Galapagos pre/post

Thinking of staying a couple of days pre or post an October sailing ..any thoughts on which is best, San Cristobel or Baltra? Not familiar with either...

Thanks !

Neither. The only "real" town we saw was Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island.

I would suggest perhaps pre or post in Quito as there are numerous day trips from there which would be interesting. We stayed two nights pre-trip in Quito with Silverseas.

I would suggest perhaps pre or post in Quito as there are numerous day trips from there which would be interesting. We stayed two nights pre-trip in Quito with Silverseas.

We will arrive late Thursday night to quito. What is included when you purchase the travel package with SS? Breakfast and night tour? What did you do during the day? Do I need to plan a tour?

Thanks, meggan

If you purchase Silversea Quito package, there is a day tour included. We did not do that as we had been to Quito previously and just needed a place to sleep for the night. But my friends who did the tour liked it a lot.

We were in Galapagos 1 week ago. The Quito tour is not a day tour. It starts around 5 pm and goes for 1-2 hours. If you want to tour during the day you need to make your own arrangements or book the tours suggested by Silversea, which are actually run by Abercrombie & Kent and are very expensive.

Has anybody booked a day tour of Quito not through SS and would recommend the person or company?

Any restaurants within walking distance of JW Marriott?

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We were in Galapagos 1 week ago. The Quito tour is not a day tour. It starts around 5 pm and goes for 1-2 hours. If you want to tour during the day you need to make your own arrangements or book the tours suggested by Silversea, which are actually run by Abercrombie & Kent and are very expensive.

Appreciate these great Galapagos details, comments and follow-ups. We want to do this unique area in the future, but it might not be till early 2020 when we can get things scheduled and arranged. Another pre or post option to consider would be in doing Machu Picchu. Not cheap, but it is suppose to be one of the very special places in the world to visit. Anyone having done Machu Picchu?

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean adventure that started in Barbados, here is the link for that live/blog. Many visuals from this amazing river and Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, San Juan, etc.):

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696

Now at 54,572 views for these postings.

I would not walk alone from the JW Marriott. There is a lot of crime in Quito. Arrange with the hotel for a taxi to go to a restaurant and to pick you up. Don't just get into a random taxi.

Re: Machu Picchu. We looked into this, but the logistics were complicated. Quito to Lima, then Cusco by plane. Then train, then bus. You probably can't do all this in one day. Plus, the best time to visit Galapagos is the rainy season in Machu Picchu.

We walked around Quito in the daytime, but would not do so at night. We had reservations at a very nice restaurant (El Teatro) for dinner, and they came and picked us up and took us back from the Marriott. Highly recommend.

Silversea must have changed the plans from last year, as there was a day tour then. I guess they are cutting back.

We were on the Silver Galapagos last January and we did book the pre-cruise two night stay in Quito with Silverseas. We (by choice) arrived at 11:23pm on the Delta flight from Atlanta. By the time we got out of the airport, took the bus ride (with numerous other guests), got checked into the Marriott and fell into bed, it was around 1:30am. I knew the included Silverseas tour was from 5:00 to 7:00 pm, so I booked a tour to the equator with Metropolitan Tours. The JW Marriott has a link through their website. I could pick the time, so chose 11:00am. After our wonderful included buffet breakfast, we meet our guide and driver. The vehicle was new and clean. The woman who guided us was great and we had wonderful conversations with her on the way there and back (45 minutes each way). We told her we wanted to go to both equator sites, which was fine with her. We enjoyed both stops and our time with her. The rate was $128 total for the two of us. We tipped her and the driver. We also took the evening tour, but by then it was raining, colder, and during the second half of the tour, dark. We had made a reservation at the hotel for dinner and were glad we did. It was nice not to have to go back out after the included tour. The next morning was an early start as our flight to Guayaquil departed at 9:30am and the airport is quite a distance from the hotel. We were glad we booked the pre-tour with Silverseas because they got us to and from the airport on time, and the hotel was lovely. We are also glad we took the private, daytime tour.

Another pre or post option to consider would be in doing Machu Picchu. Not cheap, but it is suppose to be one of the very special places in the world to visit. Anyone having done Machu Picchu?

