Family Vacations to Ecuador

If it’s not at the top of your bucket list, a trip to the Galapagos certainly should be. We spent a week aboard Beluga with our guide, Darwin. His guiding, briefings, knowledge and care were all top class. The boat and our cabin were well planned and comfortable, food and snacks always good and the walks, snorkeling and kayaking fantastic outings. The abundance and proximity of the wildlife exceeded our dreams and we learned so much along the way. Second on our bucket list now? To return to Beluga!

Galapagos is truly where the wild things are! The animals are not really afraid of you, everything you see is unique in some way, perfectly evolved for its environment. The different islands vary from moon to mars like landscapes, with cactuses, giant tree daisies, clear (cold) seas and wonderful creatures including giant tortoises (like small armoured cars gracefully moving through the undergrowth), marine and land iguanas, turtles, Galapagos penguins, sea lions and so many birds including blue footed boobies - their feet fantastic shades of turquoise blue. Words fail to describe what Machu Picchu is like, its more a feeling! Go and see it for yourself (for the full emotional experience please do the one day Inca Trail) then you will know what I mean. Epic, wonderful, ethereal do not do it justice. Cusco in Peru and Quito in Ecuador are wonderful old cities, people were friendly, happy to help and we had wonderful guides in all locations. Our ship experience was wonderful, we were well looked after on board, good food, excellent guide (Juan) - getting to the heart of Galapagos experience.

Visiting the Galapagos Islands had been at the top of my wish list for as long as I can remember and this trip was everything I'd dreamt of. Every day brought special, close-up encounters with magnificent animals - male frigatebirds displaying their bright red chests, sea lions stretched out on the beach nursing their young pups or cheekily hitching a ride on the back of our boat and pairs of blue-footed boobies engaged in a courtship dance. The Archipel 1 is modern, spotlessly clean, spacious and comfortable with a friendly, hard-working and efficient crew. The food is excellent in quality, quantity and variety. The boat has the capacity for 16 guests, which enables everyone to get to know one another.

Wow - what an amazing holiday. Truly a holiday of a lifetime! Incredible to see the scale and beauty of Machu Picchu. We walked to the Sun Gate and hiked down instead of taking the bus which was not quite the 1 day trek but was a great way down. It only took 45 minutes or so too. Our group in Peru & Ecuador was small with only 5 of us plus one guide. Age range was between 49 and 78. You do need to be reasonably fit for this as there is some walking and climbing involved. We were then joined with some others in the Galapagos. We all gelled really well and we had a great time. The Cachalote was brilliant. It was a 16 berths boat. The cabins had a double bed and a toilet and shower room. Not huge but sufficient for our needs. There is a large dining/sitting area where we were served amazing food. Breakfast was good - both warm and cold things including yoghurt, fruit, cereals, eggs etc. Lunchtime and dinner was 2 or 3 course meal - again good variety and very tasty. Lovely crew too who will go out of their way to please. The Galapagos Islands were truly amazing. What a honour to see animals in abundance! Snorkelling with the different types of fish, sea turtles, seals, penguins and marine iguanas. Saw a white tipped shark too! On land was also very interesting. Vast amounts of Galapagos birds including pelicans, cormorants and blue-footed boobies. Overall, a superb holiday.

The whole holiday exceeded our expectations. Our guides were exceptional and our group gelled immediately. The number of flights and time spent in airports was tiring but didn't detract from the overall wonderful experience.

I had a fabulous holiday to two inspiring places - Machu Picchu and the Galapagos Islands. Although the journeys were long and tiring everything worked like Clockwork. We were lucky to have like-minded fellow travellers who we got to know really well by the end of the holiday. The Galapagos was particularly good and the boat ad it's crew were excellent. We were well looked after with hikes, snorkelling and excellent food.