just back from Galapagos (Eden) and Ecuador
 

I just returned from an amazing 2 1/2 weeks in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands (on board Eden)....

Rather than post a lengthy trip report I'll just say that if anyone has any questions or wants any advice or suggestions regarding the following, then I'll be happy to answer...

Our trip comprised of:
- flying in and out of Quito
- staying at Cafe Cultura in Quito (3 nights, throught our stay)
- 3-nights at jungle lodge 'Sacha Lodge'
- 3-nights at Hacienda Cusin (near Otovalo)
- 2-nights in Banos at Luna Runtun
- a short trip to Cotopaxi national park and a hike up to the climbers' refuge
- 6-nights on board Eden in the Galapagos

Most of it we booked ourselves, Martin from Sangay Touring helped us out with the rest. We used a combination of public transport and private guide(s).

Too much to really write any kind of concise trip report - but if anyone has any questions, let me know!

belhr:

Nice to hear you had a wonderful time. I hope Martin treated you well. We stayed at the Cafe Cultura, and really liked the hotel. The staff was very friendly and helpful.

belhr

welcome back
I saw some of your comments on another posting.

Glad that over all ,everything was great
and that Martin treated you well.
percy

I know this is really general, but my husband and I headed to the Galapagos in two weeks on the Eden. Any general advice? Did you find the snorkeling equipment on board usable or would you recommend bringing your own? How were the accomodations, food, guides? Anything you would recommend we know before we leave? Thanks!

sag3gonzals, check out the galapagos planning post, I am pretty sure someone there posted about the snorkeling equipment. If it wasn't there it might be on another recent thread, but I do remember reading it rather recently.

re. snorkelling equipment. If you're a woman with feet smaller than a size 8 then I'd suggest take your own flippers. They had very few small sizes and basically the women either had to make do with flippers that were too large or go without! The masks and snorkels were fine.
Food was fine also - nothing fancy. They catered pretty well to me not eating red meat. Plenty of beer, wine and spirits on board. If you want a fizzy drink other than coke, take it on board yourself.

I didn't like our guide at all. He was an obnoxious 26-year-old who thought he had the answers to all of life's questions and would go off on boring tangets about reincarnation and himself, basically, during our walks. But they rotate the guides frequently, so he probably won't be guiding when you get to the boat!

Take plenty of bonine (travel sickness) as the seas will still be rough when you go. We also used the pressure-point wrist bands

Take clothes that dry out easily as stuff can get wet and damp. Take something warm for the evening.

Have fun!

Hi Belhr!

I just booked a trip for October for my family-- on the Eden too.

I'm wondering-- we have 4 days on the mainland before we leave for the Galapagos-- what would you recommend, if anything? On this board several suggested the cloud forest. You stayed in several of the hot spots... what did you like the most? why?

Also, you mentioned you planned most of it on your own-- did you do that ahead of time or once you arrived in Quito?

We are going to be 4 adults... I was wondering if it makes more sense to rent a car.... rather than hire a tourguide or take public transportation--any thoughts?

Did Martin book your hotels? My sister works for Starwood and can get us rooms at the Four Points in Quito for around $70, but I'm thinking it might be more interesting and even cheaper to find a locally run place. Any thoughts on this?


Thanks in advance for your feedback! Glad you had a great trip!

brink

brink,
I stayed at the Four Points in May. It's a very nice business oriented hotel (it's much more upscale than your average U.S. Four Points property). The location is very close to the airport with a free shuttle. The Quicentro shopping center is directly across the street and there's a Ecovia station nearby. It's a bit farther away from most of the tourist sites but taxis are cheap. A taxi to old town cost about $5 and $2-3 to the mariscal area. The service was excellent with nice little touches like offering us a glass of iced tea while we were checking in at midnight! We checked in and out several times during our trip and stored some of our luggage there when we went to the Galapagos and the cloud forest. I have no complaints about the hotel but it is very corporate feeling. I redeemed Starpoints so my stay was essentially free. If I had to pay, I'd probably be more inclined to stay at a smaller inn with a little more character. If you end up staying there and have any specific questions, let me know.

hey patty-- thanks for the feedback on the Four Points... I appreciate it!

Hi Brink...

ok - answers, in no particular order.

I organised everything before we got to Ecuador as it was our honeymoon and we wanted to make sure we were doing exactly what we wanted to do. However, you could just as easily organise stuff once you get there, depending on what you want to do (jungle tours I'd advise booking in advance as the lodges fill up quickly)

I wouldn't advise renting a car. It's expensive and the drivers are crazy. I mean really crazy - crazier than Italy. Also there are very few road signs and I think it'd be more stressful than it was worth. Hiring a private guide or car between four won't be too expensive. And buses are a good option if you're not on too strict a schedule.

Martin only booked on of our hotels for us (as we were arranging the guide through him), but we could just as easilly booked it directly ourselves. I did all our bookings with other hotels, etc, through email.

I'd recommend staying in somewhere smaller and more personal in Quito. We loved Cafe Cultura (they have a website). It's beautifully decorated, reasonably priced and the staff are helpful (if not all that friendly at times!). It also has a great communal living room area with a roaring fire and lots of comfy chairs to sit and read in. We stayed in room 9, which is supposed to be one of their fancy 'honeymoon suites', but aside from the great bath we didn't like it that much (too cold, too noisy, too dark) and for the other two nights we stayed we checked into room 8, which is upstairs in the main part of the building and much smaller, but cosier and lighter!

Re. your four days on the mainland. Well, by far my favourite thing we did was staying at Sacha Lodge in the rainforest. We had an amazing time, met some really great people, loved our guide. It was a phenomenal experience and I'd love to go back. And this is all in spite of the fact that I have a massive tarantula phobia (managed to avoid seeing any, thanks to considerate guide and other guests!!). If you have the time, I would say try to get to one of the jungle lodges.
Second to Sacha was staying at Hacienda Cusin, near Otovalo. Beautiful! Great food, wonderful little cottage with a fireplace, etc etc (it was the only remotely 'honeymoon'-like part of our honeymoon!). There's lots of stuff to do - treking, horseriding, biking, visiting Otovalo, etc etc.
Then, we really enjoyed Banos too. We didn't like our hotel (Luna Runtun - overpriced, cold, - the very opposite of Hacienda Cusin), but loved the town of Banos. It's a bit touristy, but not in too bad a way. Lively and bustling. Again - lots of fun activities, biking, treking, visiting waterfalls, etc.
I also believe there are some hot springs nearer to Quito that you could do on a day trip - not sure of their name, begins with a 'p'.

So I suppose it all comes down to what you're looking for out of your four days and what people's interests are. D'you want active adventure (rainforest), or a more relaxing time... D'you want to see the highlands or the oriente... Basically, we really enjoyed everything we saw and did - the only thing we were remotely disappointed with was Luna Runtun (hotel in Banos).

Good luck!