CircleK

Thinking of planning a first trip to Eucador in August. Lots I want to see, but we'll probably only have about 8 days.

Questions: Is August too chilly to fully enjoy the Galapagos, or is it still worth doing? Would it be crazy to spend a week in Ecuador and NOT do the Galapagos? And is it possible to enjoy the Galapagos and a little bit of the rest of the country's highlights in only 8 days?

Thanks for any advice!

atravelynn

Not too chilly. I've been there in August and a windbreaker is all that's needed. If you snorkel, just wear a wetsuit, as you would throughout the year. The water is coldest in August, but by only a couple of degrees. Extreme heat, earlier in the year, can be a problem, but not the upper 60's to 70's of August. Quite pleasant actually.

The time issue would be more of a deterrent. You'd need about 4-5 days to do 3-4 days in the Galapagos Islands.
If you are a nature/wildlife enthusiast who may never return to Ecuador, I'd say go for it! If not, then you may be sacrificing too much of the mainland.

My first trip to Ecuador was just jungle stuff, along the headwaters of the Amazon, and no Galapagos and I had about a week. But I figured someday I'd be back.

Personally, I'd put Galapagos at the center of my itinerary and see what else fits. But I'm a nature nut.

Percy

I was at the Galapagos in August and the temperature at the Galapagos was great.
When we got off the plane at Baltra Island( The only Island the plane flies to ) ,it was 86F and it was like stepping into an oven.

You will start seeing birds right away.
Those birds in the open air airport are Darwin Finches.

When you walk outside , you up in the air..those black birds are Frigate birds.

There is a 10 minute bus ride from the airport to a ferry to take you across the water(10 minute ferry ride) to the Island of Santa Cruz .

As you are on the ferry,look up in the sky again, those birds diving down like speers are the Blue Footed Boobies , now look on the shoreline from the ferry..again those are Blue Footed Boobies.. amazing.


It is from Santa Cruz that your yacht departs for the Islands of the Galapagos.

The end of August is bird hatching time , so you will be there when all these birds hatch, like the Blue and Red Footed boobies , among others.

But first you will visit the Charles Darwin Research Centre.

I would do the 4-5 day trip to the Galapagos, because this is a very unique place and a trip of a lifetime.

I would then have the City tour of Quito and see "Old Quito"

A side trip from Quito would be the Otavalo market ( which is not that far away..or better still if you are there on a Thursday then go to the Market at Saquisili, which is better than the Otavalo market and much more to see.

Also you might as well go to Mita Del Munda...this is the Equator place and is like a small little shopping and tourist complex.

At the Equator line...you of course will do the usual tourist thing !!!

You place one foot on either side of the line and you are in both hemispheres at the same time...cool, now get someone to take a picture of you.!

Let me tell you that in Quito it is chilly at night ..so bring a sweater and/or a jacket.

I have a friend from the USA who now lives in Quito and has a Tour Company in Quito... I can give you his name and e-mail address if you want.

He organized everything for me
and my trip to both Quito and the Galapagos was a pure delight.

Percy

CircleK

OK, I'm sold! Now I just need to convince my husband - but he loved Costa Rica, and I think this will be even better. Thanks for all your advice. Although we'd love to spend more time, at least it sounds like we can get the highlights of both the Galapagos and the Quito area in 8 days.

I'm sure I'll have more specific questions as the planning continues, but in the meantime if anyone has recommendations for good Galapagos cruises that are 4 or 5 days, that would be much appreciated. I think we'd probably lean towards a smaller vessel (i.e. not 100 people), but still want something nice and comfortable.

We will probably fly into Quito on a Friday and leave the following Sunday, so anything in between is fair game for the Galapagos.

Thanks again!

Percy

You can do all this in 8 days BUT you have to have everything planned out ahead of time.

I had everything planned out to a "T".

When I arrived at the Quito airport at 10:45PM, there were my two guides waiting for me.

One tour guide grabbed my luggage , the other tour guide grabbed my wife's luggage and off we went.!!!

The next morning,right after breakfast,we left our hotel with the tour guides at 7:30 AM and did not return until 6:10 PM...I was really given the Royal treatment each day by these two guides.!!

Yes, Costa Rica is nice .I just returned from there 3 months ago...BUT do not miss a chance to see the Galapagos... to me Galapagos is a once in a lifetime trip.

I have been to Costa Rica 3 timesand yes it is a great place.

Good Luck

Percy

Patty

I don't know what your budget is like and whether you prefer a more luxurious ship, but we were on the Archipel last May and can highly recommend that particular vessel. It's a catamaran with a capacity for 16 passengers. Very comfortable, newish boat, good if simple meals, outfitted for scuba diving and kayaking. A 3 or 4 night cruise will run about $700 per person. I thought it was a good value for the quality of the vessel. We couldn't find anything else in that price range that looked better. Archipel does book up very early though so may not have space available at this point.

Patty

I just did a quick search for 'Archipel Galapagos' and it seems that a second Archipel vessel is being added in June 2005, so there will be an Archipel I and Archipel II cruising the Galapagos by August. I'd check into this new vessel and see if it's identical or similar to the original one. Looks like both will offer Monday and Thursday departures, so you could fly in Friday, spend 3 nights on mainland Ecuador (whether that be Quito or elsewhere), fly to the Galapagos Monday morning and fly back to mainland Ecuador on Friday. The 3 night cruise on Monday includes (or did include as of last year) an extra hotel night in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz island so it's 4 nights total. If want more time on the mainland, you don't have to spend the extra hotel night on Santa Cruz. You can probably just ask them to book you on a Thursday flight returning to the mainland. So you'll have either 2 or 3 additional nights on the mainland before departing Sunday.

jenstemp

Patty--Was there time to do much kayaking on the Archipel? We're planning to go for our honeymoon next January. We really want to be able to sea kayak around the islands. Is that part of the trip on the Archipel? Thanks!

Patty

jenstemp,
We were on the 3 night cruise and there wasn't a lot of time in between scheduled landings. Probably the best time to do it would be during one of the beach or snorkeling stops. It wasn't a scheduled activity when we were on board but you might want to have whoever you book through check into this for you if it's really important to you.

jenstemp

Thanks Patty. I've posted another question regarding this. The sea kayaking is the part we're really interested in. So we want to make sure we'll be able to spend time doing it. Not just try and squeeze it in if possible. We found the one trip, but it's really spendy--twice the
Archipel's price! But the ideal trip, so I think we'll suck it up and go for it!

Patty

In that case, I would say the Archipel doesn't really fit the bill. I'd book a trip that specifically focuses on kayaking if that's what you really want.