We arrived in Ecuador on August 1st and left for Peru on August 31st. In between we went to the Galapagos, the Amazon Rainforest and the middle of the world, among others. Here are our general observations from our first country in South America. Language – since we have been Read more…
We had high hopes for Cuenca as we left Quito airport for the final time. The prior couple of weeks in the Galapagos and Amazon had been amazing, but tiring. As a result, our Cuenca wish list included laundry facilities, good internet, our own space to relax, a kitchen to Read more…
Each day in the Amazon we did a morning and afternoon activity, which was good because we we were in the middle of a rain forest and couldn’t leave the lodge on our own, and the kids needed to burn off some energy! After we left the Rainforest, we asked Read more…
For our week in the Ecuadorian Amazon Rain forest, we stayed at a lodge called Gaia Amazon Lodge located outside of Tena, Ecuador. Our stay was very well organized with a morning activity and an afternoon activity each day. We also had all our meals prepared for us. We normally Read more…
After the Galapagos, a trip to the Amazon was our second top priority in South America (even if we did worry about packing all the ‘fun’ things into the first month of our trip!) We were picked up from the crater early in the morning and after a long, winding Read more…
Our last full day on the island of Santa Cruz in the Galapagos, we had a few options of things to do and finally, somewhat halfheartedly, decided on swimming in Las Grietas, an interesting geographical formation formed by (of course) volcanoes, filled by a mix of fresh and salt water. Read more…
Tortuga Bay is a beautiful beach on the island of Santa Cruz on the Galapagos Islands. The beach is reached by a fairly-long walkway from the main town of Puerto Ayora. As we exited the walkway, we were deposited on a huge sandy beach called Playa Brava, and as beautiful Read more…
Our trip to the Galapagos Islands was land-based, meaning we didn’t go on a cruise from island to island, but instead based ourselves on one island, Santa Cruz. However, in order to see a bit more of the amazing animals, we booked a day trip to the nearby North Seymour Read more…
On our first full day on Santa Cruz, our base for our stay in the Galapagos Islands, we headed to the wet highlands of the island, where the Galapagos tortoises like to hang out. The tortoises move freely in the highlands, even going onto private ranch lands. Rather than fighting Read more…
When making our initial plans for South America, we very nearly didn’t bother with the Galapagos Islands, an archipelago of volcanic islands located in the Pacific Ocean about 500 miles off the coast of Ecuador. These islands are famous for its unique animals, who have had a chance to evolve Read more…