frogoutofwater

Mr frogoutofwater and I got back last week from a 2.5 week trip to Guayaquil and the Galapagos Islands (including a 14-night cruise on the Samba). Given the perennial popularity of "what to pack" threads, I thought people might be interested in what worked, and what I'd do differently, for a similar trip.

I packed for a similar kind of trip two years ago (three weeks in Borneo and Singapore) and I regularly spend hot and sunny weekends outside in NY State photographing for a farm sanctuary, so I thought I had a pretty good idea of what to pack. Mostly, I got it right, but I'd make a few changes.

Staple Clothing - What I Wore Almost Every Day

TWO Duluth Women's Armachillo Button-Front Shirts. Generally, I prefer to wear long-sleeved shirts (treated with permithrin, an insect repellent) for the sun and bug-protective features, even when it's very hot. I find that they're only slightly warmer than short sleeves and the benefits of not having to cover yourself in bug spray and sunscreen (less sticky, don't have to reapply and better for the environment) is worth it. These shirts felt super-cool and breezy, they wicked away sweat, they dried superfast (easy to launder) and had useful buttoned pockets on the chest. I wish I'd packed three instead of two - I wore one or the other almost every day.

THREE pairs of Eddie Bauer Horizon Roll-up Pants. These are also very lightweight, roll up for wet landings and dry quickly. There's a good leg pocket for small things and they're sleek enough that they're good for travel and city days as well as adventures. These are my go-to weekend pants and I love them. Three was the right number to pack.

ONE pair of DuluthFlex Armachillo shorts. I tended to wear these on the boats, not on excursions. They were super-comfortable, light and quick-drying. I wish I'd brought a second pair just for a change of look.

THREE Gap Breathe bras. I learned from the Borneo trip that I need three bras - one to wear in the day, one to wear after excursions (because the first one is soaking wet) and one for the next morning (as bras one and two dry).

NINE pairs of quick dry undies (various brands). While it was possible to hang undies to dry outside, I'd rather not have to, so I packed more than a week's worth so that I could send them out on laundry day mid-way through the cruise. I still ended up washing and hanging up a few pairs, though, because occasionally I went through more than one pair a day. I probably could have got away with six instead of nine pairs.

ONE lightweight cotton nightgown - I packed a 3/4 sleeve/knee-length nightgown from Garnet Hill and treated it with permithrin (so if I needed the bug protection, I'd be wearing it - at least to my wrists and ankles). It might have been nice to have two - I often wore a nightgown when we were relaxing in our cabin - especially post-shower, so having a second one might have been nice.

ONE pair of Keen H20 sandals - I can't remember exactly which style. Generally, these worked well for wet landings. It was good to have toe protection and they provided a decent amount of support on tricky terrain. I did find that I ended up with small rocks under my feet and it could be tricky to dislodge them.

ONE pair of Merrell Gore-Tex hiking shoes (can't remember style). These generally worked well for dry landings. They provided good traction and were lightweight. The Gore-Tex meant that when I dipped my shoes in the rinse bucket after excursions (as requirement to prevent us from transmitting seeds etc from one island to another), the inside of my shoes stayed dry even though the outside got rinsed off. Although I'd bring Merrells again (I love the fact that they have a vegan shoe line), I'd bring lightweight ankle-high boots instead of runner-style hiking boots. Although the terrain wasn't always tricky, there were at least three excursions where I would have benefited from more ankle support. Slightly heavier boots with better ankle support would have been a worthwhile tradeoff - although I wouldn't want to wear a heavier material.

THREE pairs of ankle (no-show type) athletic socks. On the guide's recommendation, I ended up using one wear inside my snorkel fins (the slip-on type) to reduce the risk of blisters. Also, I nerded out and ended up wearing ankle socks with my Keen sandals on a few days because I got a bad sunburn in a couple of places on my feet that weren't covered by my sandals.

THREE pairs of thin mid-calf socks (synthetic). I treated these with Permithrin and wore them with hiking shoes. They were comfortable in the heat and dried quickly when washed. Three pairs was the right number.

