Galapagos question

[tufbuf]

So I am looking for an alternative to our canceled Egypt tour.... and it looks like it will be the Ecuador and the Galapagos. To those who have done the trip with ABD, has anyone flown out of Quito on the evening of day 9 instead of day 10? I was looking at flighst out of Quito back home and it looks like the flights are all leaving at 11:30 pm, so I'm hoping we could leave the day before the actual last day rather than staying a full extra day.

Thanks!

 

[beachbunny]

You're back in Quito by the afternoon so you could make your flight. But you'll miss the farewell dinner which was awesome! There were live musicians, dancers, a great buffet, and more - don't want to spoil it all.

We also had a late flight out of Quito and our guides arranged for us to keep our room past check-out time. Our flight wasn't as late as yours so I don't know if they could arrange that without additional payment.

 

[tufbuf]

Thanks for your input. I'm hoping not to miss the farewell dinner and have time to make the flight on the same night. I'll give ABD a call and see what they will say.

 

[2minutes]

Hi Tufbuf. Sorry to hear about your Egypt cancellation. I just booked ABD Galapagos for this summer and am now researching flights as well. I don't know where you call home but if you can route through Miami, American Airlines has departures at 6:40a and 9:55a.

 

[tufbuf]

We are all the way in the west, flying in in Seattle. I have to use Delta since that was the airline I had booked for Egypt and the flights out are all at 11:30 pm. The flights are not great at all, it arrives late at night and I have to get a consensus if the family is willing to arrive the day before the adventure starts. The first day doesn't like a busy one. We might just leave on the last day and do a day tour of Quito. I called ABD and the person was supposed to call me back but never did. Oh well...

To those who have gone, do you remember what time the farewell dinner ended?

 

[Dahly]

We are all the way in the west, flying in in Seattle. I have to use Delta since that was the airline I had booked for Egypt and the flights out are all at 11:30 pm. The flights are not great at all, it arrives late at night and I have to get a consensus if the family is willing to arrive the day before the adventure starts. The first day doesn't like a busy one. We might just leave on the last day and do a day tour of Quito. I called ABD and the person was supposed to call me back but never did. Oh well...

To those who have gone, do you remember what time the farewell dinner ended?

Hi. We did this trip in 2009, and the dinner was over probably around 9ish if I remember correctly.

The first day wasn't all that busy, but it was an early start after a late night. I think we had to be downstairs for breakfast before 8am, and on the bus by 9. We were an the bus for a while and some of the kids went back to sleep. My DS had a travel pillow and blanket and he zonked out. I think nearly everyone had flights that got in late the night before the tour started, but everyone was so excited to get going, no one minded.

I am sorry about your Egypt trip being cancelled, and I hope you have a fabulous time in Ecuador.

 

[tufbuf]

Dahly, thanks so much for your input. That is so helpful! We decided to fly in on the designated arrival date and not do a pre-night and leave on day 10. We will just tour the city with the full day we have before flying out since all flights heading our way leaves at 11:30 pm. I really don't want to miss the farewell dinner. Thanks again!

 

[Dahly]

Dahly, thanks so much for your input. That is so helpful! We decided to fly in on the designated arrival date and not do a pre-night and leave on day 10. We will just tour the city with the full day we have before flying out since all flights heading our way leaves at 11:30 pm. I really don't want to miss the farewell dinner. Thanks again!

You are welcome! Please let me know if there is anything else I can help with. One tip, only because it took me by surprise, although it probably shouldn't have...it was much cooler at Hacienda Cusin in the evenings and overnight that I would have thought. Some of the rooms had fireplaces and some had electric heaters, but it was still cool (we were there end of July). One person moved rooms because she was so cold.

Dahly

 

[tufbuf]

Ooooh... that's a really good tip! Thanks so much!! I don't too well with cold weather and knowing that the evenings are cool, we'll consider bringing small fleece blankets.

Also, I was watching a Galapagos documentary in the Nat Geo channel last night and I can't help but notice how many times the narrator mentioned the "cold waters of the Galapagos". How cold is cold? I know they will provide wet suits but cold water makes snorkelling half as fun.

 

[czycropper]

They weren't that cold when we went-March 2010.

It depends if your ship (I didn't go with ABD but with NatGeo/Lindblad) takes you by the current-I can't remember the island (I'll look it up and post later) and then you can really feel the difference. It was kind of cool to go into the cooler waters since thats were the penguins were swimming. Yep, we got to swim with penguins, turtles, sea lions (actually one sea lion was swimming with us and then another came and actually looked at us, less than a foot in front of us-which, of course, made my daughters day! and it spooked me so much that I couldn't get a photo of him when he was inches in front of us.

You'll have a great time. We were on the islands for 8 days and loved every minute of it! I'm still scrapbooking the trip.

 

[tufbuf]

Ohmigosh! That is so cool! My daughter will be thrilled if a sea lion swims close to her! Okay, August should not be so bad if March was ok. Thanks! That is reassuring!

 

[Dahly]

Ohmigosh! That is so cool! My daughter will be thrilled if a sea lion swims close to her! Okay, August should not be so bad if March was ok. Thanks! That is reassuring!

August is a bit cooler, both the air and water temp, than March
(these are average Galapagos temps)

Month high low water temp
March 87 73 77
August 75 66 71

The water was fairly cool (at least for me) but it didn't stop us from enjoying the amazing experience!!

 

[tufbuf]

Oh wow! Hope we will be close to the 70s than the 60s! It won't stop me either, it's not everyday I get to snorkel at the Galapagos. Thanks for all the input!!! Very helpful!!!