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Galapagos Islands holiday
 For
the people with varying budgets and varying interests, there are many ways
to visit the Galapagos.
These range from three to four days aboard a luxury
liner, to two weeks aboard a comfortable yacht, to a week or so on small
converted fishing boats. The more luxurious trips are advertised in major
natural history magazines. Among the
yachts are the
Andando, the Encantada, the Sulidae, the Cachalote, the Tigress, the Resting
Cloud, and the Charles
Darwin. The large cruise ships are the
Santa Cruz,
the Galapagos
Explorer, and the Isabela 77.
 There
are literally dozens of smaller (8-20 passenger) motor boats that operate out of
Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz,
or Puerto Baquerizo Moreno,
San Cristobal.
A week or more is recommended to be able to appreciate
the splendour and diversity of these islands. My own preference is to travel
on one of the comfortable yachts. These yachts have a wonderful ambience,
excellent food, and first-class guides.
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The islands are reached by flying
TAME airline from Quito or Guayaquil, Ecuador to Baltra Island or SAN/SAETA
airline to San Cristobal Island. From there people with organised tours
usually board their ship or yacht. Those who wish to pick up a boat in
Academy Bay must travel by bus and boat over to the island of Santa Cruz.
The National Park
Service has created forty-eight visitor sites around the archipelago. These
are placed in areas with rich concentrations of
wildlife or other
interesting features. Through most of these areas, trails have been
delimited by black and white stakes to keep visitor impact to a mini-mum
(Plate 70). Please follow these trails with your guides and respect the park
rules.
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Travel from island to island is by boat. The
distances from one site to another vary from a few kilometers to over 150
km, and journey times vary from less than an hour to overnight. To visit
each site, you will travel from ship to shore by small dinghy (locally
called "panga") and land either on rocks or beaches. When landing on beaches
your feet will get wet, so it is advisable to carry your shoes and a small
towel ashore and to put on your shoes on the beach. Rocky landings are
usually dry, so it is best to keep your shoes on, especially as the rocks
may be sharp.
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