TWO wide-brimmed sun hats. I brought an Ex Offico (bug repellent) hat with me that had worked well in Borneo. It's critical to have one with a loose strap you can tighten because hats will blow off in the wind. I also bought a cute/ugly hat on arrival at the Baltra Airport. It's cute because it has an applique of three Blue-Footed Boobies on it. It was super-practical because it was incredibly lightweight and had an even wider brim as well as extended back flap to cover my neck. I wore it whenever I wasn't worried about mosquitoes because it was cooler and more protective than the Ex Officio hat, and wore the Ex Offico hat on early am and late afternoon excursions that were likely to be higher in mosquito populations.

THREE long-sleeved Prana burnout shirts. These worked well for me at the farm sanctuary and in Borneo. I treat them with permithrin to make them bug-repellent and the thin burnout fabric lets some air through. On this trip, though, I found they were too warm for daytime excursions - I think the fabric of my new shirts is slightly thicker than some older ones I had. I did wear them on travel days and in the evenings though. And they also dry very quickly. If I were doing the trip again, I'd probably only pack one.

ONE short-sleeved Prana burnout shirt. See above for description. I had one very thin Prana short-sleeved shirt and I ended up wearing it on a few mid-day and early afternoon excursions because it was the lightest and most comfortable shirt I had with me. Also, on the last few days of the trip, I did want to get a little sun on my arms so I wouldn't end up with a super-weird stripe-y tan when I got home. This shirt helped with that. In retrospect, I wish I'd had at least two (or even three) of these. They pack down to almost nothing and they were so comfortable.

In subsequent posts, I'll write about what didn't work / what I didn't need and also about non-clothing items (including camera gear).

frogoutofwater

Clothes I didn't use much:

Pajama top and bottom: When I travel, I often get a lot of use out a pajama top/bottom set (as well as a nightgown), so I have something to lounge around in when I'm in my hotel room (keeps my regular clothes fresher, too). But on the cruise, I either wore my nightgown or I wanted to have "real clothes" on in my cabin in case we were called to the deck to see something interesting (like a school of dolphins or whales).

Dress and cardigan: I thought I'd dress up (at least in a casual dress) once or twice during the trip, either in Guayaquil or on the ship - since my usual weekday and weekend wardrobe consists of dresses (when I'm not photographing). But I never wore the dress or cardigan.

Hooded sweatshirt: I brought a medium-weight hooded zip sweatshirt, but it was too bulky and warm most of the time, so I hardly wore it.

Lightweight rain shell: I never needed it, but it was a good idea to have one anyway.

Baseball-style cap: I packed a cute, pink folding brim cap but only wore it once. Either I wanted/needed the full protection of a wide-brimmed hat (with a tie to keep it from blowing away) or I wanted to be bare-headed. I might use this hat at the farm sanctuary, though.

Mid-weight hiking socks: I brought three pairs of Ex-Officio Bugsaway socks, but found them too warm/heavy. I got much more use out of my cheap, thin nylon socks.

"Barefoot socks": Our trip materials indicated that most people went barefoot on the ship, and excursion shoes would be stored on deck. I said "ick" but didn't want to bring flip flops for wearing on the ship so I brought a couple of pairs of grippy barefoot-type socks. Barefoot didn't seem weird or gross after an hour (they clean the decks regularly), so I never wore the socks.

Third pair of shoes: I brought a pair of Merrell lightweight runners as an alternative to my Keens and my Merrell hikers. On the one hand, packing only two pairs of shoes for such an adventure is a bit of a risk - what if there's something uncomfortable about one pair, or you wreck them? And it was nice to have a clean pair of shoes for the trip home. But if I'd wanted to save space, I could have got away with just two pairs of shoes and left these ones behind.

Swimwear: This was just me, but I didn't swim/snorkel/kayak as much as most people did on the ship. I'd packed two swimsuits, a water shirt and a pair of water shorts. I could have left one swimsuit behind - but if you expect to be in the water every day, you'll want at least two suits.

frogoutofwater

Clothes I wish I'd packed

Aside from the items I mentioned in my first post (where I said I wish I'd had more of something, or a slightly different version of something), here are a couple of items I didn't have at all but wish I'd brought:

Super-lightweight long-sleeved hoodie: Most of the crew had this kind of top for sun protection. It reduced the amount of sunscreen they needed to wear, provided more protection for the backs of their necks and was cooler to wear sometimes than a hat. I have a cooling Armachillo hoodie from Duluth Trading and I should have brought it with me.

