Equador/Galapagos

[reicherts4]

Has anyone done the Equador/Galapagos trip? We are thinking of doing it in August.

 

[Dahly]

We (my DS11 and I) did this trip last August. It was our first ABD, (or any guided trip) and we had a blast. The weather was beautiful in Ecuador, although the nights were fairly cool (almost cold) at the Hacienda, (nights 2-4). The guides, Chris and Eduardo (from Quito) were fantantasic, and they really made the trip. We were with a group of 18 others, including 2 other boys, and 4 girls ranging from 7 to 14.

The bus ride on day 5 back to Quito to catch the flight to the islands was the longest we had, but the skies were so clear, the bus driver stopped to let us off twice to take some pictures of the mountains. Eduardo said it was rare that a particular moutaintop was visiable (sorry, can't remember the mountain name). That is the kind of thing I remember...we were on a schedule, but the guides made sure we didn't miss a once in a lifetime photo op.

The Galapagos Islands were amazing. We had two naturalists from the Ship assigned to our group and they were so knowledgable about the animals and landscape. It was truely a trip of a lifetime for us.

Let me know if you have any specific questions and I will do my best to help.

thanks,

Dahly

 

[beesneeze]

I am sort of encouraging my 69yo mother and 18yo son to go on this trip.

My mom has always wanted to visit the Galapogos and I think it would be a wonderful trip for my son. Does this trip sound like something a senoir and a young adult would both enjoy together?

 

[Bobo912]

I haven't been on this particular trip, but we had a grandmother and her two teenage grandsons on our Alaska trip last year and a multi-generation family with parents, college student daughter and two grandparents in their late 80s. I think these trips are designed to be exactly the kind of trip a grandparent/parent/child of any age can enjoy together. We did some semi-strenuous activities (hiking, rafting), but nothing that the older folks couldn't keep up with, although they can always opt out if they want. We have some folks on the board who have taken the Galapagos trip, so maybe they will chime in. In my opinion, sharing such an exciting and unique experience together as a family would be a fantastic bonding experience and something you'll talk about for years to come.

 

[beachbunny]

I did this ABD trip last year. It was fabulous. This was definitely a once in a lifetime trip. I've got the most amazing pictures of sea lions, turtles, penguins, b**bies and more.

The only comment I would make is that mom needs to be able to transfer from the rubber raft to the ship and climb a set of stairs to reach the main deck of the ship. Also, there is a lot of hiking and snorkeling activities on the islands. On my trip, we had a three-generational family. Grandpa chose not to leave the ship for any of the island activities - I talked with him about it and he was fine with it - he wanted his kids and granddaughter to enjoy the islands.

 

[czycropper]

We just came back from the Galapagos, not with ABD but with Lindblad, and it was magnificient. We had 8 wonderful full days on the islands and in our trip we had a kid as young as 6 and on the other end a 73-year old grandfather with his 12-year old grandson. We actually had a third of the ship (National Geographic Endevour) were 20 & younger including my two DDs.

It was perfect for everyone. I'm sure that with ABD you can opt out of some of the walks as you were able to with the one we took.

It is a trip of a lifetime which I will encourage anyone that can do it to go on. The naturalists were top-notch, our Expedition Leader had over 20 years experience in the Galapagos with NatGeo, the Captain was from Puerto Ayora and the islands were spectacular - where else in the world can you walk within an inch of marine iguanas, finches, blue-footed ****ies, get kisses by a sea lion on the leg (happened to me) and snorkel/swim with penguins, marine iguanas and sea lions. The only two birds we didn't get to see were the red-footed ****ies and the albatross.

 

[kac911]

I know this forum was a year ago, but there is such limited info on the Galapagos ABD that it's one of my few options! To those who have been to Galapagos (ABD or otherwise), is 3 days enough to see all I want/need to see in the Islands? I know many trips have much longer stays in the islands and I don't want to feel like I went all that way and didn't get to see enough. But then again, I also don't want to wake up on day 7 and think "this again" which I am afraid a long trip might start to feel like? Galapagos is probably at the top of my bucket list because of the wildlife; just so you know were I'm coming from, and we are 2 adults. Thanks for any pearls of wisdom you have to shed on the subject!

 

[familygoboston]

I know this forum was a year ago, but there is such limited info on the Galapagos ABD that it's one of my few options! To those who have been to Galapagos (ABD or otherwise), is 3 days enough to see all I want/need to see in the Islands? I know many trips have much longer stays in the islands and I don't want to feel like I went all that way and didn't get to see enough. But then again, I also don't want to wake up on day 7 and think "this again" which I am afraid a long trip might start to feel like? Galapagos is probably at the top of my bucket list because of the wildlife; just so you know were I'm coming from, and we are 2 adults. Thanks for any pearls of wisdom you have to shed on the subject!

I came across your "late" addition to this thread. I haven't taken this trip yet...waiting for 2012 dates, but my TA took a 4 day cruise in the Galapagos and I asked her EXACTLY what you asked- Is it enough time? She said she thought it was, she certainly could have stayed longer, but felt she really got a great feel for the Islands in that amount of time. (BTW, I work with a TA who specializes in adventure/wildlife trips, so that is their focus) Also I have a SIL and BIL who LOVE wildlife and did 7 days and felt it was a bit longish, they were skipping excursions by the end...but that is just one opinion and they are not terribly adventurous; on our Africa trip they were in a jeep and tolerated that better than the hiking for instance!
We are balancing several interests ourselves, else we'd just do Celebrity Expedition for 7 days. But my teen girls really want to practice their laguage skills and see some cultural things in Ecuador also. When we did 10 days in southern Africa, mostly wildlife (7 nights), and added an "extra" 3 days in a more "cultural" area, and honestly it turned out to be a major highlight!! Now Im feeling like I don't want to just go "see the animals" and leave without "getting to know the people"
Good luck with your trip!

 

[mecllap]

The absolute best trip I've ever taken was to the Galapagos (with a day or two in Quito on each end). I went on a 7-day small-yacht cruise, and added 2 nights (one full day) on Santa Cruz on my own which was unusual back then (although the company that arranged it hired a guide for me) ( some people did go to Santa Cruz and use local boats from there). There are differences in animals between islands, and while the islands are not particularly scenic, they are all different. It's too bad that was in 1989 -- pre-blog days (I doubt that I'll ever get my journal and slides posted). You might want to google galapagos blogs to read some recent experiences. I know they are allowing more visitors now and there may be even more restrictions, and damage from imported species. Quito was very interesting as well.

I have recently been dealing with the dismay that recent financial downturn is likely going to mean that I won't be able to take my grandson there while I'm still physcially able.

If it's at the top of your bucket-list, try to do a longer trip -- 3 days doesn't seem at all like enough to me (but I'm sure the ABD trip is wonderful altogether -- would enjoy do that, but it's way too expensive). Snorkeling with sea lions is amazing and being on the beach with them is great. The iquanas are fascinating, as well as the birds, etc. etc. etc. And getting so close to them all without fences is truly awesome.

 

[Bobo912]

I didn't think 3 days was enough so I chose the 8-day cruise with Lindblad/Nat Geo for my 10 year old and myself. It was a fantastic trip and choosing the longer trip was definitely the right choice for us. I would have been happy to stay another week to visit the islands we didn't make it to! I would have come home with some serious regret if we had only spent 3 days in the islands.