It had long been my ambition to travel to South America, and in particular Peru and the Galapagos Islands. Like everyone else I wanted to see the giant tortoises.

For the second stage of our South American tour we travelled from Lima, Peru to Quito, Ecuador. We arrived at the old airport, tightly squeezed between the houses. I still have the image of colourful clothes flapping on washing lines at what appeared to be only a few metres from the aircraft wings.

After a day sightseeing in Quito we flew out to the Galapagos to begin our week long cruise.