Galapagos Islands discussion

shipwreck

Im off to South America next year for the year and I dying to go to the Galapagos Is.
How much was it in total V.E.R.B.A.L??

Did ye book it there in SA or did you have it booked in Ireland??

SheroN

I'd be interested in hearing about your trip to the Galapagos too. How did you do it? How much did it cost? How long was it for?

RATM

Me too Verbs:pac:, what kinda bobs are they asking for a 1 week tour on the ground?

Is there much competition or are you forced to pay the €1k?

v.e.r.b.a.l

you can get plenty of last-minute deals around Quito or Guayaquil or try to do it independantly. I wouldn't recommend indie though, from what I've heard. You have to factor in the 250 dollar flights out, accomodation on one of the islands that you can do that (Isabella, Baltra, Santa Cruz) then day trips with a guide (you're not allowed on your own), water taxis, taxes for each island. It ends up costing much more than a cruise.

The boats are great fun. We went with GAP and they were brilliant. Pricey though, at about 1000 with flights included. We only did the 4 day one and i really regret that, wish I'd done the 8 day one instead. You can get a big fancy boat for about a grand last minute, but those big fancy boats are generally filled with very annoying old american tourists. Ours was small and the group were all pretty young and good fun. Our naturalist was great too.

I'd recommend going with a company like GAP and booking before you leave on the internet because it'll only cost a fraction more than a last minute, and with the last minutes you generally have to pay for your own flights on top of that. Just do 8 days minimum because it's the greatest place in the world!

BuffyBot

Split off into it's own thread

shipwreck

Brilliant, VERB, im definitely going to go!!!

Have seen a GAP brochure alright.

Really I need a thread called ' stuff I want to do in SA, but dont know where to begin planning for it!!!'

:D

v.e.r.b.a.l

we were really iffy about whether we´d do it or not cos it´s so expensive, but everyone kept saying "when you´re in ecuador you have to" so we did. I´d go as far as saying "when you´re in South America you have to"!!!!

definitely go and definitely do 8 days (at least!) it´s well worth the extra couple of hundred quid. GAP are really good, but i´m sure there are other really good companies too. shop around, but don´t do it indepentandly

shipwreck

I agree!!!



Once in a lifetime oppurtunity!

RATM

Thanks for the info Verbal. Im off to Peru, Bolivia and Argentina in the summer and I had toyed with the idea of heading up north to Ecuador to go see the Galapagos. The price is kinda what put me off and it still is:(
I just couldn't afford it on this trip as Im going to be in S.A. for 3 months and to blow a grand in 4 days would shoot my budget out of the water.
Though it is definitely on the list, this isn't my first time to S.A. and it certainly won't be my last, I love the place and everything about it.

Hey if you get a chance you might put up a report and some pics over in the Travel Reviews and Reports forum so we can all salivate at what we are missing