BOAT: ANAHI (aka Galapagos Journey I) 

Robin,

Just returned from Golapagos yesterday.  The Anahi - Galapagos Journey I was a super boat and great crew.  Exceeded all expectations.  Everything went great.  Thanks for your assistance to make this happen!

Cheers!

Brad & Sandy
March 25, 2009

BOAT: SAMBA

Robin
 
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, been on the road it seems constantly since the cruise, anyway here goes some comments on the cruise.
 
My girfriend and I did a 7 night cruise on Samba and had an absolutely fabulous time. We chose the boat mainly because of the itinerary it took, it seemed to take in more islands than any other boats of touring for the same no of nights and in the same price range. As it turned out we think the itinerary was fabulous we saw so much and never felt like we were rushing it - making the effort to get over to Isabela and Fernandina is definitely worth the effort. In terms of the boat and crew we also were very pleased with it; the boat was spotlessly clean and we thought the berths were very comfortable (plenty of space for a couple and good hot water showers) and not at all noisy. The food was first class, three large meals a day as well as snacks and drinks available throughout the day, and the crew were friendly and accommodating at all times.
 
We are a couple in our early 30's and are very active and this trip suited us perfectly, but our group included a couple of teenagers and a lady who was 70 and everyone was able to participate in almost everything, and everyone had a good time. We had come off a few months backpacking in S America so were blown away by the luxury of the boat, but i think even coming over just for a short vacation the boat would also be very acceptable (naturally space is somewhat limited but it was way bigger and better than our expectation as long as you don't expect something the size of a suite in a 5* hotel!)
 
In terms of our guide we didn't get the normal guide that Samba uses as his wife had just given birth. We heard that apparantly he is one of the best on the islands but of course we can't verify that. All i can say is that we got a backup freelance guide who was amazing; his English was perfect and knowledge of everything first rate, he also loved snorkelling so fitted in additional trips for that because he knew that our group loved it too. Also interestingly it was his first time on Samba and he said how blown away he was with the itinerary it does, the best he'd known on a 7 nighter (of course that could be his spiel but he seemed genuinely very excited throughout).
 
The only criticism we all had was that the boat charged an additional amount for wetsuits and snorkelling equipment, everyone thought this was just penny pinching given the cost of the cruise; but if that's all we came up with its not bad.
 
I don't think its possible to really have a bad experience in the Galapagos islands but we thought Samba was amazing and have already to recommended it to all of our friends who are interested in visiting. Obviously all trips to the Galapagos are very expensive and we were a bit worried about forking out that much for a week, but it was worth every penny to us and Samba was a big part of that. So far this was the most memorable week of our 15 months travelling the world. Big thumbs up!
 
Hope this is useful to you....thanks again for organising, we were very happy to have booked through your agency too.
 
Warmest regards
 
Matt
January 16, 2009

The size was perfect, as the first 4 days we spent with only 6 others. We were then joined by a further 5 for the last 4 days, which initially felt like our little "family" was being intuded upon, but after about 10 minutes we enjoyed the company of the new joiners and all felt like one big happy family! 16 is definitely the largest number on a boat I would recommend, only because it's the most number of people that I would suggest would be comfortable on the land excursions. Plus it makes the boat a much friendlier experience.

I have spent some weeks in Ecuador in August 2007  having organized the trip directly from Italy, without the support of an international tour operator.

We've been back from Ecuador for nearly two weeks now--trying to catch up (and keep up) with the galveston daily routine.

 

I wanted to tell you how much we enjoyed our week aboard the EDEN, and the itinerary.  The crew was wonderful, the food superb, and the accomodations were sufficient (I put it like that because Bill and I somehow got the only single-bed cabin, and the bed was larger than a twin but smaller than a double, and the whole cabin width was just about as big as a queen-size mattress.  Sufficient but very cozy.  We all called it the Honeymoon Cabin.) Despite the 2nd degree burns Bill got to his ankles and the tops of his feet about the second day out (we kidded him and called him the Red-footed Boobie until the huge horrible blisters appeared!), we loved every minute of the trip.  I was glad I wore a scopolamine patch and took a jug of meclazine with me for nighttime travel.  I had no trouble with the rough passages, but I gave away a fair amount of meclazine early on.

 

We were glad that we opted for a guided tour instead of trying to do it ourselves.  We were able to get to places we never would have seen on our own.  And I repeat: the itinerary was excellent.  Small is the way to see the Galapagos.  And we met great fellow travelers too, from all over the world.  For part of the trip we were the only Americans.

