I’m not sure when I first heard about G Adventures – it may have likely been when I was traveling solo around Asia in early 2013, or maybe even before then. All I know is that when they became a preferred partner of Signature Travel Network shortly after I joined, I knew they were a great company and I was excited to learn more. The more I’ve learned, the more I’ve come to really admire them, so when they announced their special Agent fam trips for 2014, I jumped to apply and finally experience for myself what it was like to travel with G. The agent trip I was lucky enough to be chosen for was an active adventure in Ecuador (the review/highlights of which will follow this post), and as exciting as that sounded, I knew I wasn’t going to fly all the way to Quito just for a short trip – not when Quito is also the gateway to the Galapagos! Luckily, G offers lots of trip options to the islands, and I was able to find one that fit perfectly with the start of my fam trip, thanks to their easy to use & informative website. (EG – without having to call, I could figure out based on the daily itineraries listed that the departure day of the Galapagos trip was the Day 1 of my fam – but of course I did call to double check!) The booking process was incredibly easy and seamless, and soon enough I was confirmed and ready to go.
One of the biggest fundamentals about G Adventures is their commitment to sustainable travel, which means that you don’t receive a giant envelope in the mail full of trip documents. All you really need to know before your trip is already detailed out on the website, which means you can start planning what you’ll need to pack and such as soon as you want. All you do have to bring document-wise is a 2-3 page printed-at-home voucher showing you did indeed pay for the trip, plus of course the copy of your passport (which you should always travel with). G also requires proof of travel insurance, which I printed off just in case, but I could have just used the copy I had saved in my emails for them. On every trip’s arrival day, the only thing really planned is a meeting with your guide, called a CEO (Chief Experience Officer) by G. In my case, my flight arrived super late at night, so instead I got a very informative welcome letter when I checked in. I hadn’t planned for a pre-day in Quito because I knew I would have at least one free day on my departure, if not some free time the day I got back from the islands, but many of my fellow travelers did arrive early, and it’s really not a bad idea. Normally G Adventures uses small, locally-owned/operated hotels, but for this trip (and I think many of their Galapagos trips), the hotel for the first and last night is the Hilton Colon in Quito. It’s a lovely 4 star hotel, located perfectly between the old and new parts of Quito, and just a few blocks from the fun Plaza Fosch, which is FILLED with restaurants and bars. I ended up spending three nights at the Hilton in total, and though I was only there about 4 or 5 hours the first time, I knew it would be a wonderful home base. I mean, their breakfast buffet runs from 2AM till like 10am or something. TWO AM BREAKFAST???? That was nice though, because when I met up with my fellow travelers for our flight to Santa Cruz Island at 4:30am, I was able to grab a bite to eat on the ride out to the airport. Here’s a shot of my room (standard & nice), my view out towards old town (I think most have a similar view), and a snap I took in Plaza Fosch on Saturday night – it was hopping!
On the ride out to the airport, in a small, private mini-bus, I got my first gander at the group. A few young-ish couples, several other younger girls travelling solo, one fabulous 50-something lady traveling solo, and one older couple. There were 13 of us in total, and I’d say the average age was around 35. As the day went on and we got to know each other in the various transports to the island (fyi- it’s a pain to get to!), it turned out that I was one of only two Americans – everyone else was from the UK/Ireland or Australia. Oh- sorry, and two Canadians. It really was a fun, well-traveled group, something that I think is pretty representative of G Adventures. SO – getting there. Like I said, we had a private mini-bus out to the airport (about 1 hour outside of Quito) and the local G rep was really helpful in getting us organized and checked in for our flight. Even though the Galapagos are part of Ecuador, they’re so protected that you have to go through a special security screening at check-in. We then boarded our really nice plane for the quick hop down to Guayaquil. There are some direct flights from Quito to Santa Cruz (Baltra) airport, but most of them stop first in Ecuador’s largest city down on the coast. After a half hour pause there, we then took the longer 2.5 hour flight out to the islands. I’ll admit that I slept most of the way, but I did wake myself up to snap a photo or two of the impressive scenery and enjoy the really impressively tasty breakfast. When we arrived at the airport on Baltra, first we all noticed how cool the building was, then how interestingly desolate the landscape was, and then patiently waited to go through “customs” – which is where we had to pay our $100 fee to enter the national park and such. Then we were all amazed by the security dogs carefully sniffing each and every bag that came in, several times over. Once they called the dogs off, we finally exited the airport (after one more electronic scan!) and met our CEO – Alberto. I’ll speak about Berto more, but considering we were expecting a lady who apparently had fallen ill the night before and he showed up bright & early after being called in from vacation, he was awesome. He helped guide us onto the shuttle that would take us to a quick ferry where we would finally get ONTO Santa Cruz island and meet our own private little mini-bus. Like I said- it’s a process just getting to the Galapagos! Here are a few snaps of the way there:
