The bad news: After 17 hours of air flights and airport transfers I arrived in Quito, but my luggage did not. Drat!
The good news: Quito-based Ecuadorian Adventure Life Manager Betty Jaramillo took my luggage information and returned to the airport the following day. She worked some kind of Ecuadoriana magic and retrieved my luggage. I was in the Otavalo Valley by then and she offered to have my luggage driven up there if I wished. Talk about service! I suspect I would not have been as successful, if at all, in the luggage recovery department! She was the recipient of my two dozen roses from Otavalo Valley as a thank you!
The bad news: Due to the combination of a 6 hour ''mechanical problem'' delay for a Tame flight that resulted in us missing our small plane flight into Kapawi Lodge due to rainy season bad weather (take a breath!), we missed our first night at the Lodge.
The good news: The silver lining was a night at another Lodge, engaging dinner conversation with our 20 something hosts about Ecuadorian politics and economy, and some great Ecuadorian beer! Our flight the next morning was great.
The bad news: When we were ready to leave Kapawi Lodge rainy season weather delayed our plane. We had to make an early flight to the Galapagos the next morning and we had a big repack to accomplish. A time crunch and the real possibility of missing our Galapagos sail was looming.
The good news: When the weather broke our small plane came. We were flown to Shell and then driven four hours back to Quito. (We had long since missed our connecting large plane flight to Quito so there was no point in flying us to the larger Macas airport.) We got to see the Avenue of the Volcanoes and the scenic Banos area on this drive. We would not have seen these incredible views without this ''detour''! Kudos to the Kapawi Lodge team for being incredibly proactive to get us to Quito at 9 p.m. in time to pack for our early morning flight to the Galapagos the following morning!
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
1 day ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.