it had been a couple of years since the South Africa trip, so i thought i’d check in with my travel friends and see if there was interest in another big vacation. you guessed it, there was interest and we thought Machu Picchu would be a good place to explore.

i started making preliminary inquiries with a company called Peru Gateway to see what they could come up with for us. they were fine to work with and Maya helped me out tremendously. i shared the itinerary with my friends, and found out that sadly, no one was going to be able to make a big trip that year. what to do? i really wanted to get away, so i decided to go on the trip alone.

although i had traveled a fair amount by that time, i hadn’t done anything by myself before. my friend JF travels solo all the time and loves it, so i figured why not give it a go. so i finalized a tour through Gateway and started reading about the area. while i was reading up on Peru, i kept coming back to the Galapagos Islands. well, if i’m going as far as Peru, i should make the most of my time and go to the Galapagos as well right?!

Condor Travel took care of my Galapagos excursion, and got me from Ecuador to the Galapagos and back again, so i could catch my flight to Lima. Condor was a good company to work with as well, and i would recommend them in a heartbeat for South America tour planning.

i spent three nights on the island of Santa Cruz and made two day trips out to different islands. i saw Isabella and Floreana. both boat rides were very choppy (thank goodness for a cushy seat) and not the most pleasant of trips (thank goodness i took Dramamine), but the islands were nice. tortoise, penguins, seals, shark, marine iguanas, and blue footed boobies were a few of the wildlife highlights.

i went to the Charles Darwin Center, the tortoise sanctuary, and just wandered around the island. if you’re a bird person, this is a place for you, so many different kinds to see. there is some diving there as well, but i didn’t check it out. some folks on my boat trip said it was very rough seas and low visibility, and they we disappointed in the dive experience. i’m glad i went, but no strong desire to go again. it’s not an inexpensive trip by any means, so be prepared. “welcome to the Galapagos, that will be $100 please.” that portion of the trip was more than the rest of the trip, which was 3-times as long.