A loose, lightweight cardigan. Instead of the heavier fleece zipped sweatshirt that I brought, I should have brought a lighter, loose-fitting cardigan.

mlgb

Good info. Definitely a lightweight hat with a leash if you burn easily (although many people use sunscreen).

I did a fair amount of snorkeling and the water was warm enough on our itinerary that I'm not sure I would bother with the shortie wetsuit again, although it didn't weigh much it did take up a fair amount of room. I would have made do with the ships own goggles.

I found useful (although extremely dorky) for snorkeling a pair of long opaque nylon leggings, nylon socks, and a rashguard. I used the tights under my swimsuit and the rashguard over, for sunburn protection. I think they make specific swim tights but I already had the leggings. I just had one swimsuit and sucked it up, putting in on still damp. We had clotheslines on board so it was usually dry by morning, and we had only one snorkel per day.

Also a cotton bandana to keep bugs and sun off the neck and to keep the hair under control on board. Maybe two.

amy_torres_sd

I took a cotton jersey tunic cover-up from Lands End and wore it more than I thought I would; just about every night for dinner. Comfortable, cool, and lightweight, and not sweaty from the daytime excursions.

My hubby would have liked another pair of shoes; barefoot is just not comfortable for him, and the restrictions of footwear (getting hosed off after every island) made for a dilemma (go rogue and steal back the shoes after they dry.) Last year we went in August and had no mosquitoes; this year we leave next week.

Toe protection in sport sandals can't be overstated! One member of our trip last year jammed her toenail against the steps on Bartolome. That ended her climb to the top and made the climb down painful.

mlgb, thanks for the info about only one snorkel per day... weren't you on the Angelito? That's what we're on this year. Last year we took the Galaxy II and there were usually two snorkeling trips per day (and no clotheslines aboard).

frogoutofwater

Now for a post on photo gear. My needs likely are somewhat different from those of the average traveller, since I'm a semi-pro photographer. And camera choices are very personal, but there are some more universal principles that may be relevant for everyone.

BTW - You can see some of my photos from the trip here:
http://www.frogoutofwater.ca/Portfol...pagos-Islands/

And here are some of the photos I took in Guayaquil when we spent an afternoon volunteering as photographers for Rescate Animal Ecuador, which has been working hard to help pets (and people) affected by April's earthquake:

http://www.frogoutofwater.ca/Portfol...nimal-Ecuador/

My main camera gear:
- 2 DSLR bodies (Pentax K-1s, Pentax's top-of-the-line crop-sensor DSLRs)
- lenses: 55-300 weather-resistant lens, 16-85 weather-resistant lens, 10-17 fisheye lens, 35mm macro lens, 1.4x teleconverter, 17-50 2.8 Sigma lens (used mainly for the photo shoot at the animal rescue center in Guayaquil before our flights to the Galapagos)
- Olympus Tough 4 (for underwater and similar photos)

Mr frogoutofwater and I shoot Pentax (instead of Canon or Nikon) for a number of reasons but one of the most important is that the bodies and a number of the lenses are weather-resistant. So we can stand in a downpour and our cameras will be fine while other people are ducking for cover. That said, salt water is a friend to no camera (except something like the Olympus Tough). Mr frogoutofwater also brought two camera bodies, and he had a slightly different lens line-up than I did.

To transport gear, I used a Lowepro AW200 Sport as my carryon/travel backpack. I also brought a Tamrac Aria 6 shoulder bag, which doubles as a purse. I used that on the mainland and also for our day in Santa Fe. But the main bit of gear I used to carry my camera on an everyday basis on excursions is a Cotton Carrier vest. I LOVE my Cotton Carrier.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...C&A=details&Q=

It takes the weight of my camera off my back and neck, and makes it much easier to function hands-free - which is wonderful when you're going up and down ladder-like stairs on a ship, climbing in and out of zodiaks, and dealing with tricky footing on trails. I also found that on excursions, the carrier gave my wrists a break - since I could slide the camera into the vest when I was looking, not shooting.

