Travel

Recently Exodus Travels invited me to take an 8 day cruise with them through the Galapagos. It is a bucket list trip for many people. The Galapagos is one of the few places on earth where you can see animals roaming in the wild, unafraid of their spectators. From island to island you can see what Darwin experienced that inspired The Origin of a Species.

Crown amongst thousands of fish. Then visit the lagoon at Punta Cormorant with flamingos and Post Office Bay, the mailbox used by 18th Century whalers.

Cruise Day 6

To Dragon Hill, a nesting site for land iguanas with a large lagoon; dramatic Sullivan Bay with a walk on a huge lava flow only 100 years old before swimming from the white-sand beach in crystal clear waters.

Cruise Day 7

Less-visited Genovesa (also called Tower) Island is home to an abundance of red-footed boobies, fur seals, storm petrels and Short-eared Owls. Here, look for tropicbirds at Prince Philip Steps before snorkelling, while at Darwin Bay, Galapagos mockingbirds also await.

Cruise Day 8

Explore the mangroves of Turtle Cove at dawn watching marine turtles rising for air; rays and herons fishing from the trees.

Accommodation

Any Galapagos cruise must be owned by someone from Galapagos so it s common to book with an operator and see it subcontracted to another tour operator. In this case it was Enchanted Expeditions, which regularly subcontracts for Exodus.

The Cachelote, the sail boat used for Exodus Travels tours, accommodates 16 passengers and it may not may not be possible to get a private room for solo travelers. In my case I was paired with another solo traveler but there was enough room for two adults in the cabin. There is a common room/dining area and three areas on deck where passengers can relax.

While other tour companies use large cruise ships and catamarans, the romance of sailing through the islands was magical, even as a solo traveler.

Crew

Our guide, Juan Tapia, has been working on the Galapagos as a guide for over 25 years and was very knowledgeable. While he is Ecuadorian, his English was perfect and he also spoke German and some basics of other languages.

The remainder of the crew only spoke Spanish; however, this did not seem to matter when coming to important communication. For example, one afternoon while sailing dophins came up to the boat and the crew rushed to get everyone so they would be able to see as well. Regardless of the language barrier there was always a willingness to help.

Other

When filling out the customer satisfaction the other 15 passengers struggled to find anything wrong with the cruise. One couple felt their room was too small, although to be fair it was a sail boat, and no others felt the same way. When some of the guests arrived in Quito their pick-up was not there. However, it was because there was heavy rain and traffic had slowed down. Although they did not know Spanish, the customer service desk at the Quito airport was able to call Enchanted Expeditions to get an update that a car was on its way.

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