I arrived in Auckland on 5AM flight from Melbourne, only to find LAN flight to Santiago was delayed by about an hour, which made for a...

So this time it’s off to Planet Penguin. Having committed to this in a moment of weakness, by the time we’d stopped off at Auckland via...

Boarding the plane for Winnipeg, the forecast was for clear skies and freezing temperatures. They were right about the temperature: they...

After checking into the Quito Swissotel, I met up with Lynne and Ed at the bar at 6pm, with much laughter all round. Their friends Morris and Anne duly arrived, then we headed for the Theatrum Hotel, which is in a beautiful colonial theatre in the town centre, for an excellent meal (ceviche, saffron risotto with shrimp, sabayon). (The old cities of Quito and Havana were the first cities to be declared world heritage sites.) The flight from Quito next morning put us down in th

En route to the Upper Amazon, Guayaquil (pronounced Y-a-Keel - our stepping off point), is pretty short on attractions, except for a few...