Am wondering what would be the best ship for us to be on for a trip in the Galapagos Islands. We prefer a more upscale vessel with all the amenities but also one that affords a good tour of the area with fewer passengers. Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated.

We just returned from the Galapagos where we sailed on the Galapagos Explorer II. It was an amazing trip!! The staff was wonderful, the food &quot;good&quot; (not fabulous, but we could never complain), and the accommodations very nice. The naturalists that took the groups out (never more than 16 people) were dedicated conservationists and extremely knowledgeable. I would highly recommend this trip. Take lots of film or flash cards. <BR><BR>We were also lucky in that we flew in and out of Guiaquil, so we were not affected by the travel delays for those passengers who traveled through Quito (the volcano). <BR><BR>The hiking and landings were fairly difficult, but my 80-year-old mother kept up on almost all the hikes and the zodiacs never presented a problem for her. You won't get much rest on this trip because it is a high-activity adventure tour, but you'll never forget the incredible experience. <BR><BR>Our travel agent booked us on the General Tours (generaltours.com) trip. The hotel/air/ship transfers were handled exceptionally well by General Tour's local transfer agents. I'd strongly recommend this trip for anyone!!<BR>

Hi Linda, Thanks for the reply. Sounds like the Explorer is a good vessel for this trip. I'm sure when we go it will be wonderful. With all the different ships that do this area, how busy did you find it on the various islands with other tourists?

The only other people on the uninhabited islands were a few of the other groups from our ship of 16 people -- all with their guide. The Galapagos has really stick guidelines that their licensed naturalists must follow. You are asked to refrain from any eating or bringing food onto the islands so the birds will not get used to eating crumbs and there will not be any garbage. <BR><BR>The guides were very careful to keep our few groups away from each other (two doing dingy tours while two did the island tours). There was always a sense of quiet within the groups as well; almost a feeling that you don't want to disturb the animals even though they pay absolutely no attention to you. <BR><BR>The inhabited islands had a few people - maybe 10 or 15 people on the streets, of which there are only a few of those. The shopping is limited, but you'll probably want to buy a few of the stuffed blue-footed boobies from the street vendors. They're so cute and your friends and family back home will love them (3 for $5). Everyone needs a boobie, right?<BR><BR>Another ship that followed a similar itinerary to ours (and we met a few of its passegners on the plane) was the Polaris. I believe that ship carried 90 people (Explorer carries 100; we only had about 50 in November - low season but certainly great weather and not too hot, just overcast). We never crossed paths on any of the islands, although we did see them diving at Genovese Island in Darwin Bay. The difference I saw was they had much earlier departure times from the hotels and ours were extremely unusual in that we left the hotel in Guiaquil at 1:00 p.m. for the airport to the Galapagos (they left around 8 am) and the return trip we had a morning swim, lunch and then off the ship at 1:30 (unheard of on a cruise ship; usually up and out by 8 am). This was a delight as that rush, rush, hustle bustle on ships and the day of debarkation is such a pain, as well as I enjoy sleeping in a little when I'm on a trip. <BR><BR>Have a great time. You can see some of my pictures at:<BR>www.terrill-technologies.com/galapagos2002/<BR>

Linda, Thanks for the additional info. I tried to access that website to view your pics but nothing comes up for me as my webserver cannot find it. Will try again later.

ttt for Joel