ECUADOR 2025

Welcome to Ecudaor!

Arriving in Ecuador at 3am in the morning was tough. Arriving late into any city is not ideal especially when your arranged transfer is late. We did however eventually make it to the hotel and the hotel was expecting us and very accommodating. Following our arrival we hit the sack straight away for a few hours before waking up to a nice hotel breakfast.

We had come to Ecuador during rainy season. This was part deliberate due to the calmer seas around the Galapagos at this time of year and partly also because rainy season aligns with the warmer weather in Ecuador. Because we were at the end of the rainy season we had also hoped for less rain.

Ecuador does have a few things to offer such as volcanos, hiking and an Amazon jungle region however most people come here for the same reasons as us, which is to view the Galapagos islands. We had considered coming here and going to the Amazon for those in our group who hadn't been, but we didn't really have the time along with El Salvador and none of our group is overly thrilled by creepy crawlies. As such our time in Ecuador would be broken up by a small period of time in Quito and then spread across two of the main Galapagos islands.

Quito

Quito is the world's second highest capital after La Paz. It is situated at 2,850m and you can certainly feel the altitude when climbing upstairs or walking the many hills in the neighbourhoods. There is a hill viewpoint here called El Panecillo or the bread roll. This hill further raises the elevation to 3,100m. This was where we started our day exploring Quito. We decided on a taxi ride up the hill and then walked back into the historic downtown to save us passing out on the little sleep and unacclimatised bodies. While it did rain up here and on our descent, despite the cooler weather we made the most of it and enjoyed a scenic walk down taking in sights such as the Central Bank and Plaza de San Francisco. On the Plaza we also found a place doing an Ecuadorian chocolate experience where we were able to try local hotel chocolate and chocolate desserts while warming up and drying out somewhat. Thankfully the rain also held off after this for the rest of the day.

From here we made a route past the presidential palace and plaza grande towards the Basílica del Voto Nacional a 19th-century church featuring ornate neo-Gothic styling and with elevated views over the city from its hillside location. The location did however make the walk up to it from town very breathy and tiring. This was made even worse by the climb up the 16 floors of steps to get to the top of the viewing towers. It was a very cool experience though and definitely a highlight of our time in Quito. One thing we couldn't quite believe was the death themed bar inside one of the church's towers serving locally flavoured Tequilla. Of course we had to stop for a shot each as where else can you enjoy a shot on the 14th floor of a church. Due to the altitude this did go to all our heads rather quickly though and made the descent more fun.

Having had only an afternoon in Quito and with the airport so far away in the morning rush hour traffic we then simply grabbed an early diner and wrapped up our visit of Quito. If we had had more time here we would have gone to see the Intiñan Solar Museum which is the accurate location of the equator confirmed by modern instruments and the monument Mitad del Mundo the previously believed location of the equator. We may also have considered the cable car teleférico up the side of the Pichincha Volcano which goes to about 4,100m. Both of these locations are however further away and with little to no acclimatisation we may not have fared well on the cable car. The other thing with Quito is that it is often referred to as unsafe outside the main tourist areas or after dark. We didn't see any overall feeling of unease however we did abide by the recommendation to be back at our hotel by 7pm in the evening and the city centre was certainly becoming a lot quieter by this point so I could see that it might become less safe later on.

Galapagos: Santa Cruz Island

Upon our early afternoon flight arrival we made our way straight to the hotel. Unfortunately the airport is actually on another island in the Galapagos and you have to clear immigration which requires a $200 per person fee (March 2025) and can only be paid in cash. Despite everyone knowing this and it being very clear numerous tourists had not brought cash and as a result it took a very long time to clear the backlog of tourists as each card/bank transfer took about 15 minutes. Once you finally clear immigration everyone has to get a ten minute bus to the channel separating the airport island (Baltra) from Santa Cruz island. Once here you are then required to get a speedboat or barge across the waterway which again takes about ten minutes. Thankfully on the bus from the airport we had found a taxi driver and had pre-arranged the third leg of our travel, a forty minute drive across Santa Cruz island to Puerto Ayora. Puerto Ayora is the main town on Santa Cruz and where any tourists staying on the island stay. From our experience of snorkelling on Santa Cruz we can see why the island is the main spot to travel out to other islands as for swimming and experiencing the marine life in the water Santa Cruz certaintly didn't have the best offerings.

