rock

Just returned from a wonderful experience at the Galapagos. We traveled from November 27th until December 2nd.
We booked our trip through Ecoventura and stayed on the Eric Yacht of the Eric and Letty fleet. The boat had twenty passengers, mostly from the U.S.. We stayed on the "Dolphin" deck and chose to have double beds. There was two drawers underneath each bed, plus a drawer in the end table and a small closet at the end of one bed. The toilet and showers were set up well and proved not to be that bad.
We decided to do the 5night package, running from a Sunday to Friday. The following is a breif description of what we did and the highlights:
Day 1
morning: Genovese Island/Darwin's Bay- this is great for those who like bird watching. We saw multiple Booby birds, Mockingbirds and other reptiles. The highlight was when we saw a flightless eagle eating a bird it had caught in the bushes. In the latter part of the excursion, we snorkeled in the local bay. There I saw Blue-Fin tuna chase after bait fish, seals and blowfish
afternoonarwin Bay- I had the opportunity to snorkel from the boat to the next excurion on a local beach. On the way I saw an Eagle Ray and a mooray eel. At the beach, we saw more seals and more of the same birds we saw in the morning
Day 2
morning:Forgot name of area- we toured a beautiful beach area where we saw a green turtle, flamingo's, land and sea iguana's. We snorkeled in the local area and it was perfect for stingray's and numerous colorful fish
afternoon: North Seymour Island- saw sea & land iguana's, lots of baby seals, small lizards and frigate birds
Day 3
morning: Tagus Cove/Isabella Island- This entailed a pretty tenuous hike, including a stair climb in the beginning which leaves you short of breath. This is a view tour as we headed up a crater and got some wonderful views. When we got back to the transport boat, we took a tour of the local bay. There we saw penguins, sea lions, marine iguana's,sea turtles and multiple birds
afternoon: Espinoza Point/Fernandina Island- this was definately great for those who like iguana's. There were thousands around us, as the males were starting to fight before breeding season. We also saw two baby sea lions playing in a small pool with the momma looking on. After the tour, there was a snorkeling excursion which allowed us to swim with the green turtles
Day 4
morning: Santiago Island/James Bay- we saw the lava flow formations next to the beach. There were numerous sea lions and birds. after the short tour, we were allowed to snorkel in the bay. This was the best part. We were able to swim with some curious sea lions and were able to snorkel next to some large green turtles and stingrays. One person even swam near a black tip reef shark.
afternoon: Bartolome Island- on the way to this island, I saw two hammerhead sharks/really cool. At the island, we snorkeled in a bay that allowed us to swim with penguins. We saw numerous starfish, seals and bait fish. We saw the booby's dive in and feed on them. After snorkeling, the group took a strenuous hike up 365 wooden stairs at the peak of Bartolome. The views were spectacular, but it was worth it.
Day 5
morning: Baltra- probably the weakest part of the trip. They gave us a early wake up call and rushed us to shore. Here we took a quick tour of the Giant tortoise research center. We got some good pictures of the GT's in captivity, but it was fast. The transfer from the research center to the Baltra airport went very smoothly
Here are some quick thoughts I thought should be noted:
1. The thing that will make this as either a very enjoyable or miserable experience will be whether or not you get sea sick. The first night 5 people got sick, but thereafter recovered. The key is to take dramamine at the right times(i.e. before bed)My girlfriend had a tough time because she felt queezy most of the trip
2. Wetsuits- I did not use the wet suit once, but mostly everyone else did. The time when it was definately needed was during the snorkeling trip with the Green Turtles. Other than that, once you were in the water, you are fine
3. The "lamest" part of this trip was probably with regards to the Giant Tortoises. They could have done the full tour on Thursday, but instead gave a quick half tour on Friday. Those who chose to do the full 7 day tour got to visit the Highlands Friday afternoon to see the GT's in the wild. Maybe that's the incentive for paying for the full 7 days. If you want to pay for the extra 2 days, that is totally up to you. But you have already seen most of the wildlife the prior 5 days and have nothing left to see other than the GT's. he question you have to ask yourself is if you are willing to pay that extra money to see one animal in the wild?
4. Those rooms that had one bed had only one drawer to store your clothes. This is important to note as that you should bring as little clothes as possible. There were also rooms that had a bunk bed on one side and a single on another. In my humble opinion, that is some tight quarters!
5. Be prepared to pay for a $100pp entrance fee to the park. Also, to leave Ecuador, it will cost $25 pp
6. Please refer to Trip advisor for reviews I posted on the Swissotel and JW Marriot in Quito
Overall, I thought the trip was fantastic and the guides were wonderful. This trip was so unique and I will always remember the closeness I achieved with nature. I hope the Ecuadorian government maintains the cap on yearly visitors to maintain the beauty of this part of the world. I HIGHLY recommend taking this trip
Hope this helps

