Sounds wonderful. Did you experience any children on any of the tours .. if so .. what would you estimate was the youngest. We are wanting to plan a trip and I was just curious of your observations.

Did I say I was jealous?

We had our two sons on this trip, the youngest being 12. He loved the Galapagos particularly being so close to the animals and birds, and snorkeling with the sea lion pups. We had one other couple on Anahi with two kids, 15 and 13. I saw kids ranging from 8-10 in other groups during our shore excursions.
The cloudforest visit was also interesting for the kids since they had an opportunity to go ziplining. Bellavista had several families with children some as young as 7.

Sounds like a fantastic trip!What a great experience for you and your kids! I just wanted to add a bit in here about children in Galapagos. My personal opinion is that if you are going to travel with an infant, I d suggest doing some land based daily tours, just for safety reasons. The youngest child I have seen on a cruise was 6 years old. This particular girl wasnt really ¨into¨the whole nature thing, and (unfortunately!) preferred to play video games in her cabin, or watch DVDS. Her nanny often stayed on the boat with her while the rest of the group went out on the daily visits. The top deck and balconies need to be closed off and unaccessible to little hands and feet to avoid climbing or slipping over! HOw old are your kids?

Waxwing .. thank you

Expert ... my kids are currently 5 and 6. We are avid hikers (although, not campers, I like a hotel and a shaower ) and our kids are really in tune to nature, not much into video games. I think we need to work on their swimming skills a bit and we do not travel with a nanny ..... We know it is an expensive trip, so we want to get them best experience for us all. any advise is appreciated.

Thanks to you both.

HI Alexis...
Just to be clear, the "video gaming-nanny watched child" wasnt mine! LOL! i think your kids will have a great time, especially if they like nature and hiking. Are you thinking of doing a cruise or some island hopping while in Galapagos? My experiences cruising have all been great! The land visits that you do with cruises are generally about 2-3 hours, but not strenuous! The walks are well-paced and you often stop just to observe the amazing things going on around you. I´m sure your kids could do that no problem. They willlove the proximity of all the amazing and different wildlife: getting up close to the iguanas and sea lions, finding turtle tracks, hearing about pirates! They´ll love it! Definitely keep up the swimming practice, and practice with a mask and snorkel, too! The snorkelling is amazing, and it would be important for the kids to be confident in the water. SOme snorkel visits are from the beach, but others are off the dinghy, which means a climb down (or jump off!) into the sea, which can be daunting for some. When I cruised on Athala, the captain and guide authorized us to jump off the back of the ship when we were anchored in a safe place, and the kids on board (even the SPECIAL one!) had a great time doing that, with a life jacket on! The ship´s crew were great and even made special "child-friendly" meals for the kids who were on board. I would highly recommend it, I had a great time! (There is a jacuzzi on board too, and a sun deck (with safe siding) at the top of the boat, which was ideal for the kids who were on.

Waxwing,

Many thanks for this report. My husband and I are also planning to go to Cotopaxi and Bellavista Cloudforest; please can you tell me where you stayed and what company you used to book the trip with.

Many thanks.

Regards,
Katerina