La Habana to Colombia via Panama…… Medellin airport is a long way from the city…the closest flatenough land I suppose…the taxi pulls out of the airport before asking me where I’m going?…when I tell him he doesn’t know the hotel…flags down another cab, no idea either…back to the airport…a gathering of cabs argues about the location…I had booked online, it looked impressive in the photo on their website, and they did have a website (?) eventually we get there, one of several hundred el cheapo hotels, the neon sign looked vaguely like the impressive façade of the website ….up the narrow stairs which barely held me and a skinny suitcase….but friendly people, nice little kitchen jammed into the courtyard…dead centre of the old city….just fantastic…lots of galleries, museums and the sculptures of Medellin’s favourite son Fernando ... read more

If these are the famous Trade Winds….I can do without the trade. Tearing ourselves away from the magic of Bora Bora in the Society Islands we set off for Rarotonga in the Cook Islands some 500 miles SW. The first day or so was really quiet we even had to drive for a while but then had Big Red up and hauling us along. Thursday came the front, wind blowing 20 - 25 knots and the seas just went berko. Sloppy, choppy big waves but no rhythm or rhyme, a violent washing machine action, not your smooth sloppy front-load this was your big Kelvinator on max agitation cycle. Waves were breaking right over the boat, sloshing over the cabin, flooding the cockpit, in my little bed I was looking up and watching water flooding over my ... read more

PARADISE LOST and REGAINED?… Just walk away Renee…. CAN YOU BE MORE (S)PACIFIC… NO MAD NOMAD HERE… AN ANENOME OF THE PEOPLE?.. Infernal, Internal Thermals…and much, much more!.. Nuku Hiva, now a memory, but something transpired there, it really got to me, I’m still not sure what it was…..more later maybe Unlike the Galapagos Islands which were basically conventional volcanic islands - you know, cone shaped, sloping lava fields to the sea, calderas, tunnels all that stuff, the Marquisas are far more topographically challenging. (and, as there are English, French and Spanish spellings, even differing names for many of these places, you may notice some inconsistencies !!) The Marquisas, enormous tortured rock mountains, stratified layers, peaks and rolls, huge cliffs jutting vertically from the water 100’s of feet, high crested peaks to 3,000 feet, constant cloud ... read more

We changed islands. After a week in San Cristobal we were ready to move. I t had been memorable, I think. A lovely little harbour, nice collection of shops and a couple of restaurants, fresh market, renovated malecon, always friendly people, the usual resorts and research places for the turtle huggers and cute little water taxis to get us to and fro the boat. Altho’ it may be hard to equate little bashed up dinghies and outboards with the elegant gondolas of the sunken city……I felt it was a bit Venetian….(and even more so in Isabela where the roads were kerb high flooded after big rains but that’s later) (You know…… there’s soo much control here in the Galapagos…..on everything except crap T-shirts… including, naturally, every possible single and double entendre on Boobies) And there’s a ... read more

Another day, another family, another roast pig……the sound of a thousand tiny balls, bearing…..thoughtlessly efficient design…..back on board….and so much less…..than last time! Life in Cuba, the people, the country, can be described in many, many ways, but I can tell you one thing for nothing…it is NEVER boring! nunca aburrido! Not that I get bored easily, as you know, I mean, I spent time staring out, just above the horizon, I could have done the hare krishna thing, I’m easily amused, but here, you know who wept! It is a constantly moving feast, altho’ that’s probably not the most appropriate saying as the food is the only low point, crikey, I could kill for a pizza. Not that I’m fading away! But I thought I’d shed the pelt here, you know, exercise, plain food, fruit….but ... read more