Ecuador Galapagos Travels

Alvaro and "Responsible Travel" Review - Unfortunately, I was disappointed with his services. In the lead-up to our trip, we needed to reschedule (military leave being cancelled), but unfortunately, Alvaro did not seem willing to assist with us rescheduling or getting a refund. There was also a lack of communication after the terrorists' attacks in Ecuador led to the cancellation of other major cruises, and I believe he should have been more proactive in updating us on the status of our trip as news unfolded.

The overall planning of the trip left much to be desired. For example, on our first night, I had to stay up until 11 pm to find out the details of our next-day pick-up, which should have been provided several days before our departure. Plus, despite being promised a private transfer from the airport when we initially arrived, we did not receive one and had to wait approximately 30 minutes while the hotel shuttle accommodated other passenger's arrivals.

Furthermore, the sequencing of activities was poorly planned, with a visit to Cotopaxi scheduled right after the Galapagos. This timing proved challenging as we were still recovering from seasickness (a common issue for Galapagos small-boat cruises). The abrupt transition to an altitude of 14,000 feet was not conducive to our well-being/enjoyment and should have been scheduled for the following day. Additionally, the activities were cookie cutter tours that I could have arranged on my own.

In conclusion, based on my experience, I would not recommend Alvaro or "Responsible Travel" for future travel arrangements.

"Adia Maria" Review - While the Galapagos offers incredible beauty and abundant wildlife, I strongly advise against choosing Adia Maria (Galapagos cruise boat) for your cruise. Despite the stunning surroundings, our experience with the boat was highly disappointing. The vessel was excessively rocky and uncomfortable, lacking proper lounging areas. Due to their lack of planning, we spent approximately 20 hours on the boat per day, and without lounge chairs or a place to exercise or walk, we were forced to be sedentary in our room or the two uncomfortable (and wet) benches provided. The bench cushions were consistently wet, either from rain or the crew washing them every morning. Spending a considerable amount of time cruising without lounge chairs The lack of mobility or proper resting areas made the journey terrible.

Our guide, William (Billy), proved to be subpar, with difficult-to-understand English and a tendency to focus on his own theories rather than scientific or historic facts. He dictated the activities and their duration, only making adjustments when prompted and with attitude. The lack of seating, freezing inside cabin, and constant staff presence created an uncomfortable atmosphere, exacerbated by unprofessional behaviors like staff's underwear hanging and staff's clipping their toenail in public guest lounge spaces.

Adia Maria also displayed a lack of concern for safety, with a reluctance to provide life vests while swimming. Our snorkeling experiences felt unsafe as William swam rapidly, often leaving part of the group behind. On the first day, he assured an easy swim around a bend with shallow water, but it turned out to be a challenging and perilous swim with low visibility and strong currents. One day, he left four passengers swimming without life jackets or a boat nearby in deep water with sharks and sea lions for over 20 minutes.

Overall, the crew's apparent disdain for their jobs and passengers, combined with safety concerns and uncomfortable conditions, made Adia Maria an unsuitable choice for a Galapagos cruise. I strongly advise against selecting this boat for your trip. On a positive note, the food was great!

KimKim Review - I've used KimKim twice and previously recommended it, but I won't be using or endorsing the service anymore. I love the visually appealing nature and use of their website which provides well-crafted itineraries. However, the perception of a USA-based company is misleading as once handed over to a foreign travel "specialist", there's no genuine US-based support from KimKim. For instance, they claim on their site that most trips can be rescheduled with no loss, but this isn't upheld by travel agents, based on our experience this claim is false.

We faced the need to reschedule due to the cancellation of my partner's leave as she is Active Duty Military. Alvaro told us that despite that and the country being deemed unsafe to travel, attempting to reschedule would result in a 70% loss of our money (luckily a family member was able to sub at the last minute). A similar issue occurred in April 2020 during our honeymoon booking when a foreign travel "specialist" refused to refund any of our money despite the world-wide shut down due to COVID-19. Surprisingly to us, KimKim supported the foreign agent and not us.

Another significant drawback is the lack of a cost breakdown, causing major disappointment, as it's hard to assess the value of the experience relative to the amount paid. It raises doubts about missed opportunities for better choices in different areas and constant feeling of overpaying. Consequently, I won't be using the service again. We paid KimKim/Alvaro nearly 11K, and the overall experience does not justify the cost. I estimate I could have organized this independently for around 7K, making the 4K in fees for their "services" seem unwarranted.