Santa Cruz Town
Our first spot in the Galapagos was the town of Santa Cruz on the busiest island in the Galapagos. Surprisingly for us we actually found the town itself and its piers the main place to spot wildlife here. The town had everything you'd expect from a beach side town but it still had a nice feel. Our first night here eating out was tougher than any other as we had had quite a bit of pre-evening rain and this had led to lots of big black beetles falling on your back, head and table at dinner time. For the squeamish among our group this made them uneasy. But this is all par for the course in coming to such a unique and bio-diverse place as the Galapagos.

The sea lions here chill on the pier, benches, roadsides or anywhere else that they can generally be in the way. Seeing Manta Rays, Reef Sharks, Pelicans, Turtles and Marine Iguanas (called such because they swim in the water and are only found in the Galapagos) was something we hadn't expected. I also think the town and its wildlife had really helped to make the most out of what we expected to be the worst island.

Tortuga Hike, Beach & Mann Bay
Tortuga Beach is often defined as the nicest beach in the Galapagos. It was in fact a gorgeous stretch of white sand, something not that common on this volcanic island chain. It is also one of only three beaches accessible on foot from Puerto Ayora town. The walk to here is listed as forty minutes however this is really from the starting point outside of town, so it can be more like an hour. The walk itself is well paved and partly shaded however during our visit following the recent rain large sections were flooded and we ended up with very wet feet by the time we reached the beach. The beach itself while stunning has rough currents making it unsuitable for swimming or snorkelling. This in my opinion means it can't be the best in the Galapagos. Additionally the beach itself shuts at 5pm and rangers start coming around to kick people out around thirty minutes before this. Due to the tight times we had here we had been hoping to stay on the beach till nearer 5:30/6pm.

Located a further ten minutes up the coast line from Tortuga is Mann Bay. This is a secluded cove full with Marine Iguanas and unfortunately for us mosquitos and horse flies. I'm still not sure if it was the recent rain that made them so bad but we were mauled to death on Mann Bay and although it being the key place to snorkel here around the mangroves the sea bed was thick mud and this made the visibility here basically zero underwater. We did however spot several reef sharks by looking down from the surface into the water around the mangroves.

Out of all the places in the Galapagos this is the one place I'd suggest against visiting. If you have plenty of free time and want to see the Marine Iguanas then it's a cool place to visit and for a beach to sit on Tortuga is beautiful but there's far better snorkelling and chances to see marine life than here almost everywhere else in the Galapagos.

Los Gemelos, El Chato Tortoise Reserve & Lava Tunnels
On our taxi ride from the airport we had arranged with our taxi driver a tour of the island. This tour is a fairly standard affair taking in the island's main sights. It is often referred to as The "Highlands Tour" or "Tour Parte Alta". Although it is possible to do this tour with an organised tour group it will cost about 40 to 50% extra. Honestly the sights really don't need more explanation. Los Gemelos is a walk around some sinkholes which while impressive only takes about 30 minutes. We did however spot the hard to spot Galapagos Racer snake here though. El Chato is the main Tortoise reserve on the island. A guide is provided for the group here and this includes the lava tunnels on the same site. So a need for an external guide is hardly needed.

As is given in the name these sites are located in the highlands on the islands and this is where most of the rain in the Galapagos falls so you do need to be prepared for this. At El Chato wellington boots are provided for your convenience and they had many pairs in all the major sizes from kids to adult UK 15.

