Ecuador/Galapagos Islands??

[TiggeRia]

I know this may be a shot in the dark, but has anyone been to Ecuador or the Galapagos Islands? My extended family is taking a trip to Quito in March and have asked me to go. They are debating visiting the Galapagos Islands since we will be so close, but they don't have any clue how to even get started or where to go there. Just wondering if anyone has been there or has any advice!

[Pirate Granny]

My brother took my 85 yrs young father. You definitely need a tour group. There are limited licenses to go to the island. They were on a boat with 20 people and went to the island during the day. I believe it was a three day tour they also went to Manchu Peucu. (sp). It was my dads dream trip.

[NJGIRL]

Wow! Good luck with planning.

[Tick-Tock]

We went to Quito and the Galapagos for our honeymoon in 2007.

The easiest thing to do is to work through a travel agent to book a trip on a specific ship. There are different sizes and types of ships. We were on a 16-person sailing ship (both motor and sails). We used a zodiac to transfer to shore with our naturalist. Every ship has a naturalist who escorts the groups on shore; you can't just visit the various islands on your own. The ship coordinated our air arrangements from Quito to the islands, picked us up at the airport there, and got us to the ship, and vice versa on the return. Very easy; we just showed up where and when they told us to.

The other alternative is to do it yourself. You could fly to Baltra airport (for Santa Cruz island and the largest town, Puerto Ayora), stay in Puerto Ayora and take day trips to nearby islands. When we visited the town, we saw many signs for tours. Puerto Ayora is also the home of the Charles Darwin Research Center, where you can see lots and lots of tortoises.

The Galapagos are a little out of the way, but the effort to get out there and see all the amazing animals is more than rewarding!