Travel in Ecuador/Quito/Galapagos - Ecuador is a great country; this is my second time going. Beautiful landscapes, great food, and friendly people make it a fantastic destination. I believe it is entirely possible to plan a trip independently. While you may need a guide for specific experiences, securing one through your hotel or online bookings is feasible. Looking back, I wish I had organized my own trip rather than using KimKim. Additionally, I recommend choosing group tours over individual ones. The private tours did not provide adequate value, and in some ways, made the trip worse. We had three tour guides, and only one spoke English well enough to adequately answer questions or provide relevant information. Plus, the tour guides were reluctant to customize the agenda and spending 5-8 hours with a stranger non-stop was exhausting plus they were not even customized. Finally, Uber provided an easy, affordable, and convenient transportation option.

Hotel Reviews

M/Y Aida Maria

Galapagos Islands

"Adia Maria" Review - While the Galapagos offers incredible beauty and abundant wildlife, I strongly advise against choosing Adia Maria (Galapagos cruise boat) for your cruise. Despite the stunning surroundings, our experience with the boat was highly disappointing. The vessel was excessively rocky and uncomfortable, lacking proper lounging areas. Due to their lack of planning, we spent approximately 20 hours on the boat per day, and without lounge chairs or a place to exercise or walk, we were forced to be sedentary in our room or the two uncomfortable (and wet) benches provided. The bench cushions were consistently wet, either from rain or the crew washing them every morning. Spending a considerable amount of time cruising without lounge chairs The lack of mobility or proper resting areas made the journey terrible. Our guide, William (Billy), proved to be subpar, with difficult-to-understand English and a tendency to focus on his own theories rather than scientific or historic facts. He dictated the activities and their duration, only making adjustments when prompted and with attitude. Although the boat is tiny, we were told it typically carried 16 guests. Fortunately, our cruise had only six people, and they were all pleasant. With no room to avoid difficult personalities, I shudder to think of the chaos with more passengers. The lack of seating, freezing inside cabin, and constant staff presence created an uncomfortable atmosphere, exacerbated by unprofessional behaviors like staff's underwear hanging and staff's clipping their toenail in public guest lounge spaces. Adia Maria also displayed a lack of concern for safety, with a reluctance to provide life vests while swimming. Our snorkeling experiences felt unsafe as William swam rapidly, often leaving part of the group behind. On the first day, he assured an easy swim around a bend with shallow water, but it turned out to be a challenging and perilous swim with low visibility and strong currents. One day, he left four passengers swimming without life jackets or a boat nearby in deep water with sharks and sea lions for over 20 minutes. Overall, the crew's apparent disdain for their jobs and passengers, combined with safety concerns and uncomfortable conditions, made Adia Maria an unsuitable choice for a Galapagos cruise. I strongly advise against selecting this boat for your trip. On a positive note, the food was great!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Galapagos offers incredible beauty and abundant wildlife

Staff

Find people who want to be there and don't overtly hate the guest

Cleanliness & Comfort

Seating areas

EB Hotel by Eurobuilding Quito

Quito

This is a great hotel. Highly recommend staying if you need to be close to the airport.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Mindo Experience: Hummingbirds

Mindo

This was the best part of our trip!!!! Spend the majority of time here. This was amazing!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had a very memorable trip to Galapagos! I had originally planned this trip with KimKim back in 2021 but we had to cancel it because my older daughter got Covid a few days before we were to leave! We were devastated to cancel at the time and because one daughter had graduated college and the other was half way through, I didn't know if we'd be able to plan it again. (KimKim was helpful when we had to unravel that trip).

Turns out I was correct, when I attempted to almost 2 years later it didn't happen. FINALLY, with Tamer's help, we made this happen! Ironically, the first time we only planned a 4 day cruise and staying on some islands with day trips. I had since read more and spoken to others and realized we probably wanted a longer cruise to see more things. Tamer helped us find an 8 day cruise on the Coral II. We had the best naturalist. We saw every kind of land and sea creature we hoped to see. The snorkeling was magical, hiking on lava filled islands, seeing volcanic craters, and great rides to see the birds were amazing. I also wanted time in Quito and also time on an island - so that we didn't JUST see Galapagos on a cruise. I threw all these requirements at Tamer and he figured it out and when i came back with lots of questions and ideas on slightly altering plans, he was patient and made changes and sometimes explained why some ideas might not be ideal.

I travel often and always plan myself. This was too much to figure out. Tamer walked us through it and he was very patient and encouraging when my schedule got busy to keep us on track and joked that we would FINALLY make this happen. And he was right and got us to the finish line! When I wanted to make our own plans in Quito and San Cristobal he did not give me a hard time.

