We had an incredible trip to the Galapagos and were amazed by the beauty of the archipelago.

We had planned our arrival in Quito ourselves and flew with KLM from Amsterdam to Quito. In Ecuador started our booked journey by Galapagos PRO. The next day we flew with LATAM via Guayaquil to Galapagos. The booking and receiving of our travel documentation went over smoothly but the flight itself came with some issues. As a family, it wasn’t possible for the four of us to sit together at all and nothing could be done about that on short notice. During our layover in Guayaquil, we had to switch seats despite there not being any indication on the ticket or anywhere else that we had to do so – LATAM appeared rather chaotic and unorganized.

We spent the first couple of days on the island of Santa Cruz and did two excursions that went smoothly and are highly recommended. Our stroll on the boardwalk along the coast and a visit to Tortuga Bay (best early in the morning) is a must. After those days we went boarded the Domenica (Galapagos Seastar Journey) for six days along the western route – to keep it short: Incredible! A beautiful vessel with, a great crew, amazing food and an unbelievable route that offered so much to see. Every day we usually did an activity in the morning and one in the afternoon, that way days were never boring but also not hectic. We were always greeted with a refreshing drink when returning to the boat and the bar service was great.

After the cruise, we spent another two days on San Cristobal and explored the place and did an excursion – to the island of albatross Española. Unfortunately, the albatross hadn’t arrived yet but on our return, we spotted a whale!

Our return flight with LATAM went a lot better – thankfully, prior to our flight GalapagosPRO ensured repeatedly that we would be seated together as a family. We spent our free afternoon in Quito to visit its old town and were slightly underwhelmed (in our opinion, you can skip this part of town). The next morning we headed to the Yasuni Nationalpark, where we spent four exciting days in the jungle of Rio Napo (which runs into the Amazon). Everything was great and our two-hour boat ride on the shallow river was an exciting experience. The jungle is alive and there is so much to explore – we highly recommend joining the Wayuza tea ceremony, even though it’s very early.

Once returning to Quito we departed Ecuador with Arianca and our journey with Galapagos PRO ended.

Summary:

– Great planning, consultation and local support by Galapagos PRO

– If possible direct flight Quito – Galapagos (without Guayaquil)

– Galapagos with kids (from about 10 years) suitable (that way they can participate in all activities)

– Don’t be afraid of water and be secure in your swimming abilities, also don’t be bothered by animals in the water (turtles, sea lions, rays and maybe a shark) otherwise you are MISSING OUT!

– Yasuni is great and worth a visit if you don’t mind the exhausting climate (remember mosquito repellent)

– Quito can be skipped

Translated by Galapagos PRO