Animals without fear, volcanic islands in the Pacific and Darwin's laboratory – the Galápagos are the trip you make once in a lifetime.
Photo: Amy Perez (Unsplash)
Full disclosure: the Galápagos are a dream I haven't yet cashed in. Friends who've been there talk about snorkelling with sea lions and sea turtles, blue-footed boobies doing their courtship dance a metre in front of you, and giant tortoises in the highlands of Santa Cruz.
Two ways to see the islands: a cruise on a small ship (16 to 100 guests, 5 to 8 nights), which reaches the remote islands, or island hopping with hotels on Santa Cruz, Isabela and San Cristóbal and day trips – cheaper and more flexible. Both are reached via Quito or Guayaquil.
Ecuador itself is the bonus: Quito with its colonial old town at 2,800 metres, the equator, the Avenue of the Volcanoes with Cotopaxi, the market at Otavalo. The Galápagos are expensive – reckon on 4,000 to 8,000 francs per person for two weeks – but nobody has ever regretted it.
Puerto Ayora (Santa Cruz) as a base for island hopping; Isabela for peace and quiet; on a cruise, on board. Quito: old town or La Floresta.
I almost always compare hotels, apartments and guesthouses on Booking.com – with genuine reviews and usually free cancellation.
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