Now- as for our itinerary, like I said G Adventures has all sorts of options to choose from. There are different lengths of cruises, and different caliber boats. There are 8 (ish) main islands to visit, and they’re broken up into groups based on geography – Western Islands, Central Islands, ect. Each one has it’s own features (and native species of course), but all are amazing in their own right, so it’s not like some are “better” than others – unless you have a “must-see” animal that is endemic to only one island I guess. I had chosen a standard boat rather than an upgraded one, and unfortunately I only had time for a 6 day trip, so I was mostly doing the south-east part of the archipelago. The boat I was on, the Daphne, is one of the more modest boats, and there’s talk of retiring her. This is probably a good thing as, while she was perfectly comfortable and met my needs just fine, she may be ready for time in the dry dock for a re-fresh. More on that later though, because on your arrival day to Santa Cruz island, you don’t get to board the boat. Nope- first we were taken up into the highlands, where the landscape suddenly changes from desolate scrub-land to lush green forests, to a private farm for lunch. This place was amazing – from the sweeping views down to the ocean, to the huge buffet lunch they prepared for us, to the giant tortoises just wandering about munching away. YUP – not a half hour after arriving onto the Galapagos, we saw our first tortoises, just moseying about. Here are a few shots from our lovely lunch spot, including one of the mini-bus that was our home for the day.
After lunch we really got into the touring, with Berto giving us our first real explanation of the islands and the volcanic activity that shaped them. We went on a hike around two giant, gaping holes in the highlands, which are collapsed lava chambers. He explained about non-native pest species (like blackberries, which are the current menace being attacked by park rangers), and he tracked special birds for us to check out. He even explained that the slightly Seussical, lollypop-looking trees that are everywhere are actually related to the sunflower. !!! I was quickly learning that these islands are amazing in all sorts of ways- all thanks to the genius of our guide. After that hike, we went to an actual tortoise reserve where we saw just all SORTS of tortoises – from young ones to giant oldies – and he even heard a tell-tale sound & found a couple mating off in the bush!! He then led us into a lava tube at the park, which was a super cool tunnel with different layers even of lava activity. I’m going to keep pictures to a minimum here since this is mostly a review of the trip – but here are a few from day 1:
Now that we’d seen the highlights of the highlands of Santa Cruz island, it was time to head to the southern port city of Puerto Ayora, grab any last-minute supplies, and then board the Daphne. Once on board, we met the crew, had a lovely welcome cocktail, and settled in for our first debriefing. So- each night on the boat, just before dinner, we would have an overview of the next day’s schedule, including what we were going to be looking out for. Every day is filled with wildlife spotting &/or exploring nature, it’s just a matter of where & what & when. You sail to other islands generally at night, and then usually move to a few different spots on the islands. Day two was going to at Floreana Island, complete with a morning hike, two snorkels, and then an afternoon hike. Again- our guide Berto infused all of his talks with his own funny, laid-back personality, but as a Santa Cruz native you could always tell how passionate he was about showing us his home, and helping us understand why the Galapagos are such a special place. He explained to us how the national park, in conjunction with the government and other entities, schedules every single licensed boat so that there are never more than three boats at any one docking-spot, no one place gets over-visited, and the environment is as protected as possible. It really is amazing- our boat had only the 13 of us (plus the 7 or 8 awesome crew members), and sure- we saw other groups from other boats here and there, but mostly it just seemed like it was us exploring these magical places. I’m sure that’s the same even with the slightly bigger boats, but I know I personally wouldn’t want a boat with hundreds of guests on it – another benefit to G Adventures. The biggest boat they use carries just two groups for a total of 32 passengers. Most are like the Daphne with 16-20 passengers. Now, another thing, besides size, that varies from ship to ship is of course the food quality. The Daphne is not going to win any gourmet meal awards, but the food we got was tasty, and there was TONS. We ate family buffet style, and there was always seriously plenty. They even accommodated special dietary needs, including no seafood! We had salads, fish, steak, chicken, huge egg dishes… you name it- they made it for us out of this teensy-tiny little kitchen. We had fresh fruit juices each time we came in from an excursion, tasty snacks in the afternoon – ect. Like I said- this is by no means a gourmet experience, and I understand that G’s upgraded ships do amp up the dining a bit, but I was there for the nature- not fancy food. I stupidly never thought to take a photo of the dining room or any of the spreads to give you an example – but honestly, like the first day- we were always pretty exhausted at meal time!
