Leaving Quito by pick up from the Adventure Life tour company, we head for the airport (about 1.5 hours drive). The airport is brand new, it actually just opened before we arrived in late February. The road into the airport is great but there is no infrastructure surrounding it so traffic was crazy. We drove through both old and new areas, …

It is not easy sleeping in the jungle! We were not bothered by mosquitoes or any nasties in our cabin however the loud and sometimes creepy jungle noises made for a disturbed sleep! To top that off, we were awakened by a 5 am knock on the door, getting us up for our first morning hike! After breakfast, we were off for a hike, canoe and then …

Another early morning (5:30 today!) began with a paddle and a hike out to Sacha Lodges Kapok tower which stands at 130 feet and is a rickety hike up about 20 flights of wooden stairs wrapping around a giant Ceibar tree. At the top of this beautiful tree you get the most impressive view of the canopy as well as many bird species. It was difficult …

Another early morning (5:30 today!) began with a paddle and a hike out to Sacha Lodges Kapok tower which stands at 130 feet and is a rickety hike up about 20 flights of wooden stairs wrapping around a giant Ceibar tree. At the top of this beautiful tree you get the most impressive view of the canopy as well as many bird species. It was difficult …

Another early morning (5:30 today!) began with a paddle and a hike out to Sacha Lodges Kapok tower which stands at 130 feet and is a rickety hike up about 20 flights of wooden stairs wrapping around a giant Ceibar tree. At the top of this beautiful tree you get the most impressive view of the canopy as well as many bird species. It was difficult …

We started the day saying goodbye to our new friends Phil & Jane with who we have shared our treks with over the previous 3 days. Adding to several small world experiences, it turns out both Phil & Steve have a common friend in the business community. We set off on a morning hike which took us to a giant ciebar tree with a natural arch in the …

Today was a travel day. We paddle across the lake from the lodge where we hike for 30 minutes before reaching the Napo river. We are treated to red Howler monkeys playing above the trail as we pass. Its then a 2 hour power boat ride (the last hour was in heavy rain) before we reach Coca to catch our plane back to Quito. The bad weather leads …

Today is a much easier travel day as we arrive into the Galapagos at 11:00 am after picking up an hour in the time zone exchange. What is remarkable about our arrival into the Galapagos is their heightened security, but not for reasons you might expect. All of our bags are hand searched, not for weapons but to ensure that people do not bring the …

We begin our day with a short walk from the Red Mangrove to the neighbouring Charles Darwin Research Centre. We focus on giant land tortoises but also learn a little more about the broader work of the centre - to sustain threatened species and eradicate any aggresive, non-indigenous ones (rats, ferrel dogs and cats as well as a variety of …