Ecuador & Galápagos with Latour
Latour, a company in the Isramworld group (New York, NY; 800/223-7460, www.isram.com), organized our 18-day tour to Ecuador, June 20-July 8, 2007, which included a 7-night cruise to the Galápagos Islands aboard the Galápagos Legend. Our trip cost $5,498 per person, not including international airfare.
From Quito we traveled with our tour leader in a nice van to Otavalo, where the Indian market was filled with colorful textiles, rugs, jewelry and more. We saw artisans weaving and carving musical instruments out of wood.
Our hotel, Hacienda Pinsaqui, was a 300-year-old former estate, filled with antiquities. The food and service were outstanding.
We flew to Baltra and embarked the Galápagos Legend, one of the few larger ships (100 passengers) that ply the islands. Recently remodeled, it has a large dining room, a small library, two bars, a conference room and an auditorium, a roomy afterdeck and a swimming pool. Our cabin, small but large enough, had two single beds and a window.
On board there would be briefings by naturalist guides, and every day of the 7-night cruise we visited two different islands. Each time, everyone put on life jackets, and personnel were very helpful in getting passengers in and out of the rubber Zodiac boats. There were about 16 people to each guide.
Among the wildlife we saw were blue-footed boobies, frigate birds, iguanas, crabs (beautiful!) and sea lions. At the tortoise-breeding area at the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz, we saw baby tortoises and giant-sized adults — very impressive!
Some passengers went snorkeling, and gear could be rented on the ship. In some places we could go swimming, but generally the water was quite cold.
We completed the tour with several days of R&R just outside Quito at the beautiful Arasha Rain Forest Resort. The food and service were excellent, and the lovely swimming pool and large Jacuzzi were ringed in by tropical rainforest and flowers.
We can warmly recommend Latour for trips to South America.
MARTHA WIEKERKEHR
Sonoma, CA