Nathan's Insights

Tour Title: Galápagos – Central and East Islands aboard the Reina Silvia Voyager
Tour Company: G Adventures
Tour Leader: Omar Medina 
Cities and Islands Visited: Quito, Puerto Ayora, Española Island, San Cristobal Island, Santa Fé Island, South Plazas Island, Genovesa Island, Santiago Island, Rábida Island
Countries Visited: Ecuador
Dates: Friday 13 December 2024 to Sunday 22 December 2024 (Duration 10 days)
Meals Included: 9 breakfasts, 7 lunches, 7 dinners
Tour Type: Marine Upgraded (Galápagos Cruises)
Tour Itinerary (PDF) and Journal Entries

Tour Type – Marine (Upgraded)

Small-ship adventures on the world’s great seas, rivers, and other places only accessible by boat. Quality accommodations and more inclusions than on other G Adventures tours, like meals, private transport, and activities.

Chief Experience Officer (CEO)

The CEO, more commonly known as a Tour Leader or Tour Guide, can assist you with almost everything you could need. On this trip our CEO Omar Medina was also our Naturalist Guide.

Tour Members

The tour had 10 tour members; Malgorzata, Zbigniew, Krzysztof, Susan, Dakota, Megan, William, Barbara, Erin and myself.

The group was a lot older than what I’d experienced on previous G Adventure tours. This would be due to the higher-than-normal cost for this upgraded tour to a very remote region of the world. Everyone wanted to be in the Galápagos Islands and it showed. This is a destination you pick after researching when you want to go due to cost and difficulty getting here. The passion each tour member had for wildlife and nature made for a great tour. 

Included Activities

• Cruise the Galápagos Islands aboard the Reina Silvia Voyager (7 nights) 
• All meals aboard the Reina Silvia Voyager 
• Certified Galápagos National Park Service Guide (this tour Omar Medina a local with 10+ years experience) 
• Snorkelling on each full day on the Reina Silvia Voyager (twice on one day) 
• Kayaking 
• Hike to the Bartolomé Island viewpoint overlooking the famous Pinnacle Rock 
• Incredible wildlife encounters throughout 
• Highlands and wild tortoise excursion (Santa Cruz Island) 
• Visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station (Santa Cruz Island) 
• All landings and excursions 
• Onboard snorkelling equipment and wetsuits 
• Internal flights 
• All transport between destinations and to/from included activities

Optional Activities

• Quito: Quito City Tour & Equator Line Day Tour (Pre or Post tour activity which I did before this tour. Highly recommended)

Accommodations

Quito: Hilton Colon Hotel (2 nights)
An upmarket hotel near a major park. Rooms booked by G Adventures gave access to the Hilton Executive Lounge (nice peak). The included buffet breakfast was extensive. Fast Wifi. Very comfortable bed. Was the first night and last night’s accommodation of the tour. The hotel organised a Taxi to Quito Airport for USD 40 so no need to book a transfer through G Adventures which is more expensive.

Galápagos Islands: Reina Silvia Voyager (7 nights)
The Reina Silvia Voyager is a catamaran with 9 cabins allowing a maximum of 16 passengers. Passengers can access Main Deck, Upper Deck, and Sun Deck.

Main Deck Cabins; 4 twin cabins (twin side-by-side beds) with balconies, 1 double cabin (double bed) without a balcony. 

Upper Deck Cabins; 2 twin cabins (I have an Upper Deck twin cabin which I shared with my niece), and 2 single cabins (single bed) with a balcony. 

Each cabin has toiletries, air conditioning, a large shower and a lot of storage space. The catamaran has Internet which works most of the time but can be on the slow side (but is a great recent upgrade to the ship).

Meals are normally served in the Main Deck which also has a Bar (self-serve soft drinks at any time), and a lounge area. The sundeck with a jacuzzi and a BBQ area (we had a BBQ lunch on the Sun Deck). All equipment is stored on board in particular zodiacs (for landings), kayaking and snorkelling gear. Cabins are cleaned each day. Clean and spacious the Reina Silvia Voyager is a luxury catamaran with professional staff.

The ship mostly moves locations during the night. The seas can be a little rough so if you get motion sickness you will need medicines to limit the impact. While I was fine, my niece did have at least one rough night after taking seasickness tablets too late in the day.

Highlights

Every day in the Galápagos Islands had new experiences and highlights. It’s worth noting this is an adventure tour, you will be very active and as a result tired and happy at the end of every day. 

Day 1: Meeting the tour members and getting ready for the 4 am departure to the airport on Day 2.

Day 2: Giant tortoises, the Santa Cruz Island landscape, exploring the Reina Silvia Voyager.

Day 3: Finding Sea Lions, Snorkelling, and Hiking the rocky terrain of Española Island.

Day 4: Enjoying a coastal ride around San Cristobal Island, Snorkelling, exploring a beautiful beach, searching for sea life and finding Orcas!

Day 5: Hiking on Santa Fe Island, Kayaking, Snorkelling with Sea Lions, and Hiking on South Plazas Island.

Day 6: Darwin Bay hike, Hammerhead Sharks and Sea Turtles found when snorkelling, Prince Phillip’s Steps hike.

Day 7: Walking on old lave flows, Finding Galapagos penguins, Swimming with Sharks and stingrays, Treking for a great view.

Day 8: The red sand of Rábida Island, pink flamingos, sea lion playing with us when snorkelling

Day 9: Exploring Charles Darwin Research Station (this activity is normally undertaken on Day 2). Returning to Quito.

Day 10: The tour ends at breakfast.

The above is only a small taste of what awaits you on this tour. Across the islands, we saw numerous bird species including; Blue-footed booby, Red-footed booby, Finches (at least 10 species), Galapagos hawk, Galapagos penguin, Flamingos, and Albatrosses. 

Having a sea lion playfully swimming around you is something I won’t quickly forget.

Summary

I had wanted to visit the Galápagos Islands for a long time. When my niece was in primary school she picked this as her post-high school graduation gift destination so I held off on this trip for a long time. Normally when you get over hyped for something it disappoints but not the Galápagos Islands.

Every single day the landscape changed, the wildlife changed and there were new experiences. I particularly liked snorkelling which I did at every opportunity. Omar was great at finding sea life during our snorkelling. It can get a little cold (you need the wet suits) but after a few minutes, the beauty of the sea and the marine life had your total focus.

The Reina Silvia Voyager was above expectations. A rare time when the website undersells the accommodations with the space, meals, bedding, shower and storage all being better than described.

If you love being on an intense and immersive adventure tour that is big on exploring nature, landscapes, wildlife and marine life then this is the trip of a lifetime. If you want to relax and get some sun this probably is not the trip for you.