Galapagos extreme AW PIPfest

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Jan 27, 2015 15:50:49 GMT -5 starryfish said:

What company did you go with? Also, I dont know about the weather..but is January the best time to go? Thanks! This is on my bucket list!

We were on the Ocean Spray, which is a Haugan Cruises boat (http://www.haugancruises.com/ocean-spray-galapagos-cruise/index.html).  It was a fantastic boat, and our cabin was huge.

We picked the time to go because of our work schedules and weather at home, because figuring out a "best time" was too difficult.  It depends on what you want which animals to be doing at the time -- frigates mating? turtles laying eggs? sea lion babies? albatrosses migrating?  But even if you pick based on a specific desire, you have no guarantees that you'll see what you want to see so we just let it go.  Mid-January should have been the beginning of the wet season, but ended up being the end of the dry season (climate change!) and the landscape was pretty barren because plants hadn't perked up yet, but the water was warm enough (with a wet suit) and we saw lots of babies, so I was very happy.  But I vote for go whenever works for you, and keep an open mind!

(Note: from what I understand there is not all that much rain in the "wet" season so that isn't something that should hold you back, particularly because that's when the water is warmer and calmer, apparently!)

[cheezer]

This looks amazing!

How was the food on the ship? I think I'm most concerned about being stuck on the ship and then the food being terrible (happened to us on safari).

Also, I love the idea of this vacation because work won't be able to contact me. Muahahhaa

[v]

Jan 27, 2015 17:57:04 GMT -5 cheezer said:

This looks amazing!

How was the food on the ship? I think I'm most concerned about being stuck on the ship and then the food being terrible (happened to us on safari).

Also, I love the idea of this vacation because work won't be able to contact me. Muahahhaa

The food was much better than I expected, but that's going to vary from boat to boat (and palette to palette, I suppose).  I was happy with the quality and the variety.

There was a weak cell signal for about half of the time we were there, so people *were* able to check email at times.  I chose not to (fairly easy when you've only been at your job for 3 days ... and lost your blackberry charger along the way.  Oops).

[hamster]

How long did you go for? Do you feel like it was a good length?

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Jan 27, 2015 18:30:12 GMT -5 hamster said:

How long did you go for? Do you feel like it was a good length?

We were gone from Thursday through Sunday --

2 days/2 nights (Thursday/Friday) in Quito (we made sure we had an extra day built into the schedule so a flight delay wouldn't prevent us from getting on the cruise)

8 days/7 nights (Saturday afternoon through Saturday morning) on the boat

1 day/night in Guayaquil (Saturday afternoon through Sunday) in Guayaquil (basically just waiting for the next direct flight to NY)

I am giving you that kind of detail because our company called that 8 days/7 nights (the length of the cruise) while other companies call that a 10-day (because of the extra days on both ends) -- which can make it hard to compare itineraries.

At any rate, I thought that was the right amount of time to be there.  I was getting a bit snorkeled and sunned out by the end so I wouldn't have wanted to go for longer, but I wouldn't have wanted to cut out any portion of the trip (except for the time in Guayaquil, but that was for logistical purposes only).  

If we had had more time, it would have been nice to do a few days in the rain forest or to do Macchu Picchu or something, but there's always the future for that!  We were the only people on our boat who were *only* doing Galapagos -- everyone else traveled to other places before and/or after (I'd say that the average person on our trip was on a 3-4 week vacation).  But most people were coming from a much farther distance than we were (there were only two other Americans on the trip -- mostly Europeans and Aussies), which may explain why people were covering so much ground.

[Deleted]

So amazing. This is on my "someday" list. Thanks for all the advise and details and the fab pictures.

[flatlan]

Gorgeous, gorgeous pics! Thanks for sharing!!!

[audette]

Awesome! The animal pics are cute!

[wanderlustmom]

Thank you for the post! Love it

[mx27]

beautiful pictures!

[KaraOrNot]

Gorgeous pictures!

[tacom]

Amazing! I want to steal all of your trip ideas.

[mskitkat]

Absolutely stunning photos. I'm so jealous.

[chicago]

Beautiful photos!

[Deleted]

v wow, you're a great photographer! Thanks for sharing!

[WinterWine]

This is so, so cool!! Thanks for sharing!! It's truly amazing what the stars look like from the middle of nowhere in the ocean- I was floored!!

[v]

Jan 28, 2015 4:36:28 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Oh, did you have any problems with sea sickness?  This is one of my big fears, especially with a small boat, as I seem to get even more motion-sensitive as I age

That was something I was worried about too, and part of the reason we chose a catamaran over a yacht (catamarans are supposedly more stable).  The first night I threw up in the middle of the night    But after that I was fine (although I did get a bit nauseous snorkeling in very choppy waters).  Very few other people had motin sickness issues, though there were also a few people who had trouble sleeping when the boat was moving (which was most nights) -- not because they felt sick, but because the motion kept them up.  I am an extremely light sleeper yet somehow I slept like a baby all but that first night.  I *never* sleep like a baby!  So maybe I'm meant for the seafaring life!  (I actually think it was the darkness that helped more than anything else).

[1yeartogo]

I have extreme trip envy. Wishing I had traveled more before having kids (except I was too poor to do anything that amazing). Putting that trip on my "some day" list!

[v]

Jan 28, 2015 6:55:36 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Jan 28, 2015 6:52:41 GMT -5 v said:

That was something I was worried about too, and part of the reason we chose a catamaran over a yacht (catamarans are supposedly more stable).  The first night I threw up in the middle of the night    But after that I was fine (although I did get a bit nauseous snorkeling in very choppy waters).  Very few other people had motin sickness issues, though there were also a few people who had trouble sleeping when the boat was moving (which was most nights) -- not because they felt sick, but because the motion kept them up.  I am an extremely light sleeper yet somehow I slept like a baby all but that first night.  I *never* sleep like a baby!  So maybe I'm meant for the seafaring life!  (I actually think it was the darkness that helped more than anything else).

Interesting re: catamaran.  Did you use any anti-nausea treatments?  I think I'd be popping Dramamine/Bonine the whole time.  They make me feel like I can fall asleep standing up, but that's better than feeling like I'm about to empty my stomach at any moment.

I wore sea bands the first two days and took Bonine the first two nights, but I chanced it and stopped doing that for the rest of the trip because I wasn't feeling sick (and the sea bands were irritating after a while and Bonine made me super drowsy)