Papuan echidnas and black tree kangaroos, a beautiful village and very strong currents, and the most developed part of Raja Ampat. We’re moving on today. Obaja is dancing around the back of the boat to the local music he plays and the atmosphere is pretty chilled. I...

The tourism privilege (and paradox), birds of paradise, sailfin iguana... and a sea snake in the engine.The ‘blue river’ draws its source from the rains that run through the limestone cliffs in the jungle. The water is so cool and clear and blue that it looks like...

Caves, spots that crocs like, and crowds of clownfish.This is about the half way mark of my trip. It’s about now the environment starts taking a toll on me. The antimalarials get to my stomach. The sandfly bites accumulate and flare. Cuts won’t heal. I know from...

A giant mangrove forest, a freshwater upwelling in the middle of a saltwater bay, sponges and corals we've never seen.  And white dolphins.I wake up and write my last day’s diary while parrots and animals whose names I don’t know turn on the soundtrack to an old...

"...globally we’re happy to spend a fortune sending hundreds of people to exotic locations to ‘talk’, but we can’t scratch together a few hundred bucks to help people on the ground to ‘do’ ". Ranger Patrol, marlin and how not to get killed by a crocodile.Get up, it’s...

Muck dives, lobster ‘aquaculture’ and a documentary maker. Our 3am start hits a snag when the new anchor chain won’t run through the pulley system. Eventually there’s a workaround but not before Arnaud almost loses half his hand in the winch - his glove is missing...

Where fishing is a lesson in humility, climate change takes a sea turtle nesting beach, and some thoughts about conservation funding..."it has nothing to do with what they do, and much more to do with whether they can write a nice grant application or demonstrate a...

Temptation from a ‘caviar tiramisu’ flavoured donut, and a departure day book ended by bad weather and rough seas… (a good thing Greg didn’t eat that donut!!).   I fluke the airport chemist’s last box of antimalarials and I’m off. It takes a long time to get to West...

His LinkedIn bio says…. “Experienced, independent and ocean-focused chair. Reviewer, facilitator, adviser and mentor”.  And all of this is true. But, to us he’s so much more. To us, Greg is a great friend, mentor, dive-buddy, incredible team mate and honorary crew...

Even on any ordinary day, this would be a gorgeous sight to see... fish aggregating and feeding on a healthy reef in Raja Ampat. So why then, are we pointing it out (apart from it just being pretty)? Well, these fish are aggregating on a RESTORED reef. A reef that was...