It was a bit warm to wear this thing - the front is a pretty solid metal-ish plate, but the back is mesh, so it's not as hot as you'd think. It's also a major hassle to put it together and fit it for the first time - a two-person job. Imagine an armour-plated long-line bra where you have to adjust everything to make it fit But once adjusted, you just grab it, slide it over your head, do up the buckle and you're good to go.

I also brought a small runners backpack (Gregory Maya 10) with me, thinking that I'd put spare lenses and other bits of gear in it, but I found that the two layers of gear were too hot and it was too hard to access the backpack. Instead, I used some clip-on neoprene lens pouches that I attached to the harness. I also could have added a second camera holster to the harness, so I could carry two cameras at once, but I ended up finding that this was a bit too cumbersome when dealing with tricky footing.

http://www.amazon.com/Altura-Photo-P...ilpage_o02_s00

For those who don't like the vest but like the idea of a clip-in camera holster, there is also a belt version (which my husband used) of the Cotton Carrier.

To carry my gear, I also brought a couple of dry bags (essential). I brought a big one that was large enough to hold my Gregory backpack (with camera in it) if necessary, but I only used it once or twice (mainly because I wasn't using the backpack). I ended up finding that the boat rides and shore arrivals were stable enough that I could use a 4L Sea to Summit drybag instead. If the ride to shore looked wet (e.g., waves, spray), I would remove my camera from the Cotton Carrier and put it in the 4L drybag and seal it up. It was easy to carry because it folded over and had a buckle that turned into a handle. If the ride looked calmer, I left my camera in the Cotton Carrier and slide the dry bag over it (sort of like a condom ) and buckled it at the top. It wasn't waterproof that way but it provided enough spray protection, particularly when I buckled my life jacket over top of it - this worked well when we had excursions to photograph from the boat.

Other camera gadgets:

- A small Giotto rocket blower (essential for blowing dust off the lens - less risk of scratching than wiping the lens)
- Nikon moist lens cleaning clothes - I didn't use this every day but did find that my lenses (including glasses) needed a good clean every other day or so. These are great (but do produce non-compostable garbage, so I tried to use them as little as possible).
- B+W nano haze filters for all my lenses (except the fisheye, which can't use them). It's critical to protect your lenses from grit etc. The tiny bit of loss of lens quality from putting something over your lens is well worth the protection you get - but be sure to buy top of the line, slim filters like these ones.
- B+W polarizing filters - you might want a couple of polarizing filters for your lenses, especially if you want to photograph animals in the water.

In terms of lenses, I mostly used the 55-300 in the islands (about 75% of the time) and for the rest, I used either the 16-85 or the 10-17. If I were doing the trip again, I'd leave the fisheye behind (and would bring the Sigma 17-50 unless I had a similar photo gig like the rescue shoot - I never used it in the islands).

frogoutofwater

Oops - three other points.

I forgot that I also brought my fast 50-135 2.8 lens with me. It's heavy but takes beautiful photos and I use it a lot at the farm sanctuary where I volunteer. On this trip, though, I only used it once. Although it was great to have a faster lens (brighter aperture that enables me to take better pictures in the low light of early morning and early evening), it didn't have the reach that my 55-300 had (even when I added the 1.4x teleconverter). And every ounce of added weight was noticeable, so I used the 55-300 (which is also weather resistant) much more.

I hardly used the Olympus Tough - mainly because when I was in the water I wanted to look, not photograph. But also because of point three:

Point three: The best camera is the one you have with you and that you know how to use. Although I'm fairly savvy when it comes to cameras, I wasn't familiar with the Tough before the trip - I said I'd learn it on the trip down. Ha. I also saw other people fumbling with new cameras purchased for the trip.

