- 10% EXTRA SURCHARGE FOR CHRISTMAS / NEW
YEAR'S DATES
- CHILDREN
DISCOUNT: 10%* [children less than 12 years of age] *subject to change
- SINGLE SUPPLEMENT: to be confirmed
Prices do not include
(unless otherwise specified):
Round trip
Galapagos airfare (reserved in conjunction with cruise);
Galapagos
National Park entrance fee [$100 per adult / $50 for children];
INGALA
(Tourist Migratory Control Card) [$10 per person];
Alcoholic
beverages & soft drinks;
Tips/gratuities;
Personal
expenses.
REVIEWS
It´s Bryce writing. Shannon
and I are in Cusco now. What a
wonderful city. We had a great time traveling from Quito to
Cuenca --
thanks again for helping us plan the trip. Here´s the
summary you
asked us to write of our Galapagos Islands
cruise aboard the Sagitta.
We toured the Galapagos Islands
aboard the Sagitta on an 8-day cruise during the last week of
July.
Our cruise was an amazing experience. The Sagitta is a beautiful
three-masted ¨motor sailboat.¨ The boat has several
private cabins on
two decks. Each cabin has a private bath and shower with plenty
of hot
water. We shared the boat with thirteen other passengers, a
crew of
six, and one guide. We thought the Sagitta´s teak decks
added a touch
of class and enjoyed many sea breezes
relaxing in the comfortable deck chairs. The Sagitta also has a
small
library and video collection. (We read Darwin´s ¨Voyage
of the Beagle¨
during the cruise.) Although the Sagitta uses its motor to travel
from
island to island, the crew did raise the sails for one of the longer
inter-island trips and it made for some grand photos.
During the cruise we saw about every
animal the Galapagos Islands are famous for: tortoises, sea lions,
frigate
birds,
humpback whales, blue-footed boobies, sea turtles, porpoises, land and
marine iguanas, albatros, Galapagos hawks, penguins and pelicans.
The
animals were as fearless of humans as advertised, allowing for many
close-up photos.
The Sagitta generally travels from east
to west through the
islands, making stops on the western side of Isla Isabela as well as on
Isla Fernandina. (Many other boats don´t make it to these
areas.) As
the youngest and most rugged islands
in the archipelago, these are some of the more interesting places
to visit.
Our
days aboard the Sagitta began with a shared breakfast served
at 7:00 a.m. After breakfast, most days, we boarded a panga (a
small,
inflatable motor boat) for a short ride to whichever island was to be
toured that day. Each tour was guided and lasted about two
hours.
After the tour, we returned to the Sagitta and usually had the
opportunity to snorkel. The snorkeling was some of the best
we´ve
done. We saw many varities of fish and had the chance to swim
with sea
turtles and even on one day a curious sea lion. A
second guided tour
generally followed later in the afternoon. In addition to
breakfast,
we were provided with a big lunch, dinner and dessert. The food
was very good and there was always plenty to go around. We
were
impressed by the variety of food served considering that the boat had
to store everything needed for the entire 8-day cruise.
The guide aboard the Sagitta changes from
cruise to cruise. The
guide for our cruise was knowledgeable and thorough. She showed a
genuine interest in the wildlife of the Galapagos Islands and a desire
to teach us about it. We were equally impressed by the
Sagitta´s
crew. They worked hard and did many little things to make us more
comfortable, like providing drinks and snacks when we returned to the
boat from a trip to the island or a snorkel. The Sagitta´s
cook even
baked a birthday cake for one of the passengers who celebrated his
birthday during the cruise. The panga captain was also
very good. He
got us close to the wildlife and his skill with the boat made our
island landings smooth.
One of our biggest thrills was the
nightly star show. The
Sagitta usually cruises to a new island each night, and the cruise
generally takes between 5 and 10 hours. With no city lights
to obscure
the view, we counted stars by the hundreds, and the Milky Way was
a white streak across the top of the sky. The Sagitta
also churned
up the phosphorescent plankton as it moved through the water,
which at
night appeared like sparkling, green fireflies in the boat´s wake.
A few more thoughts. The Sagitta
provided wetsuits for us to
rent, as well as masks and snorkels. If you contact the Sagitta
in
advance, the crew will be sure to have the wetsuit size you need
and
can also bring aboard the boat special wetsuit sizes (e.g., small sizes
for children). In July, the water was a little chilly and we were
all
glad to have wetsuits available to us for
the snorkeling. Sailing in
July also means rougher seas, but sea sickness medication should
prevent any nausea.
We had a wonderful time aboard the
Sagitta and highly recommend a Galapagos Islands cruise aboard it.
Bryce and Shannon
