We took the Hop-on Hop-off bus tour around the city. We conducted this 8 years ago and today we witnessed continued expansion of the city on reclaimed land. There are more high-rise buildings, but the past is still preserved and in many places incorporated into modern developments.

On the transfer from the airport to the hotel the temperature had already reached 25C. At lunch we ate at an Indian restaurant on the Boat Quay. Here for centuries trade with India and China had been conducted through settlements along the Malacca Straits by the Portuguese, Dutch and later the British. The evidence of

Our uneventful, though comfortable, Singapore Airlines flight (Airbus A350-900) saw us following a different route than normal because of the threat of American action in Iran which is normally crossed by this flight to Singapore. We flew to the east crossing the North Sea at 37,000ft and continued at this height across The Netherlands, Germany

Our transatlantic journey was uneventful until the arrival in Amsterdam. Strong winds were disrupting air traffic, especially for smaller aircraft. Our 777 landed but upon arrival we were informed that our flight to Manchester was cancelled. We were rebooked to fly to Paris and then on to Manchester to avoid the wind. We arrived home

A lazy day spent relaxing in the garden of the hotel.

We arrived at Balta Island after an overnight passage. Disembarkation and transfer to the airport took place. Whilst at the gate we saw 2 Land Iguanas to add to the species list. The Latam Airbus 319 was fully booked so with a short runway and a heavy load we refuelled in Guayaquil, the major port

Around 5:30 a.m. we entered the caldera of Genovesa Island. This is all that is left of a shield volcano now flooded by the sea and large enough to accommodate many ships near the rim where the water is shallower to allow anchors to be dropped. Again visits were time limited and also the numbers

Today we started at sunrise with a panga ride to the red beaches (mostly iron oxide) of Rabida Island. When disembarking, we were greeted by sea lions, whilst across the vegetation-covered berm was a saltwater lagoon with a colony of American/Caribbean Flamingos engaged in feeding with their heads in the water. Alongside were White- cheeked

We left Baltra Island well after dark and journeyed overnight to Santiago Island. Here is a complicated mass of ash and spatter cones and blocks of tephra now being eroded by the sea in addition to differential weathering along the guano spattered cliff sections. We witnessed this in Buccaneer Cove on the northwest coast of

We repositioned overnight across the Equator to Baltra Island. During the afternoon we travelled by panga to Las Bachas beach. This amazing ‘organic’ white beach consisted of eroded shells and coral linking tephra headlands and backed by lechos trees, mangroves and lagoons which are the feeding grounds and home to flamingos, great blue herons, black