kayekaye

I'm in the very beginning stages of planning a trip to Ecuador and Galapagos for summer/fall 2012 and have quickly become confused. My husband and I both enjoy solo travel (not on a tour and usually rent a car) and are addicted to Costa Rica and southern africa. We try to switch off to a differnet destination....hince our trip to Ecuador.

We would like to visit Quito, Otavalo, Amazon, and then do a land based tour of the Galapagos. I haven't found a tour group that includes all these destinations. It looks like we would have to use at least two different companies. We prefer tourist class travel as opposed to Lux. No overnight cruises please. Is this something we could arrange on our own or should we use a company? Is it possible to book the tours on the Galapagos once we arrive on the islands? Is it easy to rent a car and drive around Ecuador?

Thanks for the help.

Thanks for the help.

qwovadis

I had a WONDERFUL time in Ecuador doing a road trip with

Dennis/Eva www.guanguiltagua.com they got me great discounts

on all hotels places I stayed very smart helpful folks.

www.nuhousehotels.com great boutique perfectly located $90

www.haciendapinsaqui.com Bolivar stayed there peacocks Otovalo

www.bellavistacloudforest.com 150 species of hummingbirds

www.hosteriamandala.info exploradiving.com on the coast...

San Cristobal is best in the Galapagos if you do not want

to cruise through personally lots more can be seen on cruise.

Also did Cuenca some jungle Banos huaorani.com Amazon also

Cotopaxi amazing if time... Rental car expensive risky found

driver/guide LOTS better so I would do that or bus not great

but very cheap. insuremytrip.com careful many scammers

But Ecuador is a great ecodense beautiful country I LOVE it!

www.saexplorers.org/clubhouses/quito another reputable site.

Have fun!

qwovadis

Since 1990, Ecoventura has been leading the way in expedition cruising in the Galapagos Islands. Our first-class fleet includes cruise ships and yacht charters, all ...
www.ecoventura.com

My fav cruise animal diversity/evolution more varied/amazing

Than anywhere else in the world for me even Africa...

A do not miss for me... Happy Planning!

Treepol

Hi,

you could do all of this independently if you chose.

Last year my friend and I visited the Galapagos and did an Ecoventura 7 day cruise. Unless you are partucularly keen to see red-footed boobies on Genovesa (Tower) Island and the waved albatross on Espanola (and they are impressive) I'd recommend a land-based trip. Red Mangrove http://www.redmangrove.com/ offer a good quality land-based tour of the inner Galapagos and there is one other company that I can't recall at the moment. My Ecuador photos are available here, https://picasaweb.google.com/Treepol...uadorGalapagos

I'd recommend staying at Casa Iguana on San Cristobal http://sancristobalbb.com/

We stayed at Los Alpes a charming family run B&B in Quito, http://quitolosalpes.com/ and did a day trip to Otavalo. In the Tandayapa Valley we stayed at the Tandayapa Bird Lodge www.tandayapa.com/ which was very reasonably priced and we had a great guide. Sitting on the hummingbird terrace at this lodge was a real treat in the afternoons.

We did the Amazon from Iquitos in Peru, however we considered Sacha Ecolodge http://www.sachalodge.com/ in Ecuador and some people from the cruise travelled on to that lodge. It has a canopy walkway which was a drawcard for us.

Happy to answer any other questions you may have,

Pol

aby

Hi

Galapagos is a good choice!!!
i've been doing African safaris for about 30 years, and been a few times to Costa Rica and my Galapagos tour was a top level exciting experience that is hard to match (even in my beloved Africa)

for Quito, Otavalo, Amazon - i'm not sure you'll need a car:
take public transportation to Otavallo and walk there
for the amazon you need to fly (to Coca)+ boat ride...

aby

kayekaye

Thanks for all the help.

I'm really excited to hear that Ecuador rates right up there with Africa and Costa Rica!

Should we prebook the day tours for Galapagos or wait until we get there and shop around?

ztsipapu

Hi, KayeKaye--

You probably can't book individual day tours until you get to the Galápagos, unless you make arrangements through one of the larger hotels. Generally, you'll need to see what's available the day before--sometimes they are sold out and trips don't head out to each island every day.

And keep in mind that you can spend 2+ hours--one way--on a small speed boat in possibly choppy waters to get to a landing. The waters get rougher as the summer progresses into fall, with the changing currents. So if motion sickness is your reason for not wanting to do a cruise, be prepared for this kind motion just in case!

But if you have some flexibility in where you want to go and the time you can spend in the archipelago, you will probably get some fun experiences.

Tina
trip report at http://galapagos2009.wordpress.com/

GalapagosExpert

HI Kayekaye,
Most day trips on the Galapagos are booked a day in advance as Tina mentions above. If you are not on a restricted time limit then this is definitely a possibiliy for land based tours.
Many larger travel companies can do the Galapagos and do the Quito, Otovalo and Amazon as "add ons" or "extensions". You ll have to decide if doing everything on your own is a good way to travel for you.
Have a great time.

Treepol

Kayekaye,

I hadn't thought of booking individual trips on a day to day basis. Rather, the Red Mangrove option I suggested would remove all the logistical headaches from your Galapagos holiday.

We were there in August 2010, and the weather was a bit rough, even for winter. To be honest, there were days on San Cristobal when I wouldn't have opted for a short trip to an island.

Another couple on our cruise used an inter-island speedboat ferry and said the trip was fine, but not something they would want to do every day.

I remember seeing signs along the seafront in San Cristobal advertising seats for sale in small boats for trips to other islands.

Regards,


Pol