hopefulist

Thanks for sharing!

sandy_b

Thanks Rock . . . I'll be in Ecuador Jan 29-Feb 13 and will be taking a 8 d/7 n cruise while there. I'm glad to get some recent first-hand news.

Were you just in Ecuador for your cruise or can you report on some land details?

Thanks,
Sandy (in Denton)

Percy

Thanks for sharing your trip rock.

It brings back lovely memories.

Too bad about your room ,in that you felt crowded.

Hope all went well in Ecuador and on your trip home.

Percy

rock

Percy...my cabin was perfect. It was the others who were having a rough go at it
Sandy b...The only land advice I can give you is on the hotels in Quito. I posted that info on TripAdvisor.com. The only other information I can give you is from what others on the boat told me about their trips. If I am not mistaken on the name, they went to the Amazon(I believe the resort is Gamboa, but I may be wrong). They said the trip was great but that the bugs were "killer"

atravelynn

Glad you enjoyed your trip to a wonderful destination, Rock. No wetsuit! What a tough guy! Thanks for posting.

anat1

Thanks for your posting, we are going to the galapagos in two weeks. How was the weather / water temperature? Was the seas calm or rough that you had to take sea sickness pills?

Anat

rock

Anat1....The weather was perfect. Make sure you bring sum protective lotion and bring a hat. The sun can be very strong. As for water temps, refer to my wetsuit section in my first post.....As for sea-sickness: it matters where your boat is and what size you are on. Remember, we were on a 20 person yacht, so its not the biggest boat. Some parts of the Pacific are rougher than others. It seemed the time you felt it most was when you are in bed. Most of the people took sea sickness meds prior to dinner or before bed time

Elizabeth_S

Hi - I just figured out I can stay at the JW Marriott on points - how did you get from the airport to the hotel -is there a shuttle bus?

rock

Elizabeth....We had someone waiting for us from the tour company we worked through. I initially called the Marriott reservations desk and they said that you could call them the day before and they would have a shuttle waiting for you

Elizabeth_S

Thanks Rock - I'll do that......I'm so happy I read your post because I'd forgotten about my Marriott points! I was able to book Lima and Quito - Happy New Year!

travelholic

Hi Rock - I am considering booking a trip on the Eric. I am a bit concerned that the boat employs Level I guides. Could you tell me more about your naturalist guide and your experience with him? What level was he? Good command of English? Overall knowledge of the animals?

BARRY

Great report .We are considering a 15 day trip to Ecuador in May that would include a 5 or 7 day Galapagos experience but one us does not snorkel or swim .Will this make a difference in that part of the trip?

rock

Travelholic....The boat we were on had two Ecuadorian guides assigned to 20 people. Our guides were full of knowledge about both the animals and the history of the islands. It was actually amazing the details they were able to share with us.I can say that myself and the rest of the boat were very happy with their services. They both had sharp accents, but their English was very good and were able to understand them. One of the guides was actually a ex special forces diver for the Ecuadorian Navy, which was pretty cool. I will say that they do rotate guides, so the ones I had may not be the ones you have. Also, the Ecoventura does a follow up questionaire with all of its travelers, so I think they do a thorough job of weeding out any substandard guides.As for the "levels" assigned to guides, I have no idea as to what they would rate
Barry....sorry to hear you don't snorkel, it's probably the best part of the trips. Usually what happens is that we would go on the island and do the tour. Once we got back to the beach they allowed us to snorkel for about an hour or so. There were some who did not go in the water, so I am sure there is something for you to do while others snorkel. I can remember only 1 trip that was focused on snorkeling, and that was when we swam with the turtles