“We are far away from far away,” Rex, the kind man at the wheel, tells us as we drive closer and closer to the end of the Earth. Quite literally we have travelled to one of the four corners of the planet – according to The Flat Earth Society. Any farther east and we’d be in Europe.
We drive for an hour to a place appropriately named Farewell and catch a ferry to Fogo Island. Rex has packed partridgeberry muffins to snack on, a nice touch after a two-and-a-half hour flight from Montreal to Gander. After an hour on the boat and another 25 minutes in the car, we reach the Fogo Island Inn.
The hotel has been the buzz of the travel industry, gaining accolades and even landing on the Condé Nast Traveller Gold List. Before we even reach the island, we hear about Zita Cobb, the island’s fairy godmother. The folk we meet speak about her with equal parts affection and reverence. We learn all sorts of things about the woman who is credited with bringing the hotel and jobs, lots of jobs, to the island. “Zita made wise investments in fibre optics and made a chunk of money before returning home”; “Zita is whip-smart”; “Zita doesn’t own a TV”; “Zita lives in a modest house bequeathed to her by her uncle”; “Zita is a voracious reader”; “Zita was her high school valedictorian”.
It feels strange to be vacationing on Canada’s east coast. This is where I grew up, in the province of New Brunswick, watching the ebb and flow of the highest tides in the world on the Bay of Fundy. It is a vast, picturesque place. But not when you are a teenager with dreams of being everywhere else.
Canada’s east coast is not its (fiscally) wealthy end. The region is made up of forest and water. Pulp, paper and fishing were the industrial backbone until the cod fishery collapsed, leaving vast unemployment in its wake. Newfoundland eventually struck oil and crept out of the “have-not” bracket, but many in the Maritime provinces are waiting for the fish to return.
It is a simple region, rich in natural beauty and with a reputation for having the friendliest people in the country. People make eye contact and wave hello. Folk seldom move away unless it is for seasonal work in the western oilfields. This place doesn’t much make with the fancy. No luxury hotels, high-end shopping or extravagant gourmet dining. It is a land of simple pleasures done simply. So how did this elaborate hotel end up in middle-of-nowhere Newfoundland?
The hotel is part of Cobb’s social-entrepreneurship vision. She created a charity called the Shorefast Foundation. The hotel, operated in a business trust, is the economic engine for the foundation that also focuses on microloans to generate more local business, and on the promotion of the arts. The inn is a community asset, so 100 per cent of the operating surplus is reinvested into the community.
The hotel desk staff, the cooks, the servers, the cleaners, the musicians, the drivers, the artisans building the furniture, the ladies quilting the bedspreads and weaving the rugs have all benefited from this economic injection.
When we wake up, we look past our toes, out to an entire wall of window, onto a massive expanse of the Atlantic Ocean. The hotel has mastered a warm east coast embrace with its small touches. It starts with a daybreak service: hot coffee and muffins waiting outside our door to help us ease into the day before wandering down to the dining room for breakfast.
The hotel’s decor might be called rustic chic. A wood stove stands in the corner of the bedroom. The custom wallpaper is powder blue with a pattern of caribou. The bed, the shelving, the chairs, the cushions, the rugs and the gorgeous quilts – a cacophony of colour on the bed – are all handmade. With the help of designers, the traditional “down-home” furniture and objects have been turned into modern masterpieces that are built and available for purchase in the workshop across the road. But amid it all there is a nod to newfangled amenities: a white-noise option for troubled sleepers and a fancy toilet operated by remote control.
In the dining room, the menu also serves up a sense of place. My poached eggs are served on buttermilk biscuits with salted cod. And later I discover that the Fogo Island ants dish, served in a braised-goat appetiser at dinner, is not a euphemism.
Fogo Island is 25 kilometres long and 14km wide. It got its name – the Portuguese word for fire – from explorers who passed the island and assumed from its desolate appearance that it had been ravaged by flames. But that did not stop the English and Irish from settling here in the 18th century, drawn by the mighty cod fish.
That fish is the subject of the afternoon we spend with Donna, our “community host”. We leave Joe Batt’s Arm (named for the shape of the inlet and the affection the folk here apparently had for one of Captain James Cook’s deserters) and wind our way through more places with equally delightful names: Seldom, Tilting and Little Seldom. We shop for a quilt and jam, visit a “flake” – the waterside huts where the fish are salted – and tour the Fisherman’s Union Trading Company, a museum where we learnt about the Fogo Island Process: a project by the National Film Board in the 1960s to document the struggles of the individual communities on Fogo Island with the loss of inshore fishery. Back then, the Catholic and Protestant communities didn’t interact much. But when they saw the films, they realised they had much in common. Faced with forced evacuation from Fogo Island, they decided to band together and start a Fishermen’s Co-op to preserve cod – and their community. There is wisdom in getting to know your long-ignored neighbours, it seems.
It just took me a while to figure that out. After 20 years of travelling the world, here I am, in my own backyard, having one of the most special experiences of my life. I’m just glad Zita Cobb figured it out first.
Read this and more stories in Ultratravel magazine, out with The National on Thursday, May 19.
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Read more from Johann Chacko
How to volunteer
The UAE volunteers campaign can be reached at www.volunteers.ae , or by calling 800-VOLAE (80086523), or emailing info@volunteers.ae.
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3EName%3A%20Cashew%0D%3Cbr%3EStarted%3A%202020%0D%3Cbr%3EFounders%3A%20Ibtissam%20Ouassif%20and%20Ammar%20Afif%0D%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3EIndustry%3A%20FinTech%0D%3Cbr%3EFunding%20size%3A%20%2410m%0D%3Cbr%3EInvestors%3A%20Mashreq%2C%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The design
The protective shell is covered in solar panels to make use of light and produce energy. This will drastically reduce energy loss.
More than 80 per cent of the energy consumed by the French pavilion will be produced by the sun.
The architecture will control light sources to provide a highly insulated and airtight building.
The forecourt is protected from the sun and the plants will refresh the inner spaces.
A micro water treatment plant will recycle used water to supply the irrigation for the plants and to flush the toilets. This will reduce the pavilion’s need for fresh water by 30 per cent.
Energy-saving equipment will be used for all lighting and projections.
Beyond its use for the expo, the pavilion will be easy to dismantle and reuse the material.
Some elements of the metal frame can be prefabricated in a factory.
From architects to sound technicians and construction companies, a group of experts from 10 companies have created the pavilion.
Work will begin in May; the first stone will be laid in Dubai in the second quarter of 2019.
Construction of the pavilion will take 17 months from May 2019 to September 2020.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Fasset%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2019%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Mohammad%20Raafi%20Hossain%2C%20Daniel%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%242.45%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2086%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Pre-series%20B%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Investcorp%2C%20Liberty%20City%20Ventures%2C%20Fatima%20Gobi%20Ventures%2C%20Primal%20Capital%2C%20Wealthwell%20Ventures%2C%20FHS%20Capital%2C%20VN2%20Capital%2C%20local%20family%20offices%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
15 years, 235 days old
- Jeremy Monga (Leicester)
15 years, 271 days old
- Harvey Elliott (Fulham)
16 years, 30 days old
- Matthew Briggs (Fulham)
16 years, 68 days old
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
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AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
Day 2, stumps
Pakistan 482
Australia 30/0 (13 ov)
Australia trail by 452 runs with 10 wickets remaining in the innings
