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Published: July 17th 2013
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We have just got back from our 8 days cruise through the Galapagos Islands.
Leading up to the cruise we researched a lot of websites and options, everything is so expensive! They keep the prices high to eliminate mass tourists, which would impact negatively on the nature. I emailed a company, which claimed the lowest prices guaranteed and was able to get quoted a much more reasonable price! And the flights from Rio (Brazil) to the Galapagos only where $500 – was a long journey though 30 hours of travel but we had meals and entertainment on every flight, which always helps!
Surprisingly how good you can get at sleeping in airports., often I would fall asleep at around 3am and no one around and when my alarm goes off the whole airports full and people are sitting right next to me. Always an awkward wake up! Haha. We had a 9 hour stop over in Bogata Airport in Colombia, and there was shop which had about 14 bowls of taster chocolates and organic coffee tasting available – so that was always a fun game as soon as the lady over seeing this would leave her post one would have to go and see how many different chocolate flavours we could get and how many cups of coffee before she returned. Hands down the dark chocolate covered coconut was the best one and still holds a place in my heart haha.
Finally we arrived in the Galapagos Islands! Day one of the tour was getting settled and hanging around the main port in Santa Cruz. After some essential shopping (4 bottles of red wine) Bren and I were sorted and just consumed 1 of said bottles on the deck whilst watching sea birds fish, pelican fish and sea lions make abandoned ships their homes.
The Boat
Our cruise, was the cheapest available. It was also one of 2 boats that only hold 10 passengers. We wanted a small group, as you always do end up doing more with smaller bunches, as it’s easier to manage! We were very lucky and scored the biggest cabin, we could put our bags under a shelf and have 6 small square shelfs so we could unpack easily (always nice when living out of a bag!) Others had to put their bags on the floor, of their only walkway, which you would nearly have to turn sidewards to walk through! The beds where also tiny, you would hit the wall every time you turned over but we thought after 1.5 months of shared bathrooms and no less than 6 bed dorm rooms this all to be luxury!
The first night was lots of driving, and through rough seas – I had felt better that’s for sure! Slowly day by day the sea sickness got a lot better, but then I would go on land and still feel like I was swaying and then felt land sick – cant win!
Daily Itinerary
On a whiteboard each day would be written:
7.00am Breakfast
7.45 Wet/Dry Landing
9.00 Snack Time
10.00 Snorkelling
2pm Snorkelling.
Then a list of Wildlife we could expect to see.
So each day the bell would ring for breaky and it would be already on the tables for you – if that’s not motivation to get up I don’t know what is! Haha
Then we would head onto land and do about a 2-hour nature walk. These where definitely the highlights.
The animals that you see are not afraid of humans, they will go about their daily routine and not even acknowledge you are there. The landscape is very volcanic and Baron, as you walk the path birds walk out in front of you, Iguanas don’t move an inch and Sea lions block your way – they may open a lazy eye to watch you pass but other than that no one animal is bothered that you are there.
We witnessed Blue Footed Boobies (the bird with the blue feet, no one knows why they have blue feet – or why they are referred to as ‘boobies’ but hilarious nonetheless!) Performing their mating routines, and whilst we watched as a group an arm lengths away other Blue footed Boobies would walk through us to try and woo the female also.
Wildlife
Sea Lions – everyday we saw these. Either in the water, swimming around us or 100’s laying on the beaches we would visit. They are not bothered by people, and the young pups will swim and play with you as they are curious.
Birds:
Albatross, these where just sitting on the path nesting yet again not bothered that we would walk through.
Blue footed Boobies
Frigate Birds
Pelicans
Finches
Marine Life:
Tropical Fish
White tip Reef Shark
Sea Lions
Eagle Rays
Sting Rays
Sea Turtles
Hammerhead Sharks
Marine Iguana
On Land
Giant tortoises
Iguanas
Sea Lions
Everyday there was something different to see!
Travel Points:
Fun Fact, something I didn’t know before travelling here is that Ecuador uses USD Currency. So meals are listed as $4.00 - $12.00 throughout Ecuador, coffee is $1.00 and shopping at supermarkets for a few bags will cost you $5.00 maximum. It is strange that a country that uses USD currency has avoided inflation of a western society, and still is able to maintain the cheap pricing.
The company we went through to get the best prices (at least 500 cheaper than what was stated on the websites was: ) I spoke with an agent, they where great in getting back to us daily and he organised everything! Also we paid the cheapest by far in comparison to others on the tour, some even paying more than us for 5 days not the 8!
Many people um and ahh, just like we did weather when you get to the island there will be possibility to gain a cheaper rate for a last minute deal – we saw one 5 day offered at last minute for $900 and then for an 8 day for 1400 (but we paid less than that). Limitations here, are if you get there you might not be able to get onto one, and having to pay full price anyway or wait a few days for the tour to start and spend the money in town (which for accommodation we only saw 2 hostels). Also, as a lone traveller this may be ok but most last minute spots are for only the 1 – so people in groups should definitely book beforehand!
Also, another option is to stay in Puerto Arora Santa Cruz (the main port) and do day trips in large groups to surrounding Islands. After you incorporate the cost of accommodation, feeding yourself, rental of the snorkel gear and cost of the day tours $90.00 – this works out a lot more expensive than what our daily tour broke down to be. Many divers are more inclined to do this, as the dive cruises are really expensive and there are a few good intermediate dive sites not to far from the coast.
Time of year to visit the Galapagos Islands:
This is also subject to mixed reviews, we had tried to research this but it was impossible! The high seasons are mainly around xmas time, and Americas holiday seasons: June, July and August. (as Americans make up 70% of the tourist population that visit the Galapagos yearly). But, June, July and August are actually cold times to visit, the snorkelling for us with sunny days was still only on the brim in May and wetsuits where a necessity. The prices are higher this time of year, due to the American influx but this is a strange high season for a tourist destination, as it is not the best time to go! According to our guide, the best times to visit the Galapagos Islands are first 2 weeks in December, then March and April for calm seas, warm but not to hot (the islands are located right on the equator). The months of June, July, are getting much colder and the water becomes cold from southern swells and August through to October the weather is unforgiving and the seas are extremely rough.
Overall it was an amazing experience, the landscape and the wildlife is like no other and the cruise was worth breaking the budget for!
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