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Terry, yes we have done MP, on our own, pre-Galapagos. We spent a few days doing so. We flew from the US to Lima and spent a night, then went to Cusco for a night, then took the train and did MP, spent a night there, returned the next morning to MP, took the train back that evening, and had a final night in Cusco, then flew to Quito that last day to meet the Galapagos tour. So we spent 5d/4n on the trip. I did everything on my own except for some transfers and I booked a guided tour of Sacred Valley one day.

Happy to answer any logistical questions as best I can remember but that was some time ago, and my information may now be dated. But you are right. It is something special!

We are doing MP in November, prior to Quito/Galapagos via SS. Most of the sites I reviewed regarding Cuzco/MP suggested flying to Cuzco and departing immediately for the Sacred Valley and MP. Cuzco is at over 11,000 feet above seal level. Altitude sickness is a problem for many. The Sacred Valley is closer to 8,000. By leaving Cuzco immediately after arrival allows you to avoid some of the effects of altitude sickness. You can acclimate to altitude at the much lower Sacred Valley. After Sacred Valley/MP, we will return to Cuzco and spend a couple days there. From there we will go to Quito to begin the SS phase of our trip. BTW, Quito is at 9,000 feet, but after MP and Cuzco, it should not be a problem.

We are on the Silver Galapagos next January and worked hard to extend the trip both before and afterwards. In particular we wanted to see Machu Picchu but after so many variations on the trip we finally decided to abandon it for good. Too much hassle, too much rain, too much altitude and, mostly, far too many tourists. Should have gone there 20 years ago.

So we are staying at a beach resort south of Lima, in a vast desert area, then fly to Quito and stay at two jungle lodges (Sacha and Mashpi), then Galapagos, and finally Cartegena in Colombia for some relaxation at a nice place with a pool. There are two smart resorts in the Galapagos which we considered but nixed both of those as we will have seen that stark landscape for a week and we'll fancy a change.

The add-ons are not arranged by Silversea - they have been co-ordinated by Journey Latin America in the UK.

Sorry to hear that you couldn't make MP work out. It was amazing when we went in 2011. But I've read that you need a guide now. That would have made it less fun for us. Where are you staying in Peru?

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We are on Silver Galapagos starting July 7th. Pre cruise will be in Lima, as we want to enjoy the excelent restaurats in that town. From there we are flying Guayaquil where we will join SS.

Hi Lirio! So glad to see you here, it has been a long time since we saw you in Svalbard. Lima has some great restaurants. We enjoyed seafood at La Rosa Nautica, on the ocean.

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Hi jpalbny - In Peru we are at the Hotel Paracas Luxury Collection, three hours south of Lima, and in Lima itself we have chosen the Hotel B. On BBC recently I saw the trendy restaurant Central and knew it wasn't for us so will dine at the hotel.

In Quito it's another boutique place, Casa Gangotena. We are also staying a night in Guayaquil at Hotel del Parque.

Any experience of those places?

Hi JP, indeed a long ago, but we are considering going on Silver Cloud, Reykjavik to Reykjavik - August 2019!

Currently we are booked on the Amsterdam-Dublin on May 2019, but we are discussing a change. May be we will be in the same cruise. At this time we are going with our daughter and son in law!

Fletcher, in Lima we are staying at Novotel, not fancy but we have points to redeem, so it is a good value for us.

Fletcher, in 2016 we went to Cartagena and stayed at Hotel Sofitel Legend Santa Clara which is an antique monastery. It has a great pool. Be prepared for the hot weather!

Lirio, great news! I hope you join us. We have a big CC group already so the more the merrier.

Fletcher, no experience with staying at the places you mentioned. We did have appetizers and a Pisco tasting at the Hotel Paracas, though, as part of our Silver Explorer excursion last year. Looked nice from what I saw.

I hope you have a chance to see the Nazca Lines from the air, if that sort of thing excites you. Small planes and amazing sightings from the Pisco airport.

And if you need a tour guide in Guayaquil, Mario Fuentes runs an agency called My Trip to Ecuador. We had a great time with him.

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