blamona

Just returned from a combo trip Peru-and Quito with Galapagos. I went with my sister, left the family behind. The trip was amazing!

Booking: I booked everything myself (lots of work-but only paid about 1/3 of what it would cost with agent!) Stayed at the nicest places, I did use Klein Tours for air and cruise on Galapagos Legend. (It's almost impossible to book seperate air and cruise for Galapagos.)

Travel: Felt like an Amazing Race episode-I told my sister we should apply. We even picked on each other at the end, so it would look good for tv! ;-) Lots of airplane rides (8) trains, etc. I was nervious on the day from Cusco to Lima to Quito, because if we missed that, we'd miss our cruise to Galapagos. The morning of, the first 4 Cusco flights were cancelled due to weather, and our plane to Lima was later delayed. They made us run through the airport at Lima to pay departure tax, and at the gate from Lima to Quito-it was the same plane from Cusco! We used Lan for most of our flights, the flights were all wonderful, nice new planes with leather seats-highly recommended. Aerogal to Galpagos was an older plane, but no problems with them either. The Vistodome 1 train from Cusco to Aguas Calientes is great-and highly recommeded. On the way back to cusco, you get a fashion show-fun.

Cusco was gorgeous-we did a 1/2 day city tour which includes surrounding ruins ($15 per person) plus you have to buy a tourist pass which is good for 10 days and can be used at Sacred Valley too. The ruins are hard to spell, and the guide said everyone called them "SexyWoman". This tour is highly recommended.

We did a full day Sacred Valley Tour ($20 per person, plus tourist card already bought) on a Thursday. We went to the markets of Pisac, ate at Urubamba (nice restaurants with gorgeous views.) At the town of Urubamba, we found a little ceramic shop, with unbelievable things, and super cheap! Then off to Ollantaytambo-which was incredible, great ruins, small market, pretty little town square. After that, to Chincheros, again a small market, and a beautiful church. The weather was bright and sunny all day-but on bus ride home-it hailed! There were about 2 inches on the ground, and turned everything including the roads white. There were rainbows and lighting and thunder-again, amazing.

The next day we spent 2 days at Aguas/Calientes/Machu Picchu-AMAZING. It was sunny for our first view of MP-It's so much better than you can imagine. It was sunny all day (so much for rainy season) but in afternoon it hazed up a little. The next morning we woke up to pouring rain, so we decided no sunrise at MP. We toured the grounds at Inkaterra Pueblo, which are gorgeous. Then we headed up in the clouds to MP. We got to see MP in all kinds of weather-and each one is spectacular. My sister climbed Wayna Picchu-said it was the highlight of her trip. (I'm deathly afraid of heights-she said I wouldn't have survived ) She saw a condor up at the top. The weather kept changing (mountains, giving the impression the ruins were just hanging. Then we had broken clouds through the mountains which created a mist and mystical feeling to the ruins. Then the sun came out for 2 hours super bright and hot. What luck to see all the changes-and each was fantastic. Aguas Calientes itself is an ugly town-really just a means to an end.

Hotels: We stayed at Monasterio in Cusco for 2 nights. Service impecable, we were upgraded to oxygen room, and given coca tea. We never got sick-but we don't know if we would have. (was it the tea? the room, we weren't there until night, so would we have gotten sick before that? We'll never know.) We stayed 1 night in Inkaterra Pueblo at Aguas Calientes-this place is one of my favorites in the world-just gorgeous. Again we were upgraded (We were lucky on this trip!) The rate included breakfast lunch and dinner-all a la carte. Excellent service, gorgeous place. Every time we left the room and came back, we would find a gift for us. (Pisco-the national liqouir, water bottle holder, money wrist holders, etc.) Back in Cusco, we spent 1 night in Casa Andina Plaza-centrally located and very clean. The rooms were basic, but of course, after staying at the other places-hard to compare to put in perspective. At MP-we also checked out The Sanctuary-and were happy we choose Inkaterra Pueblo. (Nothing wrong with it-just not as nice at twice the price.)

