The Galapagos... anyone been?
Discussion
Ooh look, my thread has arrived!
Yes, I'm currently on month 5 of my stay here working at a local University. Probably the easiest is for you to have a flick through my blog www.loquitohermoso.com and then ping me a PM with any questions.
Broadly though:
There is no 'right' or 'wrong' time to come here. As we're on the equator there isn't much seasonal variation in terms of winter/summer. December and January get quite hot apparently, it's definitely on an upward trend temperature wise after some cool months. Peak tourist season (mainly from US) is August and then Nov-Dec so it's good to avoid those if you can for cheaper deals.
You can pay as much or as little as you like for a holiday here. You can spend thousands on an inter-island cruise (Up to US$15,000 a week for the National Geographic boat!!) but actually I'm a fan of land-based tours. Galapagos Alternative is well regarded for the latter however, as you'll see from reading my blog, the islands are really compact and there's no need to do "tours" to see most things.
If you have a bit of time you could do some land-based stuff and a 4-5 night cruise which would cost about $800-$1000 on a last minute deal. Or indeed just a few day trips to other islands like Bartolome. I did the latter last weekend and it was an amazing day for $145 (Mate's rates low season deal!)
Accommodation here of all price ranges, on the smaller islands you can get a passable hotel room for $40 a night. There are some posh hotels on Santa Cruz- Solymar is I gather $400 a night and totally not worth it but Finch Bay/Angermeyer are a similar cost I believe and look amazing, with a lovely setting on the bay.
You cannot fly internationally direct to here. You have to change in Quito or Guayaquil. Personally I'd recommend the former, just to stay for a couple of nights as it's an interesting city. Guayaquil is a dangerous hole to be avoided. If you book flights play about with the options- The KLM service flys into UIO then onto GYE then to AMS so if you book a multi-city ticket you can avoid one leg for no extra cost.
You can fly into GPS (Santa Cruz) or SCY (San Cristobal) so again, an "open jaw" approach would work well if you wanted to see both islands. Hunt for the best deals, Avianca tends to be the cheapest, down to around $140 each way if you strike lucky...
Hope this helps
Yes, I'm currently on month 5 of my stay here working at a local University. Probably the easiest is for you to have a flick through my blog www.loquitohermoso.com and then ping me a PM with any questions.
Broadly though:
There is no 'right' or 'wrong' time to come here. As we're on the equator there isn't much seasonal variation in terms of winter/summer. December and January get quite hot apparently, it's definitely on an upward trend temperature wise after some cool months. Peak tourist season (mainly from US) is August and then Nov-Dec so it's good to avoid those if you can for cheaper deals.
You can pay as much or as little as you like for a holiday here. You can spend thousands on an inter-island cruise (Up to US$15,000 a week for the National Geographic boat!!) but actually I'm a fan of land-based tours. Galapagos Alternative is well regarded for the latter however, as you'll see from reading my blog, the islands are really compact and there's no need to do "tours" to see most things.
If you have a bit of time you could do some land-based stuff and a 4-5 night cruise which would cost about $800-$1000 on a last minute deal. Or indeed just a few day trips to other islands like Bartolome. I did the latter last weekend and it was an amazing day for $145 (Mate's rates low season deal!)
Accommodation here of all price ranges, on the smaller islands you can get a passable hotel room for $40 a night. There are some posh hotels on Santa Cruz- Solymar is I gather $400 a night and totally not worth it but Finch Bay/Angermeyer are a similar cost I believe and look amazing, with a lovely setting on the bay.
You cannot fly internationally direct to here. You have to change in Quito or Guayaquil. Personally I'd recommend the former, just to stay for a couple of nights as it's an interesting city. Guayaquil is a dangerous hole to be avoided. If you book flights play about with the options- The KLM service flys into UIO then onto GYE then to AMS so if you book a multi-city ticket you can avoid one leg for no extra cost.
You can fly into GPS (Santa Cruz) or SCY (San Cristobal) so again, an "open jaw" approach would work well if you wanted to see both islands. Hunt for the best deals, Avianca tends to be the cheapest, down to around $140 each way if you strike lucky...
Hope this helps
k all, his late brother Richard went to Jurassic Park 
GT03ROB said:
carreauchompeur said:
Ooh look, my thread has arrived!
....lots of really useful stuff.....
Wow always an expert when you need one. I'll take a look at your blog & get back to you. Thanks a lot. ....lots of really useful stuff.....
Well just back in Quito after 5 nights out in the Galapagos.
Wow! I’ll get some photos up when I get home, but amazing. You are literally tripping over sea lions, iguanas & birds. None of them care about humans. Highlight was the snorkelling we did where we had a pair of sea lions come & play for 15 mins.
Anyone into wildlife its a must
Wow! I’ll get some photos up when I get home, but amazing. You are literally tripping over sea lions, iguanas & birds. None of them care about humans. Highlight was the snorkelling we did where we had a pair of sea lions come & play for 15 mins.
Anyone into wildlife its a must
Not a scuba diver, Rob?
A mate did a week on a live aboard dive boat.
He has pics of him surrounded Hammerhead sharks on a dive. Night dives were the best for photography.
It’s somewhere I’d love to visit in the next couple of years. Still paying for 2 at University in another country….
Look forward to seeing your photos.
A mate did a week on a live aboard dive boat.
He has pics of him surrounded Hammerhead sharks on a dive. Night dives were the best for photography.
It’s somewhere I’d love to visit in the next couple of years. Still paying for 2 at University in another country….
Look forward to seeing your photos.
RC1807 said:
Not a scuba diver, Rob?
A mate did a week on a live aboard dive boat.
He has pics of him surrounded Hammerhead sharks on a dive. Night dives were the best for photography.
It’s somewhere I’d love to visit in the next couple of years. Still paying for 2 at University in another country….
Look forward to seeing your photos.
I am actually, but the trip we could sort the boat didn’t do scuba. We were snorkelling twice a day though. Getting into one of the zodiacs on one of the days we ended up a few meters off the beach with around a dozen white tip reef sharks swimming around us.A mate did a week on a live aboard dive boat.
He has pics of him surrounded Hammerhead sharks on a dive. Night dives were the best for photography.
It’s somewhere I’d love to visit in the next couple of years. Still paying for 2 at University in another country….
Look forward to seeing your photos.
Anyhow now sat in Madrid after an overnighter from Quito, just waiting for flight back to London.
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