I loved that Tamer would check on us throughout the trip - even when we were first flying out of the US and even when we were doing our own thing in Quito. Tamer arranged great drivers and transfers for us. My husband really liked feeling like there was someone guiding us at each local point. Even when we were leaving our cruise ship and finding the ferry to San Cristobal. All the little details made things easier during the trip. And even when we had some minor issues on the boat, Tamer insisted on getting in touch on our behalf. When we needed to change a pick up spot or wanted to change one of the plans on San Cristobal, Tamer was accommodating and able to change things while we were there. The communications was invaluable. I felt like I had a friend in country i could message at any time.

We already recommended a friend since we have gotten home!

Great job. The one thing I would prefer about KimKim's service is to have a breakdown of what the costs of the whole trip were. We had many parts of this trip and just having one number without a breakdown is not what I am used to. We went with it on this trip but not sure I would feel the same way on a trip that was not so complicated and I could do myself. I liked the local guide and communication in country but would have to think about it.

If you are planning a Galapagos trip, Tamer is your person! I will miss our texting!
Thank you!

Hotel Review

M/Y Coral I & II

We really liked that these two boats travel together. We liked being on a smaller boat for this trip. We didn't have long waits to get in the dingys to get out to our activities! The other guests were nice and it was a friendly feel. The upper deck had great shade and was comfortable to hang out on. We had the cabins on the top deck and we had adjoining rooms with our adult daughters. The naturalist was great! Pedro made this trip! And the crew that ran the boats to the activities were also awesome! Since we would get pretty hot with activities and the weather, the shared room on the boat had great AC which was needed! The cruise director was not great, her attention to detail and service was lacking. I think her English shoujld have been better for her position on the boat and with the passengers. Some other staff members were great and had better understanding of these skills. Our daughter had a food allergy and the chef and cruise director seemed pretty clueless which was surprising. I don't know how these experiences compare to other boats.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Some were outstanding and others not so much - see general review

Cleanliness & Comfort

We had some issues with our bathroom and it took 3x to get it fixed.

Activity Reviews

Rabida Island - Bartolomé Island

Cruise Ship

Amazing snorkeling. Gorgeous island and rock formation. We had a wonderful hike to the top for great views. We got to snorkel to see the penguins. We had a great boat ride too.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Santa Cruz: Black Turtle Cove – Highlands Tortoise Reserve

Cruise Ship

This was a highlight seeing these tortoises and also the cows with their cattle birds too. We saw so many tortoises! And we had a wonderful walk in the lava tube!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Urbina Bay - Tagus Cove (Isabela Island)

Cruise Ship

This was the best snorkeling of the whole cruise! We had seen some of these animals in other spots but we saw rays mating. We saw a fleet of sting rays swim below us - it was maybe 25-30 in formation like an air force in flight. I lost count of the amount of sea turtles. We saw the best colored fish and coral and the sea lions swam with us. It was the best. There is a beautiful sea cave here too. And the birds are great to spot too.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Bachas Beach (Santa Cruz Island) - Baltra Airport

Cruise Ship

We saw gorgeous flamingos here. We saw one in the water, and could observe her from our walk. But THEN we saw two in flight overhead - it was gorgeous! I had just been wondering how these big birds get into the air!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Speedboat to San Cristobal Island

Galapagos Islands

We had a wonderful super local guide meet us and we could store our luggage until it was Ferry time. You take a water taxi to the ferry. Tamer arranged for us to have the $1 each for the fare. It was a fun and funny experience - seeing the sea lions on the little docks and seeing these boat drivers pile up the luggage. My family couldn't watch as we floated out to the ferry. It was a fun experience. The ferry itself was smaller than i expected - it was a little hot - no open windows. There were outlets and usb ports over the seats but they did not work. I was fine with it - my kids were not as much. It had the local charm and adventure and i would not trade it. But it was a little hot, and the bathroom was not easy to maneuver with the fast speed but i am glad there was a bathroom! I am glad we got to do it - but it is warm and a little loud but again, local and i liked that part. I would not have wanted a more sanitized private transfer. It was just a little over 2 hours and we got to see jumping dolphins in the open water!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Free morning on San Cristobal until Departure

Isla San Cristóbal

We loved this town so much! We had two nights in a hotel right at the waterfront. We all loved seeing all the sea lions at the port and on the sidewalks. We went to visit them in the morning and evening. It smelled a little but that was ok. We LOVED several of the restaurants in town. This was our favorite of the towns we saw. The vibe was great.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport