We all had a well earned night’s sleep and a delicious breakfast the next morning. Did I mention about the breakfast at the hotel? Even though it was considered a continental breakfast, it was much more than that. Rolls, danish, fruit, coffee, tea, meats, cereals, eggs made to order and much, much more adorned the breakfast bar.
Off to the airport we went with our guide Daniel, once again in a comfortable van. He took care of everything, our tickets, our luggage and getting us to the gate right on time. We boarded the plane and we were about to embark on a new adventure.
I simply don't know why I had in my mind that the plane we would be flying in would be a small, old and dilapidated plane. I figured it was going to be one of those puddle jumpers. However the Galapagos are 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador and it was going to take a much bigger plane to get us there. Boy was I ever wrong! The plane we flew on was a Boeing 757 with all the bells and whistles. It was a great flight.
We made a stopover on the coast city of Guayaquil. Some passengers departed and we took on some new. Now we were headed to the island of Baltra in the Galapagos. It is one of two airports in the islands. While it was small it was very modern and very clean.
I will tell you more about that in tomorrow's Journal.
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
2 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.