My husband and I are interested in the Galapagos Islands after viewing a DVD on a 10-day expedition-style tour sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund through Lindblad Expeditions on a ship called the Polaris. (We are HUGE animal/nature lovers, and members of just about every environmental org there is.) I'm wondering if any of you have experience with either this particular tour, or with Lindblad Expeditions in general. I understand they are top-rated, and offer tours to Antarctica, Costa Rica, etc.... but I always like to hear testimonials from other travelers!

Also, this tour is offered almost year-round, so I'm interested in advice about the best time of year to go to Galapagos. Our biggest criteria are (1) we both hate extremely hot temperatures >85 F, (2) we like warm snorkeling water, (3) we want to see the best display of animal life.

Any advice would be most welcome! Thanks.

Spent july '03 in GI-water was freezing-only went in w/a shortie-wetsuit-we rented from a store in the port town-word to the wise-we ran into MANY people who were disappointed w/the boats they were on-& found that some people paid $500 fo the week & other 3k & up for the same boat/same trip!! We were unaware that you could fly to the GI w/out a tour & book it upon arrival & save so much $$-sorry I can not vouch for the tour you are looking into-main things to ask would be-you may book a 7 day trip & assume that everyone else is doing the same-we found that the maj of boats return to the airport area in the middle of the week to pick up other guests-so 3 of your 7 days will be spent near the airport-there was not enuf snorkeling equip-def bring your own-or make sure to ask-we assumed & were sorely mistaken-there is also a great distance betw some of the islands & you could spend the entire evening while you sleep traveling-luckily we had tons of dramamine-ear-plugs-& have not been on a boat since-the wildlife is to die for-our first day we saw so much-& birds come upso close to you-we have more pictures than we know what to do with-insects/flies on the beaches-need to bring repellent & a large wide brimmed hat-& by all means-do not forget to bring Tevos-or water sandals-everyday you will be hopping on & off little motor boats into the water to get to the islands-that is actually another question to ask the tour co-how many dingy's (lil moter boats) do they have-we saw one boat that only had one & they had to wait 30-45 min to get onto the islands after arriving-just waiting........hope this was helpful.gt;

Hi Mortie,
Thanks for the info... it was helpful and I'm going to print it and keep it for reference.

Dear Djsantone,

Lindblad is a fabulous operator. My in-laws have taken many trips with them, including Antartica, where they use a ship similar to the one Lindblad takes to the Galapagos. We ultimately went on the Galapogas Explorer, because they could accomodate triples and Lindblad would not, but the itinerary is the same. It is a FABULOUS trip. We were there in March and it was plenty hot already. The temperature does not fluxuate all that much, as the islands are so close to the equator. Next to our Africa safari Galapagos was our favorite trip. You will love it.

MLMALC

The temperature is the hottest during the rainy season of mid Janaury to end of May.
However, the rain ,is a welcome relief from the hot days.
I just got back( last week )from the Galapagos and the tempwas about 80F,just right ,some days it was between 75F to 81 F.
The water is the warmest during the "rainy"season.
There is never a "bad" time to go to the Galapagos.
I got a month to month listing of what are the main features each month in the Galapagos..like right now , it is nesting time for the Blue Footed Boobies
For September/October/November,...the Humboldt current is the strongest...there are strong ocean currents.
December..this is the star of the warm season.
Janaury to May is the rainy warm season.
February ..has the highest water temperature
March...rainy season reaches its peak...but the air temperature is also the highest at this time ..reaching about 88F on average.
Everything will be lush during this rainy season...last week , when I was there, we saw lots of birds and animals but the hillsides were dry and there was not the green shrubs and trees that there are during the warm/rainy season.
So you see every month has something to offer.
I was happy with the display of birds and wildlife that I saw..I think it is great anytime
Hope this helps a little
Percy

mlmalc & percy: Just wanted to thank you both so much for the information on Lindblad and on the Galapagos. It's wonderful to hear directly from other travelers since you can't always believe the travel brochures. Thanks and best wishes to both of you!