Walking around Los Gemelos was cool and seeing the different types of trees, inserts, birds and viewing into the craters was impressive and we enjoyed seeing the other side to the Galapagos that wasn't just ocean, beaches and marine life. El Chato however was the main sight of the day and it was impressive to see all these giant tortoises in their natural habitats while also learning about their history. Even more funny was seeing the other island tortoises walking up and down the main road of the island. The combination of El Chato with the lava tunnels really cemented this as our favourite experience on Santa Cruz island. Also as it would turn out this gave us a well-rounded experience during our time in the Galapagos.

Charles Darwin Research Station & Nearby Coves
We combined our time visiting the Darwin research centre, Playa de la Estacion and La Ratonera with the highland tour as the tour only takes around three to four hours. After we had explored the town pier and had a snack lunch we walked the twenty minutes to the research centre. Unfortunately recently they have started demanding a tour guide to visit the baby tortoises and most of the centre. As a result this meant waiting for the next tour which was over an hour away and as such we simply didn't visit the Darwin research centre at all. If you have jam packed days like ours you'll likely end up giving this a miss as it's too specific to schedule.

We did however get to spent more time exploring the beaches and coves. La Ratonera is a cool sight to spot marine iguanas and wet your legs, but it is too rocky to really be able to swim here. Plada del a Estacion is a much smaller patch of sand but the main attraction here is to us the small section of sand to pass by the rocks and then snorkel in the ocean. We saw many fish here and were pleasantly surprised by how much clearer the water was. This made visibility good and we were able to see reef sharks and many fish types.

Galapagos: Ferry Crossing

The inter-island ferry is the main way to travel between the main three Galapagos islands. The seas in this open patch of ocean can be very rough. The boats are small speedboats and can often be uncomfortable. We had in fact paid extra to get forward facing seats rather than a rough sideways facing bench. It was still however very hot onboard even in the middle of the ocean and good luck using the toilet out at sea. The boats are also either unable to dock at the piers or more likely in order to support the locals and their water taxis they choose not to. This does mean water taxis ferry everyone out to the inter-island ferry first thus incurring an additional wait and charge. It is possible to fly between the islands but baggage is extremely restricted to just 8kg per person for their checked bags and the flights are very unreliable. Additionally you can only fly opposite to the ferries which for us would have meant two unreliable and uncomfortable flights to get where we were going and we would have spent almost a full day doing it despite the shorter flight times.

The ferry departs twice a day, once in the early morning and once in the mid-afternoon. With the heat in the Galapagos I can't imagine getting on the later ferry. You have to wait exposed for a long time before being allowed on the pier and then again on the pier and finally again on the boat waiting for water taxis to board everyone before departure. It was hot enough at 6:30am. Another thing to note is that you need to arrive around one hour before your boats departure time to undergo all the formalities and security screening. It should be noted that no fruit, veg, meats, cheese or nuts is allowed between the islands. This is the same as the rule for bringing food onto the islands from the mainland.

Our crossing was fairly smooth and with the two in our group who get most sea sick on strong medication no one was sick. We had heard that the rainy season calms the ocean and this may have played a part to the relatively smooth crossing. That being said we were all happy when the two and a half hour crossing was done and we saw San Cristobal island. During our crossing we sailed past Isla Santa Fe but after this it was simply open ocean till we arrived. We did spot two different dolphins though. One trying to play alongside the boat and a the second catching the fish we were disturbing with our wake. Upon our arrival in San Cristobal we were also greeted by an army of sea lions occupying the dock steps and harbour walls. We could see why they called it sea lion island.

Galapagos: San Cristobal Island

San Cristobal Town
Continuing our surprise of the towns in the Galapagos just like Santa Cruz town had made the most out of Santa Cruz San Cristobal town would do the same. Every inch of the town's beaches, harbour walls, piers and boats were covered in sea lions and their pups. Thankfully our hotel was set back a bit from the sea front as the noise the thousands of sea lions made could be heard clearly all around the sea front.

