Here’s a brain dump while all this is fresh in the memory banks.
Galapagos
We tried to do it as cheap as possible, but that’s literally impossible on the Galapagos. You have to pay roughly $100 entry fee just to enter the islands, in addition to all other costs. It’s gotten even more expensive post-pandemic too. In Rough Guides, the bus & ferry from Baltra (where the airport is) to Santa Cruz (where most of the humans are) is no longer free. It’s only $6 each way, but with entry fees for each island, the costs add up remarkably quickly. We stayed for about 8 days, on Santa Cruz & Isabela. I also spent a day diving off Floreana. We stayed and ate on the edge of town in Puerto Ayora & Puerto Villamil and ate at places clearly not targeted at tourists. This meant our accommodation was about $12 per night on Santa Cruz, $40 on Isabela, and dinner about $5 per night with lunch about $3 (always menu del dia for the cheapest). Street vendors are good too, the freshly fried empanadas are amazing.
To go see anything, you have to do it as part of a tour. Even hiking up Sierra Negra was something you’re not allowed to do by yourself. This is because tourists keep fucking up the islands and doing stupid things. Even with the guides they do, so I can’t imagine how it used to be. These tours are not cheap. We went snorkelling round tintoreras with more sharks than I’ve ever seen before. We did the hike up the active volcano Sierra Negra, which was pretty hard work with the volcanic terrain. We saw the Darwin Centre, swam in Las Grietas, walked to Tortuga Bay. We saw the giant tortoise reserve, the caves and the two craters on the way, sharing a cab with two strangers and haggling with the driver to get us to Puerto Ayora and stop off at those places for $60. Our Ecuadorian friend said you’d be unlikely to haggle them any lower than that, and it’s worth doing on the way as otherwise you’d just have to drive back.
The islands themselves are abundant with wildlife, particularly marine iguanas, tortoises and sea lions. We also saw sharks, penguins, boobies, and other wildlife too, this was very cool and the main reason for visiting. However, it’s not the idyllic eco-centre my imagination had thought it was. Ecuadorians like their nightlife, and both Puerto Ayora and Puerto Villamil went wild on the weekends. I’m not talking the tourists, I mean the locals. We were getting up at dawn most days so didn’t join in much, but was interesting to see.
The waterways in November are choppy as fuck. I didn’t know I suffered from seasickness till doing a 2 hour small boat ride across the ocean to Floreana. I ended up taking motion sickness pills for any boat travel afterwards, but that only works if you are chilling the other side due to the drowsiness.
I wouldn’t say diving is worth it unless you go to Gordon’s Rocks and that’s only for experienced divers due to the strength of current. This place is always full of hammerhead sharks. Personally I preferred just snorkelling as you can go your own pace and most of the wildlife doesn’t go that deep.
I recommend going to visit, but with the costs, it’s not a decision to take lightly. You’ve got to fly from Quito or Guayaquil so there’s the extra travel costs involved there too. Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime thing.