A Galapagos Tour Review

Lynn's Galapagos Islands Tour Travel agent Quito and flights The yacht, crew & guide Diving and snorkelling Typical day Weather Favourite island Highlights Disappointments Tips and advice; packing list Trip rating More Galapagos tour reviews

Who did you book your Galapagos cruise through?

We booked our trip through Heather at Cultural and Natural Heritage Tours (make an enquiry with CNH Tours). We found her through friends.

Did you use any guidebooks?

We read Galapagos: A Natural History 2nd ed. by M.H. Jackson before leaving and took it with us. It gives a good description of the origin of the islands, Darwin's exploration (and subsequent thought processes), and the animal life. A bit of background was a big help in appreciating what the guide was explaining.

Heather recommended we stay at Mansion del Angel in Quito and it's a wonderful place; we loved it. It's an old converted house that is absolutely charming. The staff is friendly and helpful. Breakfast is served on the glass-covered roof and is very good.

Arrival in Quito was trivial. It's a small airport and taxis are everywhere. There's no need for a pre arranged pickup unless one is completely new at travel. Have the name and address of the hotel written down before you get in the taxi and ask what the fare will be before you depart for the hotel. If you speak no Spanish, just say "cuanto?" and hold up fingers.

We took a taxi to the airport in Quito where there was a rep who walked us through the process (which wasn't particularly difficult). The flight from Quito to Baltra is on a major SA airline (TAME). Just like any other airline flight except they feed you.

Upon arrival in Galapagos, we were greeted by our guide holding a big sign and wearing a big smile. We just pointed our bags out to the crew and they handled everything; we just got on the transfer bus.

Plan your Galapagos flights »

CNH Tours booked us on the Samba, which is operated by Andando Tours / Angermeyer Cruises.

It's just the perfect size - big enough to be seaworthy but not so large that you're overrun with fellow passengers. The boat is immaculately maintained and everything works.

It has 6 cabins. Ours, cabin 1, was typical and had two bunks. The upper bunk is twin-bed size; the lower probably ľ the size of a double bed. There was a very large (for a boat) bath and shower with seemingly unlimited hot water. For two people, the cabin was large and roomy and provided ample space for our stuff (we travel light).

I wouldn't recommend the new cabin on the top deck, however. There's only room for a bed (no floor space) and there's no storage space. The large cabin window looks out on the public area on the same deck.

The 6 crew (captain, guide, cook, engineer, boatman, and food server / general helper) could not have been more helpful or friendlier. I don't think any request went unanswered. The engineer swapped out an entire air conditioning unit when one of the cabins had an A/C problem. The crewmembers always presented a smiling and happy face even though they must have been exhausted by the end of the trip.

The passengers were ferried ashore in two rubber boats and were helped in and out of the boats by the crew. Landings were easy even for those passengers not physically fit.

The food on our Galapagos tour, especially the fish and vegetables, was splendid and plentiful. Some of the best meals we had on the entire 3-month trip were on board the Samba. We especially enjoyed the fish dishes. The cook, Leo, worked night and day, it seemed.

There is unlimited fresh drinking water.

This is a small boat (please save me from traveling with 50 other people) so hotel facilities are limited. There's no laundry, no Internet, no massages, etc. The boat is the perfect size and is wonderfully seaworthy and immaculately maintained.

Both 115 and 220 60-cycle 1-phase power is available.

The guide would copy camera images to his laptop and burn CDs if requested (and if the passengers had blank CDs).

The cabins were cleaned and the beds made every morning before 10 AM. They would easily have passed military inspection.

How was your guide(s)?

Our guide was Juan Manuel Salcedo. I am unaware of his certification level but I cannot imagine having a better guide.

Juan was born in the islands and has been on a boat since he could walk. He has a degree in ecology, has a USMM captain's license (appropriate for the Samba), and is a certified guide. There was no question asked that he could not answer to whatever depth the questioner wanted. His enthusiasm was boundless and contagious.

