Author Julie Davidson to share Mrs Livingstone's story in talks series

Author and Journalist Julie Davidson will share the enthralling story of the extraordinarily courageous and stoical wife of the world-renowned explorer and missionary, David Livingstone in a talk based on her book Looking for Mrs Livingstone in Aberdeen, Dundee, Dunfermline and Edinburgh between the 6th and 9th January.

This talk is part of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society’s Inspiring People talks programme.
In the history books, Mary Livingstone is a shadow in the blaze of her husband's sun, a whisper in the thunderclap of his reputation. Yet she played an important role in Livingstone's success and her own feats as an early traveller in uncharted Africa are unique.

She was the first white woman to cross the Kalahari, which she did twice - pregnant - giving birth in the bush on the second journey. She was much more rooted in southern Africa than her husband: he has a tomb in Westminster Abbey, London; she has an obscure and crumbling grave on the banks of the Zambezi in a destitute region of Mozambique.

In the thrall of Africa, Julie Davidson has travelled extensively over several years in the footsteps of Mary Livingstone, from her birthplace in a remote district of South Africa to her grave on the Zambezi. She explores the places the Livingstones knew as a couple and, above all, explores the detail of the life and family of this little-known figure in British - but not African - history.

JULIE DAVIDSON's varied and award-winning career in journalism, includes work for The Times, Observer, Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Aberdeen Press & Journal, The Scotsman, The Herald (Glasgow), Cosmopolitan and House & Garden. Winner of 5 Scottish Press Awards, she was a TV presenter and has won several awards for travel writing.

Julie’s talk will take place at 7:30pm on:

6th January - Aberdeen - MacRobert Building, University of Aberdeen, King's College, Aberdeen, AB24 5UA

7th January - Dundee - Tower Extension Building, University of Dundee, Perth Road, Dundee, DD1 4HN

8th January - Dunfermline - Carnegie Hall, East Port, Dunfermline, KY12 7JA

9th January - Edinburgh - Appleton Tower, 11 Crichton Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9LE

Everyone is welcome. Tickets are £8 for adults, free for students, under 18s and RSGS members.

For more information about the RSGS talks and how to join the Society visit www.rsgs.org, contact us on enquiries@rsgs.org, find us on Facebook or follow the Society on twitter @RoyalScotGeoSoc.

From Deepest Africa to the Highest Himalaya: Siân Pritchard-Jones and Bob Gibbons

Our first speakers in the Inspiring People talks season for 2013-14 are Siân Pritchard-Jones and Bob Gibbons.  Travel writers and expedition leaders, Siân Pritchard-Jones and Bob Gibbons will share their experiences of Africa and the Himalayas in talks in Kirkcaldy on Monday 16th and Edinburgh on Wednesday 18th September.  

Siân Pritchard-Jones has been travelling in Africa for 30 years. She worked in computer programming and systems analysis for far too long, until overland travel and particularly the Himalayas captivated her on a trip to Nepal in 1982.

Siân Pritchard-Jones and Bob Gibbons met in 1983, on a trek from Kashmir to Ladakh. By then Bob had already driven an ancient Land Rover from England to Kathmandu in 1974 and led overland trips across Asia, Africa and South America as well as decrepit old tourist buses around India. He had also lived in Kathmandu as a trekking company manager. Before they met, Siân had worked in computer programming and systems analysis, but her heart had always been in the Himalayas, after a trip there on her way back from working in New Zealand.

Since they met they have been leading and organising treks in the Alps, Nepal, Algeria and Niger; they have hitched across Tibet, driven a busload of over-50s overland to Nepal, explored the Sahara and driven across Africa to Gabon. Some of this was real work, but luckily that ‘proper job’ has not materialised.

However, they regularly return to their first love, Kathmandu and the Himalayas, where they work with various publishers in Kathmandu, and have written guides on the Kathmandu Valley, Ladakh and Tibet.. During 2011 they revisited Tibet, this time driving the same old Land Rover back from Kathmandu to the UK overland via Lhasa, Kazakhstan, Russia and across Europe. It was with great relish that they returned to one of their former trekking haunts in Nepal - the Annapurna region - to research a new guide, and to contribute to Trekking in the Himalaya. 

Tickets are available on the door: £8 for adults, free for students, under 18s and RSGS Members. Kirkcaldy: 7:30pm on Monday 16th September in the Department of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Dundee Fife Campus, 5 Forth Ave, Kirkcaldy, KY2 5YS.

Edinburgh: 2:15pm on Wednesday 18^th September in Appleton Tower, 11 Crichton Street, Edinburgh EH8 9LE.

This talk is part of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society’s Inspiring People talks programme. For more information on the talks visit www.rsgs.org/events

'Inspiring People' speaking at Perth Concert Hall

Stunning photography, slow travel and adventures on every continent: three fascinating talks are still to come to Perth as part of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society's 'Inspiring People' talks programme.

First up, renowned photographer Timothy Allen will be sharing images from his time as the official photographer for the BBC series Human Planet.  He will visit Perth on the 15th of January to offer a behind-the-scenes look at the awe-inspiring series, which marvels at mankind's relationship with nature in the world today.

Timothy Allen. Human Planet.

In February, Dan Kieran will discuss the reason's he thinks travellers should stop looking for the fastest travel options,  take the 'slow travel' option, and learn to appreciate the experience of travelling.  Dan asks if we really travel any more, or if we just arrive. Besides extolling the virtues of 'staycation' holidaying, Dan argues that we need to bin the brochure, glide rather than fly, embrace disaster, be epic in our travel pursuits, and immerse ourselves in the life-changing experience of true journeying. Dan will speak on the 12th.

Dan Kieran. The Idle Traveller.

Adventurer and climber Neil Laughton will speak for the RSGS on the 5th of March.  

Neil has completed the Explorers Grand Slam, climbing the highest mountain on each continent and skiing to the Geographic North and South Poles. He has also made 12 first ascents in Greenland, trekked unsupported across South Georgia, circumnavigated the UK on a jet-ski, and piloted the world’s first road-legal bio-fuelled flying car 10,000km from London to Timbuktu.

Neil Laughton. Adventures on Seven Continents.

These talks will all take place at Perth Concert Hall. Tickets are £8.50 (includes booking fee) for adults and free for Students, under 18s and RSGS members.  Tickets are available at www.horsecross.co.uk and the Box Office 01738 621 031.  For more information on these talks please contact fraser.shand@rsgs.org 

To find out more about the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, visit www.rsgs.org, or follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/RoyalScottishGeographicalSociety and Twitter www.twitter.com/RoyalScotGeoSoc