An essential element of cruising on board Four SeasonsExplorer is the opportunity of visiting local islands that are not always accessible to those who stay in static resorts.
During our stay on board we went ashore to three different local islands each devoid of hotels and home to locals who rely on fishing and tourism as their chief means of income.
Where in the past, these islands were almost cut off from the world much has changed in the ten years since we were last here.
Now the mobile phone, tablet and Internet are common place. On island visits 10 years ago it was we the visitor who were an attraction to the islanders. It was they who flocked out of their homes to welcome us and stare at our very presence.
Today they hardly notice we are there.
Islands, barely half a mile long, are littered with motorcycles as the choice of transport. It is difficult not to ask why they are needed when the island has no roads.
Traditional sarongs have been replaced by beach shorts and the microwave oven has been switched for the outdoor kitchen that was, in years gone by, the mainstay of family food preparation.
Today the local shop is just as likely to stock frozen fish fingers as it is fresh tuna