By James Stone

Book your round the World Flights and Travel Insurance here!

After a few days seeing the sights and trying to avoid altitude sickness in the Ecuadorian capital Quito, my girlfriend and I boarded a plane and four hours later found ourselves on a bus careering towards Puerto Ayora, the largest town of the Galapagos, on the region's central island of Santa Cruz.

After an early night at our little hotel, dawn saw us joining our tour party of 15, mostly North Americans, for our two day tour of the islands. Driving out to our yacht that was going to be our home for the next 48 hours there was a huge sense of excitement, with many of our new found friends considerably better informed than myself when it came to wildlife. It didn't matter, as even a person without the slightest interest in the animal kingdom could not fail to be impressed by the wildlife we would see over the coming days.

First stop was the island of Floreana. Tourist numbers on all of the islands are carefully regulated and with landings only allowed during the day, time on each of the islands is somewhat precious. Following our guide, who called himself Randy but was a local with 20 years' of tour expertise, we managed to catch sight of a small colony of Galapagos Penguins as well as the odd Galapagos Flamingo or two. It was quite stunning, especially for a city dweller such as myself, seeing animals in their natural habitat and this taster had me salivating for more.

It was on to the island of Seymour, where we encountered the extraordinary looking Frigatebird. The males have a large, red inflatable flap of skin that is designed to attract a mate although not many were putting it to full use while we were there.

The next day, after a somewhat rocky night's sleep, we found ourselves back on Santa Cruz, where we said goodbye to our companions and realised we had just two days left before returning to the UK. Giant tortoises, which had so far escaped our grasp, were high on our list of things to see. We joined a small tour for the hour 's drive from Puerto Ayora to the Charles Darwin Scientific Station, where a huge breeding and repatriation programme for giant tortoises and iguanas is underway. The sight of the giant tortoises was quite incredible and it was heartening to think that they would soon be sent out to their natural habitats on the islands where they would live long lives.

Our final day was given over to a wonderful snorkelling expedition at a variety of locations off Santa Cruz, which I was a little nervous about to begin with. From afar we spotted some sea lions and fur seals, but, I am glad to say, didn't encounter any in the water. Instead we saw a huge range of colourful fish close up and the odd ray or two, which was enough excitement for me and the perfect way to end an amazing stay.


Flight Search Destination Guides