SO- to keep going, here is day two’s schedule, and a few highlights from that afternoon’s excursion, including: my room! Yes- I was fortunate enough to get my own room, even though I’d planned on sharing a room – another benefit to G Adventures: no single supplements (unless you want to guarantee your own room). Also on day 2 – snorkeling through this Devil’s Crown formation in the fastest currents I’ve ever experienced (no sharks though, still). Other highlights shown below: A posing sea lion with our boat in the back ground, Berto chilling on the beach while we freak out over sea lions, him explaining the different minerals that make the sand a sort of olive green color; cool trees on our hike, fun on the finest sand ever, etc. My cheap underwater camera is still waiting to be developed, and with the wet landing of the morning- I didn’t take my phone or dslr. I’m hoping for a shot of one of the sea turtles we swam with though… The lava tube down into the water was one of the cooler experiences of my life, however!!
Day three brought us Espanola Island and another incredible day – one filled with things I won’t soon forget. A sea lion “kindergarten”, marine iguanas, baby albatrosses, more boobies that I could imagine, including a blue-footed chick! It ended on Gardiner bay, which is possibly the most beautiful beach I’ve ever been on. Again- I’m hoping that the playful sea lions we snorkeled with show up on my underwater camera – we wouldn’t have found them without Berto’s guidance, that’s for sure!
Finally, day 4 dawned which meant it would be our last day on the islands. Berto, an advanced scuba diver himself, had warned us that based on conditions we may or may not snorkel at Kicker rock. When the bell rang at 6:15am, there was some confusion, and many chose not to get in the water b/c it was pretty chilly that morning, but VERY happily for me, the water was clear enough and he led us on a hunt for sharks. Sure enough, just about when we were going to strike out, I glimpsed a shadow emerging from the deep and yup- we all hovered over several sharks swimming up & down the sheer rock wall. Berto swore he saw a hammerhead briefly, and even though I didn’t – seeing any was a big enough thrill for me. Check out this awesome rock off San Cristobal:
After our amazing snorkel, it was time to eat one last giant breakfast, then pack up and say goodbye to the Daphne and her crew. After the dingy into port, we hopped into cabs for the airport. This was an airport check-in experience like I’ve never had! The San Christobal airport is really under construction – so once you check-in at the curb there’s hardly anywhere to wait, so we took cabs back into town (all of 5 minutes) to while away our time until we had to board. Turns out that our amazing guide knew the “best” place for ceviche, and even though we’d already had breakfast, several of us had to give it a try – fresh & delicious! And Ecuadorians add popcorn to their ceviche, something I was about to see a ton of as I continued to explore the country. Strange, but good once you gave it a chance. The town itself was cute enough, but other than watching sea lions play – there wasn’t too much to do. Still- I’ll take watching sea lions play over any airport waiting room, any day. A fitting end to a truly unforgettable trip!
For all you folks who have the Galapagos on your bucket list – G Adventures would be well worth a look to make that dream a reality. Their variety of options and ships can meet just about any budget, and the wildlife experiences are nearly unparalleled in the world. Plus- getting to Quito (from the East coast in particular) isn’t that difficult at all – get in touch for more information. For more pics- check out my page on Facebook- that’s where I’m uploading the bulk of them! Up next- my review of their Active Ecuador trip.