Central West Galápagos

Victoria Tran

Golondrina Galapagos Cruise

Budget

We booked an 8 days boat tour of the Golondrina (15 tourists and 8 crew members boat) for our family of 8 (4 adults, 4 boys ages 9-12) from July 12, 2019 to July 19, 2019 with Thomas Richmond from Galapatours. We booked in May 2019 so it was kind of late planning on our part but everything went smoothly and Thomas and Andino were prompt and very helpful, even returning our calls and emails on the weekend. We had a wonderful time on the Golondrina. Everything was easy and was as expected. The crew picked us up at the airport. We booked our own airlines as we were coming from Machu Picchu and Lima, Peru through Quito. We went on a wonderful adventure of the Galapagos on the Golondrina with its fantastic crew for 8 days, hiking and snorkeling everyday and seeing amazing landscape and animals and the kids learned so much and it was great healthy living. The ocean can be rough at night as the boat traveled for 5-6 hours across miles to get to the next island destination but you can't control the ocean and we were deep asleep after all the exercises every day anyway. Kids had no problem with any part of the trip and participated in the hiking and snorkeling in the middle of the ocean fine. We brought our own wetsuits for the kids. All the crew on our boat were fantastic. The other 7 passengers on our boat were 3 adults from Washington state, 2 from Texas, and 2 from Switzerland, and they were friendly, well-educated, fit, and engaging. At the end of our 8 days tour, the tour guide walked us to the correct bus transport at the airport (the only way to do it: bus for 5 minutes, ferry across, then taxi to town), to get into Santa Cruz town as we were staying on this main island for extra days (must do as the town is wonderful!). From the first time I emailed Thomas at Galapatours, he emailed me back and called me right away and he presented me with boat options and all the information was there to make the boat decision. I paid by credit card and everything was set and we just showed up at the airport in Baltra and the crew took care of us from there, as in the itinerary. The 8 days boat tour is the way to see the Galapagos, as most islands are far apart and boat can travel at night. As it is, we only saw the Eastern part of the Galapagos archipelago, but we saw all the animals as expected, so maybe we were very lucky (saw humpback whales too). Next time, we will do another 8 days to see the Western side and we will use Galapatours to book our trip!

once in a lifetime experience "Once in a lifetime experience. It was a fun trip, helpful nice staff, lovely informative guide who helped the whole group out, thanks so much Golondrina staff!" .-Ned Greeley – USA Feedback from: https://goo.gl/fG1wc9

eine außergwöhnliche Reise Es war sehr schön an Bord der Golondrina. Es hat viel Spaß gemacht und war zudem informativ. Danke an die Crew, ihr wart klasse und habt diese Reise zu einer außergwöhnlichen Kreuzfahrt für uns gemacht. Quelle: https://goo.gl/fG1wc9

Greetings to our guide Alex! We just got back from an 8 day cruise on the Golondrina. (January 3-10, 2017) It was really good! The cabins are very small, but adequate. The galley had plenty of room and the food was good. The crew was polite and efficient. There were books about the Galapagos on board, which helped with the history, animals and geography. The boat navigates to the different islands mostly at night and the noise of the engines can be bothersome - bring ear plugs. Also, we got the behind-the-ear seasick patches, just in case. We were perfectly fine. Two people in our group got sea sick, but they did not have any anti-sickness prevention medication. Bring sunscreen for the day treks as well as lounging on the boat. Bring hiking boots, as some treks are over very rough terrain. Also bring a hat, sunglasses and insect repellant. Bring your bathing suit for the almost daily snorkeling (equipment available for rent at a very reasonable cost). Do not forget your camera and an extra SD card!! We met some people who paid $1000 more on a different boat and I can't honestly think of anything that could have been added to our existing trip that would make me want to pay that much more. Our guide (Alex) was absolutely awesome, but he is a freelancer and not always on the same boat.

Highly recommended! My husband and I booked the 5 day/4 night trip very early, and paid a lot more than those who paid later. But regardless of this the whole trip was amazing, the crew went out of their way to ensure that our every need was meet. The food was superb, as was all spaces on board the boat. The days were well organised with both a morning and afternoon excursion, with a few hours each afternoon for a rest. We saw an incredible amount of animals, birds and fish, and were taken to a variety of different islands, nothing was repeated. The whole trip was very worthwhile.

Sehr zu empfehlen Mein Mann und ich waren 5 Tage auf der Golondrina. Wir buchten früh und bezahlten etwas mehr, als die Last Minute Passagiere aber dafür bekamen wir auch unsere Wunschtermine. Die Crew hat immer alles gegeben, um es den Passagieren recht zu machen. Das Essen war super und das Schiff war sehr gemütlich. Die Tagesabläufe waren gut durchdacht und organisiert mit Pausen zum Ausruhen. Wir sahen eine beachtliche Summe an Tieren, Vögel und Fische hauptsächlich. Es gab keine Widerholungen, man sah immer etwas anderes. Das war es auf jeden Fall wert.