javier Gonzalez and staying at the stunning Anantara Villa Padierna Palace, with its classical Italian design and sophisticated yet arty vibe.
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122. Matt Forde; Billy Connolly in New York, Liam Gallagher in Berlin and Nick Leeson's Worldwide 'British Scandal' Jaunt
The Big Travel Podcast
Comedian, political satirist and Spitting Image star Matt Forde talks accosting Billy Connolly in New York, 'dying' on stage in Luxemborg, pints of Carling in ex-pat clubs in Bahrain, Nick Leeson's luxury hotel dash around the world, spending 3 months locked in a first floor flat, an emotional pilgrimage to the Ghostbusters fire station, being the voice of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump (yes he does give us some excellent impressions) and posh people behaving badly on the podcast British Scandal.
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121. Sam McManus; Adventure Travel When the World Closes, Costa Rica, Green Northern Spain and the Unexpected Pull of Home
The Big Travel Podcast
Just as the world was closing Sam McManus from YellowWood Adventures took a daunting gamble and hopped on a plane to Costa Rica. We talk about how the pandemic can change travel (even for the better), tourism being potentially a means for good, eco-tourism and re-forestation, surfing, small pueblos in the green hills of Northern Spain, his wonderful travelogue about his explorations - Wax and Gold Journeys in Ethiopia & Other Roads Less Travelled - and feeling the pull of friends, family and home.
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120. UK TRAVEL UPDATE; Travel Opens Up, Vaccines, Quarantine and a Call to Action to The Government
The Big Travel Podcast
Good news at least for those people who have had two UK administered vaccines. From 19th July we can now go to amber list countries without quarantining on return. BUT at the moment this is just for UK administered vaccines meaning the country is not yet open to inbound tourism. Travel needs to be two-way! We need people in the UK to support our business too. Whilst we are aware it needs to be done safely we also need to get aviation and travel moving even further.
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119. UK TRAVEL UPDATE; New Rules, Traffic Lights, Vaccinations
The Big Travel Podcast
A Big Travel Podcast special on the latest UK Travel Update; the new rules, the changes in the traffic light ratings, vaccinations soon to be taken into account and much more. A ten minute episode of essential listening.
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118. Olly Mann; Guns On Trucks in Malawi, Swim-Up Bar Piña Coladas, Greyhounds and The American Dream
The Big Travel Podcast
Olly Mann, from Answer Me This podcast fame, his new The Retrospectors and much more, loves nothing more than researching trivia especially with travel. We talk Wrigley’s chewing gum and decapitation, leaving your baby outside a pub, people who get erections on public transport, a love for Luton Airport, the misleading American Dream, cocktails worth shortening your life for, having a bottom accident on an African roadside (yes this episode does feature the S word) and much more.
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117. Huw Wyn; Arabian Nights in Cairo, Hitching Through Nepal, Tibetan Medicine in Scotland and Tom Hardy Dropping into his Festival
The Big Travel Podcast
Into The Wild Festival promoter Huw Wyn grew up in his mother’s hotel in Wales then moved to Spain. We talk growing up feral in Andalucia, hitchhiking across Europe, fish-packing in the Netherlands, Glastonbury, Arabian Nights in Cairo, the poetic side of being a London bin man, orphanages in India, Mother Theresa in Calcutta, meeting the Dalai Lama, studying Tibetan medicine in Scotland, the remote Buddhist kingdom in Ladakh, hitching 2000 miles through Nepal, Tom Hardy at his festival and much
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116. Anne Sebba; Parisian Women and Nazis, Film Stars in Rome, ‘Communists’ in Sing Sing Prison
The Big Travel Podcast
The author of one of Lisa’s favourite books, Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved and Died in the 1940s, Anne Sebba explores the lives of women ‘writers and fighters’. As a journalist and author she's worked in film-star-filled 70s Rome, moved to New York with a baby, camped in the Mexico desert with Wallis Simpson’s free-diving step-son, had her camera film thrown into the Ganges while tracing Mother Theresa and, for her most recent book on Ethel Rosenburg, to Belarus and Sing Sing
info_outlineElla Al Shamahi is an archaeologist, explorer and stand-up comic who's been described as the 'real-life Lara Croft' as she travels the world exploring some of the world’s most dangerous and remote regions. Ella talks about her Channel 4 show exploring lost kingdoms of the Amazon, growing up in a conservative Yemeni community in Birmingham, getting herself into scrapes with terrorists, stolen DNA, Australian aborigines, remote tribes driving big expensive cars and being an archaeologist and stand-up comic.
On this episode we cover:
Her conservative upbringing as a Yemeni in Birmingham
The support of the community
Yemen’s stunning and exceptional landscape
‘The Manhattan of the desert’ in Yemen
Yet the devastating war
Kidnapping risks and landmines
Wondering if she should cover up more
The real life Lara Croft
What to wear for exploring the jungle
Her arms getting ‘eaten alive’
Lisa getting caught out in the Maldives
Being a kidnapping risk
The most dangerous situations she has been in
Feeling quite lucky that the most dangerous stuff hasn’t happened
Danger being a concept until it actually happens
A bunch of guys around you with guns
Identifying which tribes will be hostile
And what terrorist groups operate there
Assessing the team based on the above
Her father currently being in exile
Female archaeologists or adventurers being celebrated
Her new Channel 4 show - Jungle Mystery; Lost Kingdoms of the Amazon
Going on a crazy archaeological adventure to Brazil, Peru, Columbia, Bolivia
The early explorers of the Amazon referencing massive urban environments
Meeting incredible indigenous groups fighting for their survival
Stolen DNA and its connection to Australian aborigines
The traditional indigenous villagers with huge cars and no loin cloths
Being meticulous about portraying people accurately
Her BBC1 show with Chris Packham
Waterhole Animals with charisma and The Elephant Dictionary
Losing the plot during lockdown
All her work being cancelled
Being in a long-term war with the local squirrel
Decamping to the Swiss Alps
Travel during Covid
Switzerland and their guns
Trying to avoid being shot in hunting season
Becoming a stand-up comedian
Needing to laugh after visiting places that ‘are a bit dark’
Dying and thriving on stage at Edinburgh
The mental health aspect of lockdown
How not going anywhere can change your perspective on the every day things
Lisa getting overly excited on the day lockdown was released
How the narrowing of the horizons can make you appreciate things even more
Scotch eggs and a substantial meal
Listening to Lizzo and realising the damage on her private life
How it’s the worst time to be single
Levison Wood and being single