By all means, get a new camera for the trip. But like hiking boots, you need to break your camera in. You don't want to be figuring out menus or having flubbed pictures when there is an adorable sea lion pup frolicking 5 feet away from you. At a minimum, I think you'd want to take your new camera out for a couple of 3-4 hour excursions or practice sessions after having read the manual. And ideally, you'll have been using it a couple of times a week (and looking at the resulting photos on your computer) for a month or so.

I packed a lot of camera gear and it served me well. But if you just want to bring a single non-interchangeable lens camera with you, you might want to check out this Lumix:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...al_camera.html

Three in our group of thirteen had this camera or a very similar model. It has a fast aperture (works in low light), a wide zoom range, a reasonably large sensor, 20MP to work with and you can shoot RAW images (much better than JPEG for what you can do with the image afterward). It also seems to be good for video (which you may want for certain scenes). It's not cheap, but it looks like a good alternative for someone who wants to take high quality photos without packing a lot of gear.

mlgb

amy, I was on Angelito, at the end of June last year. That was the start of El Niño, the water was warmer than normal. This year it is already a few degrees below normal, I believe. I purchased a shortie 2.5mm, REI allowed me to return it although I wore it once it looked like new. If you have room in your duffle that's also an option, especially if you think they may not have your size.

frogoutofwater your photo gear is instructive. I used a 2x crop Olympus mirrorless with a 40-150 lens for wildlife and a 14-42 lens for landscape. It worked out fine. The wildlife allow you to get so close that I don't think a super zoom beyond that is necessary for most people. I carried my camera in one of the dry sacks inside my daypack when in the pangas. You absolutely do need to bring cleaning equipment!

For shoes I went barefoot on the boat, and when doing dry landings. I brought an old pair of trail runners which got tossed at the end of the trip. The lava rock on a few islands will quickly wear down your soles. A few people tried to hike in water shoes and that didn't turn out well!

If you have any concerns about balance, I'd recommend at least one collapsible hiking pole. Maja (our guide) would brief us on the conditions of each excursion and whether to bring good shoes or poles if we had them. The most challenging footing is on Española Island when you go up to the albatross colony (my favorite island).

mlgb

Haha..I went barefoot during the wet landings, not the dry ones! Also, you can hand off your backpack to the crew when entering/exiting the pangas.

frogoutofwater

You can hand off your bag when entering or leaving the pangas, but there's still a risk of splashing in those transitions and on the boat rides themselves. So, at least in my experience, there wasn't much risk of a full-on submersion of your gear (unless you took it on a kayak ride) but it was a good idea to splash-proof your gear in some way with some kind of of dry bag layer.

For the kind of photography I like to do, which includes some tight portraits, I missed having another 50-100 mm of zoom length.

There are some tradeoffs (image quality vs flexiblity/portability) when choosing cameras (and lenses). A universal zoom for a DSLR (e.g., 18-250 or 18-300) or a similar range on a bridge camera like the Lumix I mentioned above will give you a lot of flexiblity when shooting, simplify your gear and reduce your gear load. But in almost all cases, the longer the zoom range the lower the quality of your images.

Similarly, the size of the sensor in your camera will have an impact on image quality. A full-frame DSLR (with the same Megapixels) is probably going to have better image quality (all other things being equal) than a crop-sensor DSLR like my Pentax, any my crop sensor Pentax is going to have better image quality than the sensor in a micro 4/3 camera or even a good point and shoot. For many people, that difference in image quality won't be noticeable - but you may still notice limitations when you push your camera system to the limits. For example, I notice the limits of my camera when I'm photographing in lower light, when I'm shooting a far away subject, etc. And I can see the difference when I look at the fine details in certain kinds of images (in terms of feathers, iguana skin, eyes, etc)

I would have loved to take a full-frame camera with me, but it and the associated lenses would have been so much heavier, I don't think I would have been as nimble on the excursions.

frogoutofwater

My prior posts covered clothing and photo gear and related accessories. This last post covers other stuff.

