Quito-Galapagos-Baltra Island-Santa Cruz Island (Las Bachas)
El Sauce, Ollantaytambo HotelWe woke-up this morning with excitement and anxiety…After breakfast, we put on our patches against seasickness. We were ready to go.
Waiting in the lobby, I started to be very nervous as I was watching the clock. Our itinerary stated that our flight was at 9:30am and it was almost 8:30am and our shuttle was nowhere to be found. The helpful lady at the desk called the tour operator because we wanted to know when to expect the shuttle, but mostly we did not want to miss our flight to the Galapagos Islands!!! Five minutes later we got a call letting us know of the flight time changes and two minutes later our shuttle arrived at the hotel. I was relieved. It took not much than 15 minutes to get at the airport. Arriving there our wonderful guide-transfer at the airport greeted us, picked-up our bags and gave us our tickets. We were ready to go. That was quick…no wonder why we did not need to be there hours prior to departure. After passing security, we arrived to the terminal and waited at our gate. Filled-up forms and papers needed before entering the Galapagos Islands. We were pumped-up with energy and excitement once more…few more hours and we will be there.
After a very nice and relaxing flight, we finally landed on Baltra Island. The immigration section was well organized with its automated direction showing us the next counter available. It was very productive. After showing us our passports and papers, we paid the park entrance fees and waited to pick-up our luggage. It was warm in the hallway, people excited, impatient and bumping into each other to get first in line. We stepped on the side and waited our turn. Our luggage were not available yet…we were the second flight to arrived. When the guard allowed us to enter after showing our luggage’s tags, we quickly picked-up our bags and met Peter, our Level III naturalist guide on board of the Odyssey yacht. He will be the man showing us around for the next 5 days and in hindsight, he was outstanding ! Breath in and breath out…we are in the Galapagos. A short 5 minutes ride from the airport to the port by bus before taking a water taxi to the Odyssey yacht…our new home for the next few days.
On board, the Captain and his crew welcomed us. Great people. We also met the other 14 adventurers on board with us. It was time for lunch and left Baltra Island to reach the North of Santa Cruz Island. After lunch, we visited “Las Bachas”. We walked on the beach and explored our first island of the Galapagos. We encountered marine iguanas, blue-footed boobies with a feeding frenzy, Sally light-footed crabs, pelicans and saw a nesting site for sea turtles. While people from the group enjoyed snorkeling, my husband and I walked on the beach realizing our lucky we were for being here in the Galapagos Islands. I witnessed a marine iguana getting into the water while another one surprised me by being so close to me on the beach.
We returned to the boat using the zodiacs. Arriving at the boat, nice snacks and great fresh juice were awaiting us. Carlos and the cooking crew made sure we had something in our belly after walking on the beach and snorkeling. We had time to change and get ready for dinner. Great dinner-buffet.
Peter, our guide, briefed us on tomorrow’s schedule and we retired to our room.
We've used Adventure Life for several trips in the past and have always been very pleased with them. The staff is personable and professional at the same time. Erin put this trip together for us in just a few days, and it has everything we were looking for! I recommend them without hesitation.
benn
1 month ago
I served as the person responsible for planning a trip to Galapagos and Machu Picchu for a group of 14 people. Jane with Adventure Life was very helpful throughout the process. Making suggestions, offering insight, and in the end helped me overhaul an initial plan into something even better. Also, Jane makes all the plans including the flights within and between Peru and Ecuador. Thanks to her this is going to be a stress-free adventure. After making the final decision about the trip, Jane gathered the contact information for all the travelers and sent out the details to each traveler individually with links to pay deposits, upload passport info, and personal preferences. She also ensured a group email was sent out to the entire group welcoming us to the trip preparation process. Our trip is a year from now and we are excited to make this once in a life time trek. I am happy to have organized things through Adventure Life. However, two small issues came up that were a little off putting. First, Adventure Life adds $50 per person to the cost for each traveler as a donation to a Galapagos conservation fund. I think this should he offered as something that can be added at each traveler’s discretion. Instead, it is automatically added, and each person must ask to have it removed if they do not want it included. Second, although the trip deposit may be paid with a credit card without incurring an additional fee, the balance must be paid in another way to avoid a 3% credit card fee. Maybe this is standard with all travel agencies. In the end I would definitely go through Adventure Life for the next big trip.
Brenda Nielsen
2 months ago
I think it was very helpful that Franny and I spoke on the phone. I think she had a better idea of what we were looking for, and she planned a great itinerary for us!
Elizabeth
3 months ago
My representative Kevin was very responsive generally and in crafting our itinerary to our specific priorities.
Rocco Labella
3 months ago
Easy.
Great work on the follow up and details by Waru.