My dream trip to the Galapagos Islands!
Galapagos Islands
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Mar 17 - Mar 27, 2023
This was my dream trip and it waited too long in my bucket list. I enjoyed Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz. The hotel Sol y Mar was lovely; enjoyed visiting Darwin Station and Chato Ranch. The Millenium catamaran was a nice boat to see the islands and the cabin was very comfortable and clean. The crew was friendly and our guide Javier Picaza G. was very knowledgeable. The food was not so good; everything served except the shrimps, was overcooked.Loved the scenery and landscape of all the islands we visited:Santa Cruz, Isabela(the biggest), Fernandina and Santiago.My favorite was Punta Espinoza in Fernandina.It was heaven on earth. Truly magnificent.We did wet and dry landings and saw those blue footed boobies, iguanas, turtles, sealions,whales,sharks, pelicans, cormorants, penguins, finches, flamingoes, and amazing volcanoes. If at day time we saw all these plus beautiful sunrises and sunsets, at night time we were able to see the whole Milky Way plus other galaxies;literally you could see stars all the way to the horizon where the sky touches the water.Indeed it was epic and loved the fact that there was no phone connection as it made it a true vacation!
Hotel Reviews
Loved this hotel, the food, the rooms, the location.And the gardens plus amazing views from my balcony.
The catamaran was very nice and clean; the cabins were comfortable and had a balcony where you could enjoy the sunrises. Wonderful terrace in the top deck and another terrace in middle deck. The crew was friendly and helpful, unfortunately the chef was not the best. The food was overcooked (chicken, beef , pork and fish) making it impossible to enjoy. The shrimp (one time only) was fine though.Had they had a better chef, I would have given this catamaran 5 stars. But food is an important part of any vacation and when in five nights only one meal was good and the rest mediocre, it takes away a lot. Specially because this was a pricey vacation for any pocket.
My flight was super delayed so in essence couldn't enjoy as much, but this hotel was lovely and the food was excellent.
Activity Reviews
This was my favorite! Truly loved Punta Espinoza! Divine!
It was interesting visiting the Darwin station and strolling along in beautiful Puerto Ayora.
This was a long hike, but worth every effort. the views were fabulous and though it was pretty warm, the rain afterwards made things cooler.
The bluefooted boobies were everywhere! It was divine!
Incredible landscape. The views were wonderful!
Thank you so much for your valuable review, it serves as an excellent insight for our future travelers and we can't be grateful enough.
I am happy to know you enjoyed the majority of your trip/cruise; the wildlife encounter, the catamaran itself, its staff and your cabin, the hotels in Quito and Puerto Ayora before your cruise and your rooms there, and the related services were up to our expectations.
Nevertheless, it is a personal disappointment to me to learn that an important... Read more