We flew Lima to Quito-spent the night at Hilton Colon. Quito had a week of celibrating their independance-so fireworks every night. We walked around the "Old" district-stunning. Next morning, flight on Aerogal to Baltra (Galapagos) on on Galapagos Legend. We tried to get on Coral 1 or 2 first, but we just planned this trip 2 weeks before, they were sold out.

Galapagos Legend was a beautiful ship, small pool, hot tub, gorgeous hanging out area. Our room was a Jr Suite, and is highly recommended. The food was good, and you actually had choices every day.

The Galapagos was very interesting. These animals don't go away if you are close. You have to stay on paths, but most animals sometimes are ON the paths. I was obsessed with Blue Footed Boobies and Sally Lightfoot Crabs. My favorite Island was Espanola (Also know as Hood) it was incredible. On 1 island, there were turtles on the beach, and we got knee deep in water. Every time the waves receded, there were dozens of grooves in the water-we then found out they were stingrays! We also looked for flamingos-most were still kind of far away. That was my least favorite island-but we did have a great experience there-snorkeling with sea lions. The water was frigid (66 degrees) but oh so worth it. The sea lions are playful-playing "tag" and swim between your legs and swim circles in front of you. It was another highlight of many. the weather at Galapagos, was hazy, but the sun came out on every island enough to make us happy. It was warm-80's in day, chilly at night on boat. (high 60's maybe?)

Please feel free to ask questions. We went in rainy season, and the weather was fine. Sun came out every day to enjoy everything.

Some Peru pictures(on the vertical pictures, you'll have to scroll down each time):

http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...amp;interval=3

Glapagos Islands pictures:

http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...amp;interval=3

ElaineF

Thanks so much for the trip report!!

Your photos are amazing!

GrannyJoan

Thanks for posting the excellent report and photos.

Kristen1206

Awesome report!! You have me itching to do an adventure trip now! You can advise me

Provo is going to seem boring now (joking!)

Love the name blue footed boobies...and they are very cool looking.

Chris_GA_Atl

Thanks for the report and photos! I am actually going to Ecuador and the Galapagos in November-December next year, so I had a couple of questions for you:

-- What was the weather like in terms of sunshine or light for photography? Did the haze cause you to need to shoot pictures in low-light conditions?
-- Were the albatrosses still around on Espanola when you visited?'
-- How long and/or strenuous were the daily land excursions on the various islands?
-- Did you encounter other tour groups from other boats when you made your island visits?

Thanks in advance, I would really appreciate your input.

Chris
www.pbase.com/cwillis

virginia

hi blamona, ok i can't think why you liked the blue footed booby at all. the color of his feet did not remind you of provo water in the least did it?...
and that sally is one bright crab. how big are they?

i looked at the hotel inkaterra web site. it Does look oh so nice.

you did an amazing planning job for only two weeks of working on it!

you'll keep us updated on your amazing race application process i trust.

brenandg

What amazing pictures. Thanks for posting the report. I'm a huge Amazing Race fan.

travelerfromtx

Beautiful pictures! Thanks for sharing. I've wanted to go visit those places for so long now, and your pictures and descriptions make me want to make it there sooner rather than later!

blamona

even in overcast skies, enough light not to worry about pictures. Regardless of weather, all my pictures turned out great. Even with haze, it seems brighter at a higher elevation. The weather was great-mystic clouds, then breakaway sun for 3 hours, then hazy. Of course, no can predict the weather, but I can say MP was amazing no matter what the weather

There were baby Albatrosses (we saw 4 between Espanola and North Seymour.) Saw only 1 grownup.

The hikes probably lasted about 2 hours-you're not hiking the whole time, you stop at so many places on the way. Espanola was the roughest island to hike, all round rocks, uneven. Having said the, the boats tell you what kind of hike to expect, and also provide walking sticks if needed. The hikes are slow, you are looking for/at animals. It's more uneven, have to watch where you're going than strenious. Espanola is concedered the hardest, and of course, the 1 island you don't want to miss!