I'm glad I packed:

- About 24 Ben's 30% Deet individually packaged wipes: These are great because they're not a sticky bottle to mess up your bag and they're so tiny you can carry one with you at all times. When I travel, I always keep at least one in my carry-on bag (and similarly, I keep one in my purse in spring-summer-fall). Since I had clothes with built-in mosquito repellent, generally I only needed to apply repellent to my hands, neck, ears etc. Usually, one was enough for both my husband and me (although if you need to cover your whole body, you'll probably need one each). Note - If your guide tells you that you'll see flamingos (or mangrove trees), pack repellent (because flamingos and mangrove trees like brackish water, as do mosquitoes). The only downside to the individually packaged wipes is that the packaging isn't very environmentally friendly.

- Kiss My Face Sensitive Side 3-in-1 Sunscreen (4 oz). I try to use vegan products whenever possible and I've sometimes found that my skin starts to react to sunscreen if I wear it repeatedly for days. But this stuff felt great, provided great protection and was comfortable enough to use as a daily moisturizer. Which is a good thing because I forgot to bring regular face moisturizer. I only needed a 4 oz bottle (and came back with about 1/4 of it) because I tended to wear long sleeves and long pants most of the time.

- I packed a small bottle of biodegradable shampoo (can't remember brand) because my hair reacts badly to many shampoos - and I didn't want to rely on what was supplied on board. The all-in-one shampoo/shower gel in the showers was fine for washing the rest of me but I used own shampoo.

- Small bottle of biodegradable Campsuds Citronella soap for washing clothes in the sink. I washed a few items of clothing every other day and used this. We didn't need clothes pegs or a clothesline because the ship provided both.

- Cold medicine (but I wish I'd brought more). A regular cold whipped round the ship - I think almost all of us caught it. I had 3 days' supply of daytime cold pills and 4 nights' supply. I should have brought at least a week's worth of each because I ran out of the daytime meds. Thankfully, Mr frogoutofwater was one of the lucky few who didn't catch the cold.

- I didn't need anti-diarrhea meds but I'm glad I brought them with me. I also brought a filled prescription for cipro (anti-biotic), which I would have taken if I'd become really sick with a stomach bug. (I always carry it with me when I travel.)

- Ginger candies: I can't take Dramamine or similar drugs for seasickness and I did feel fairly queasy for the first couple of days. The ginger candies helped a lot - I wish I'd brought a few more.

- A multi-outlet charger: We had only a couple of outlets in our cabin and we had a LOT of electronics. We brought a FlePow Power Strip 1875W 3 AC Plugs and 2 USB Multi Outlet with us and it was great. It was larger (and a little heavier) than I expected - about 5"x 4.5" x 3.5", but well worth allocating some scarce luggage space to it.

- My Dell XPS 13: This is a tiny, super-lightweight laptop (slightly more than 2 lb) with a great screen for viewing and editing photos. It doesn't have a big hard drive, so I keep my photo files on a travel hard drive.

mlgb

Great list for any type of travel, thanks for posting. I use a tablet with a micro-SD slot for reviewing photos, rather than a laptop. I don't have a good back up system though. Is there a way to use a travel hard drive without having access to a computer? I had been using screen shots to upload to Facebook for a few, since the free wifi was generally to slow to upload to the cloud.

One thing I also bring if going to a humid climate is ziplock bags and I save up some of those dessicant packets. When not in use I stick the electronics devices inside.

I do agree with bringing a dry-bag for your camera gear.

frogoutofwater

Hi mlgb - I'm not very tech-y so I'm not the best person to ask how to connect something like a travel hard drive to a tablet. A couple of years ago, when I was looking for a similar solution for our trip to Borneo, I ended up concluding that it was more useful/not much heavier/not much more expensive than a tablet to get an inexpensive netbook. For that trip, I took an 11" Asus netbook (which cost a few hundred dollars).

If you are in the market for a new tablet, you could look into something like the Surface Pro. But as for connecting your existing tablet to a drive, I'm not sure how you'd do that.

hopefulist

mlgb - It depends on what tablet you have; if it has a USB port any flash drive with sufficient capacity will work. If it doesn't, you might have to get something more specialized. I use an iPad mini which doesn't have a USB port; I use one of these which has both USB and a lightning plugin (mine's an older version).
https://www.sandisk.com/home/mobile-...storage/ixpand