https://www.fodors.com/community/ en Sat, 16 May 2026 06:33:22 GMT vBulletin 60 https://www.fodors.com/community/images/misc/rss.jpg https://www.fodors.com/community/ https://www.fodors.com/community/south-america/galapagos-land-based-journey-1735568/ Thu, 14 May 2026 03:16:11 GMT On a land based tour of the Galapagos. Booked via Galapagos alternative as a rather late plan as we were set to do a family trip to the Dordogne but... On a land based tour of the Galapagos. Booked via Galapagos alternative as a rather late plan as we were set to do a family trip to the Dordogne but had issues with family availability. Bought a lot of 30 and 50 SPF synthetic slacks/ shorts/ long sleeve shirts as well as water shoes/ hat from Costco/REI and Merrill for the trip. Mosquito Repellent and reef safe SPF 50 sun screen. Travel cameras brought along were my Nikon Z50 mk 2 with 16-50 and 28-400 lens and OM TG7 for the ocean. This was a land based tour as I have a tendency to get sea sick. Flew out of SFO after spending the night at the Hotel Nova (clean and inexpensive) with morning flight on UA with about a 3 hour connection in IAD, landing in Quito around midnight. United club IAD overcrowded but travel was otherwise uneventful. Stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott across the street from the airport. Typical Courtyard. Could have used some potable water bottles in room as the country water is not safe to drink. Next morning had us walking across the bridge to the domestic terminal, First order of business was the TCT stand where we showed our preregistration forms. Second order of business was the bio security check that was prepaid and preregistered and our luggage was xrayed. LATAM check in followed. This all took about 35 minutes. Went to the VIP lounge courtesy of Priority Pass to wait for our flight. Decent lounge but most of the electrical outlets were worn out and it was difficult to find some in working order to top off our Phone charge. Latam flight took off on time for the 2 hour flight to Baltra. After landing we walked off the plane to the terminal where we were greeted by signs with our names and we were escorted into the VIP lounge where we handed over our passports, luggage tags and $400 for the Galapagos entry fee of $200 per person. Fifteen minutes later we were escorted to a van with our luggage and were greeted by our guide for the day and driver who transported us to the channel between Baltra and Santa Cruz. We were boated across the channel and picked by a truck and another driver. A short tour of the highlands followed with a visit to El Chato ranch for lunch and to visit the giant tortoises. A drive to our hotel in Puerto Ayora followed. Our hotel was Villa Escalera. Nice boutique 4 star type hotel with a pool in front of the harbor. Room was good sized and very comfortable. Staff very helpful. Mosquitos in the lobby were a nuisance but otherwise had no complaints. Multiple ocean iguanas in trees overlooking the pool. Ate diner at the 1835 restaurant across the street, then retired to our hotel. ]]> South America mjs https://www.fodors.com/community/south-america/galapagos-land-based-journey-1735568/ https://www.fodors.com/community/south-america/buenos-aires-san-antonio-de-areco-in-november-1735557/ Tue, 12 May 2026 15:04:57 GMT I am looking for ideas about a trip (from New York) in November. My partner does not want to go to Mexico, which would have been my first choice. I... I am looking for ideas about a trip (from New York) in November. My partner does not want to go to Mexico, which would have been my first choice. I think we ought to stay in this hemisphere to avoid jet lag. One plan might be to go to San Antonio de Areco to catch the last days of the Fiesta in that town. (Can anyone comment on this; we are not horse people but it looks interesting and colorful). We could then spend one or two nights at an estancia--LA BAMBA DE ARECO looks good. From there, back to Buenos Aires for about 6 nights......we have been before, but not in about 20 years. Not planning to rent a car.

I can do research but I'd love to read comments about recent trips. In Buenos Aires, we would relax and focus on trying different foods, and go to restaurants at night.....I did read that restaurant prices are no longer the big bargain they were when we were there..(??) ]]> South America ekscrunchy https://www.fodors.com/community/south-america/buenos-aires-san-antonio-de-areco-in-november-1735557/