San Cristobal is a quieter town than Santa Cruz and on our first night by 7:30pm when we headed out to diner places were already packed and we were lucky to get a table at a nice local sushi place which still catered for vegetarians. Things here were also more spread out and it felt a bit more like the town had been purpose built rather than adapted for tourism. In my opinion the food here was also better and priced more reasonably than our shock on Santa Cruz when four bottles of water at dinner had cost more than a bottle of wine.

Watching the sea lion pups was definitely the highlight of the town though and anytime we came through town we made sure to stop and watch them suckling on their mothers, being told off and the general ruckus that they made. We were also lucky enough one night to spot a turtle swimming around the piers.

Hike to Muelle Tijeretas: Stopping at Playa Mann, Punta Carola & Cerro Tijeretas
While there was another Tortoise centre on San Cristobal it was a long taxi ride away and it was grouped together with a visit to Galapaguera beach and a laguna for a quick photo only. The beach was supposedly good for laying on and swimming but had little in the way of any wildlife or fish and a large number of horseflies. So we decided to give it a miss and spend our time focusing more on the marine life.

As such we set about on a hike to take in the three main beaches and coves on San Cristobal along with a high viewpoint. We had originally planned to do the hike in reverse however upon the recommendation of our hotel we decided to start with the viewpoint (Cerro Tijeretas) before dropping down to the cove of Mulle Tijeretas. The view point itself is reached by about a forty-five minute walk from town. The views themselves are pretty good all along the walkways here and we found them much better than those too and from Tortuga bay on Santa Cruz. However the climb up was very hot and stuffy.

Once we dropped into the cove it was quite deep and as two of our group were weaker swimmers we supported them on getting in and being able to snorkel. One of our group almost didn't brave coming in and that would have been a huge regret as there were numerous sea lions swimming and playing with us here, in fact one almost swam into my face mask. There was also many fish of different and bright types. More than we had seen on Santa Cruz and we were also lucky enough to find a turtle close to the rocks eating plankton. Although it was hard to stay near the sharp rocks it was cool to watch it swim and eat for as long as we felt safe.

Thinking the best of our day was over at this point we started our journey back via an old defensive gun before dropping down to playa Punta Carola. To our surprise this beach was also full of sea lions playing and greeting people on the beach. The snorkelling here was nowhere near as good as the beach was sandy and had swirled it up in the wake. However it was just a pretty beach to enjoy ourselves on despite the horseflies which occasionally bit us. Thankfully although the bites where very painful we had no lasting effects and the bites themselves didn't overly swell up.

Upon our departure we did get soaked and the rain didn't really stop for most the mid to late afternoon. To take some shelter and recharge our batteries having not eaten much all day we decided to stop at a nice little local place at Playa Mann. Here it cost only $6 for a main meal, something which was hard to believe in the Galapagos.

La Loberia
For our final day in the Galapagos we headed over to the La Loberia beach named after the sea lions that should inhabit it. Having said that it was a long walk here even from our close hotel, about forty minutes in fact and even at 10am in the morning it was a long and hot walk across the tarmacked road. I don't know what we'd expected but tarmac was not necessarily it. The Galapagos had also saved the hottest day or almost pure sunshine and real feels up to 42°C for our last day. This was made especially bad by the fact we'd all gotten fairly badly sun burnt on our backs the day before while snorkelling at Mulle Tijeretas.

We did however still make the most of our snorkelling here while keeping our t-shirts on and despite the stronger currents we managed to have a good experience. There was also one young sea lion here who was on the beach and one adult sitting out on the rocks in the sea. As it would turn out this must have been mischief corner with this young sea lion first trying to steal one of our shoes while we were in the ocean and then later playing with us while swimming in the ocean. This was at first very fun and it just wanted a friend to play with. Me as the stronger swimmer and able to manoeuvre under water took on this role and it was just so natural, freeing and awesome to be interacting with a species like this. However after some time it decided it didn't like one of our group and ended up deliberately nipping them on the ankle with a playful bite. I could not believe that I had caught this on camera. What a memory to be ending our trip to the Galapagos with.