 

The one, very significant, weakness to the trip was Gandy, our tour guide.  Although his knowledge was certainly acceptable and his spoken English intelligible, his people skills left much to be desired.  It did not occur to hm to make introductions of the passengers or the crew on the first day--he finally did that on the LAST day!  He appeared not to care at all about the welfare of his passengers, or their abilities, apparently not seeing that as part of his job description.  For example, one of the passengers in our Thursday to Thursday group had multiple sclerosis and needed to go a bit slower through rocks, etc, because of balance and coordination problems.  And of course Bill was moving slower because of his burned feet.  Gandy forged ahead, keeping a good pace, would tell the information about what we were seeing and then stand around for long periods without saying anything and let us wait--for what, we could never discern.  On the last morning at the Darwin Research Center, he totally left Bill (and me) and the MS gentleman behind, to the point where we had no idea where they had gone.  As it is a maze of trails, it was about 20 minutes before we found them. He did the silent waiting routine even when we all could keep up perfectly well.  We noticed other guides chatting about interesting information during the wait time when several groups were at a site and we had to wait our turn.  Gandy never had anything to say except his little script.  We really seemed to cramp his style.  This was not just our opinion.  I am pretty sure he got very little in the way of gratuities from any in our group, although the rest of the crew was the best--and appropriately rewarded for it too! 

 

We could certainly recommend Sangay Touring and Guide2Galapagos.com to anyone we know who is interested in Ecuador and the Galapagos Isls.  We just hope that you might have some influence with the company that owns the fleet that Eden is part of, so that no one else has to be subjected to Gandy's poor guideship.

 

Pat & Bill Bumpus
June 27th, 2008

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BOAT: ARCHIPEL II

Robin,

Thank you so much for all your assitance.  We had a wonderful time [Archipel II] and the kids want to go back.  I will definitely recommend you to any friends who are thinking of a trip.  I want to apologize for being a pest about the details.  It made me anxious to do things over the internet. 

All my best to you and your family.

Hi Robin, Here is a more detailed response.  The guide was very knowledgeable and responsible.  he clearly wanted us to have a wonderful experience and we had minimal contact with other boats.  At only one stop was there a large boat, but that was the time we got to swim with penguins.  Some times there were two other small boats, some times we were the only ones on the islands.  The itinerary seemed great with lots of different types of wildlife.  The crew was very attentive and the cook/wait staff always accommodated the dietary restrictions of those on board.  The rooms were clean and spacious (for a boat).  We had a grand time.

Robin was so helpful with excellent advice.

BOAT: CORMORANT II

The Cormorant II is a wonderful boat for touring the Galapagos Islands. Given a choice of any boat in the Galapagos, I would definitely choose the Cormorant.

Pluses: There is plenty of room on this boat; I never felt like I couldn’t get away from other people. There are lots of outside lounging areas, both shaded and unshaded. The captain stayed pretty darn close to the schedule which was important. Cold, pure drinking water was always available in the dining room. Its sailing was smooth, the food was plentiful and tasty, and the crew was fantastic, even accommodating one woman’s last minute request for vegetarian meals. The cabins are large and comfortable with nice-sized bathrooms. The first day on the boat, we had no water because of a mechanical problem, but after that the water was abundant with good pressure and temperature. We felt completely safe and well taken care of. I never worried about anything happening to my belongings. The crew was very safety conscious and the boat was spotlessly clean. 

Suggestions: Because cabins 7 and 8 are located over the engines and generators, they were quite noisy and very, very hot. I would not recommend them unless you have ear plugs and can handle sleeping in an 85 degree room. The air conditioners in the dining room couldn’t keep up so it was sweltering hot during meals, especially lunch and dinner. It helps to keep the sliding doors open rather than closed. If I were to cruise on the Cormorant again (which I would do in a heartbeat), I would urge the guide to make at least some meals happen on the upper deck where the ambiance of the open sea heightens the pleasures of good food and company. The bar on the upper deck was never open. After paying a great deal of money for the cruise, it felt tacky to be charged for a soda. I can understand charging for alcoholic drinks, but sodas should have been included in the price. If you have to, raise the price $10 per person and make sodas “complimentary”. The itinerary should include some beach time to just relax. Our group mutinied on a particularly sweaty day and jumped in the ocean en masse instead of getting in the dinghies to return to the boat. We played in the waves and surf for over an hour which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. The web site of our tour company erroneously advertised that satellite Internet is available on the boat. It was not and none of the crew even knew what we meant.

Guide: The main thing I liked about our guide, Leonidas, was his passion for the islands and their wildlife. He was very knowledgeable about the flora and fauna. Although he kept to schedule, I never felt particularly rushed. My only criticism has to do with the last day of the tour when Leo uncharacteristically showed up 90 minutes late with no apology or explanation. Everyone was quite angry about it and worried that we would miss seeing giant land tortoises because of it. Had this occurred I have no doubt that his tips would have been significantly affected. It worked out okay but it was a stress on the passengers that shouldn’t have happened.

BOAT: GALAXY

Hi Robin,