Only on 1 shore excursion did we encounter another (small-prably 6 passanger) boat. They all leave on different days, to not overload the islands.

caligirl56

blamona,
I gather from a recent post that you had the hotels book train tickets for you, etc. How did you get them to do that? Did you call them or e-mail them? I have sent the Monasterio some questions through the e-mail and never received any answer back.

beanweb24

blamona -

Great trip report and it is causing me to rethink doing an REI tour to the same area. How many nights total were you gone? I tried adding it up but failed...and maybe I overlooked where you gave the trip length.

Thanks!

KATHERINEMAEPARDEE

E X C E L L E N T

When we were younger we did a lot more independent travel; I really admire and respect you for booking this whole trip yourself!

When we look at all the flights internally, it just pointed us to a tour company but again...thanks so much for sharing all your impressions and your wonderful pictures.

Ever since seeing the National Geo special on the world and Galapagos - we are ready to explore too.

You should be a travel agent; you missed your calling!

Katherine

blamona

caligirl56: Monasterio Hotel also belongs to train (both under same web) so as long as you arrive the day before the train, they can get the train tickets for you. (You can have it done once you arrive.)

Originally, I was going to stay with Casa Andina in sacred Valley, I think they also would get the train tickets for me. (For a fee-usually 5%-well worth it.) that was set up with emails.

beanweb24: The hardest part was coordinating the days-for example, you want a Tue/Thur/Sun for Sacred Valley tour (due to markets at Pisac) The Galapagos cruises on leave certain days of the week (Some leave Monday, some leave Tues-and obligation to spend the night in Quito the night before) So in total, we spent: 2 nights Monasterio, 1 night Inkaterra Pueblo, 1 night Casa Andina. 1 night Hilton Colon quito, 3 nights cruise, 1 night Hilton Colon Quito. I wasn't kidding when I said it was like Amazing Race.

Thanks to all for the compliments!

blamona

sorry beanweb24: the cruises I looked at (Galapagos) left on a Sun or Mon-not Tue.

althom1122

Quite a few of the hotels will book the train for you, most for a small fee. You can arrange it with them via email. (Unfortunately we stayed in a place without email, so the guide we hired picked up our train tickets.)
(Great report blamona - and enjoyed your pictures!)

beanweb24

Thank you for the extra info....it sounds like a fabulous trip.

chacheetah

Hi Blamona, really enjoyed your trip report but when I tried to open your pics, the site said it was empty. Did you move them, or do they just stay for a short amt of time in the bucket? I would love to see them, as I am now changing my mind from Roatan to Peru! In my 24 hour a day researching (with a few hours off to walk the dog!) I came across your excellent report. Thanks for any assistance if you get around to seeing this. Cc

blamona

for Peru, try this:

http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...IMG_3922-1.jpg

for Galpagos, try this:

http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...IMG_5354-1.jpg

let me know if it works for you.

have fun planning!

chacheetah

It worked! Thank so much. I am pouring myself a little glass of splarklee and drool over your pics. I am inspired by your report to just go! Thx.
I would also like to try to book this myself as we just planned a huge trip to Africa ourselves and saved enough to take this trip! As I am working through the details (we'd like to go at least 8-10 days) I may be using the forum for assistance esp. in getting from point a to b. Merry Holiday! Cc

chacheetah

Hi Blamona, its CC again..I have come pretty far..and you certainly gave me lots to work with..
I did want to ask you about the guides..did you get them in the towns through your hotels. Did you and your sister have a car or did the guides.
Our latest quandry is whether to get a car & do our own thing when we want; then hire a guide for special ruins. So far, the game is: fly into Lima, 3 n Amazon Inkaterra, 3 nights around Sacred Valley somewhere (Urubamba so far is first choice, but maybe Ollaytaytambo) - was told there were small towns all around with lovely scenery , ruins, etc. and we should have a car...did you and your sister have a car, or use the guides and trains? After these 6 days, we would take the train from OLL to Mp and stay at Inkaterra in AC 2nights, back to Lima and fly out.
Trying to figure out the car situation, if you have any input. Thanks so. Cc