No diving. We snorkeled at most islands for 45-90 minutes at a time, depending on what the group wanted to do. Vis ranged from 50-100 feet (wonderful).

The boat had gear to fit everyone from 70kg (me) to probably over twice that weight, and it was generally in good shape. There were spares available whenever someone did have a problem with a piece of gear.

The skiffs were always present in case someone was tired or got cold. The crew could easily get the most inexperienced person in and out of the skiff.

Our guide was equally familiar with marine life as he was with land-flora and fauna. He would free-dive to 30 feet to point out critters and plants. We regularly saw sharks, turtles, rays, sea lions, penguins, colorful reef fish, boobies, etc.

Snorkeling was a highlight of the trip.

Up at 5:30

Breakfast

Shore excursion (before the sun got too intense and the other boats unloaded their hoards)

Back to the boat about 10:30

Maybe move the boat - or swim where we were if the boat didn't move

A great lunch

A nap

Afternoon shore excursion and/or snorkel

Snacks

Dinner

Briefing for the next day

Move the boat while passengers are asleep

Repeat

Terrific. Calm seas (or as calm as they get where the next land mass to the south is Antarctica). A few days of misty rain. Lots of sunshine - really, really intense sunshine.

More on Galapagos weather »

Did you get seasick and did you use medication?

No. No. Some passengers on our Galapagos tour wore patches. We slept like babies on the night passages between islands.

Prevent sea sickness »

Silly question. They are all different and are all are wonderful. We loved both the jungle and the barren lava fields.

Hard to say…maybe the first sight of a 100 kg tortoise which saw the birth of the United States. Or perhaps dancing with sea lions while free diving. Or gliding along with a sea turtle while snorkeling in water as clear as the air you breathe. So many highlights. You pick.

Non-wildlife highlights: Geology. The explanations of how the islands formed and why they are all so different. The entire trip was a science class with really cool labs.

What other wildlife did you see on your 8-day Galapagos tour?

Sea lions, blue-footed boobies, sea turtles, giant tortoises, marine iguanas, land iguanas, penguins, sharks, flamingoes, frigate birds, molas (ocean sunfish), dolphins, flightless cormorants, eagle rays, giant manta rays, many birds of which I don't remember the names, hundreds of colorful reef fish.

No.

• Take more than one camera. The salt air is hard on the electronics. The trip's expensive; cameras are cheap.

• Take several times the sun block you think you'll need and lather up all the time. The sun is like being under a broiler.
• Take about one-fourth of the clothes you think you'll need. Wash things in Woolite and hang on the boat lines to dry.

• Leave your wheeled luggage at home. It's an evil thing on a boat. The crew will hate you.
• Tip the crew well. They earn every penny.

• Take really good walking/hiking shoes. The lava's sharp and hard.
• For snorkelling, if you have really bad eyes and don't wear contacts, buy your own vision-corrected mask before you leave home. Any dive shop can help with this.
• Some of the shore excursions on a Galapagos tour are not for everyone. There were two elderly gentlemen on the trip who fell mainly because they were in terrain that was beyond their physical limitations. They persisted in spite of cautions from the guide. (Once one is on the boat, it's difficult to admit that you shouldn't do an activity.)
• Don't forget a pair of small high-quality binoculars.

What was the most useful item in your luggage?

Our packing list has gotten trimmed over the years and we travel light so there are lots of things that are indispensable. It's hard to argue against our passports being the most useful thing with which we travel.

However…two things perhaps not usually carried are large Ziploc bags and Woolite. Woolite allows us to travel with much less clothing than normal (it's phosphate-free and bio degradable); the Ziploc bags have a variety of uses…dry bags for electronics, clothing storage, and to soak clothes in Woolite, to name just a few.

I've attached the packing list we used for Galapagos (with some personal stuff erased). The rest of our stuff was in storage at a hotel in Quito. Our total luggage weighed 30 kg and we took about half that to the Galapagos.

We also take an Iridium sat phone with us whenever we travel to remote locations... it just provides peace of mind that family can find us if they need to.

10+. Words fail me to describe how much we enjoyed the cruise.