a few questions on "Cruising the Galapagos"
Looking at this tour for Nov 28, 2024 ( a long way off...). I have some questions..Is it worth it taking an extra day at the beginning or end of this trip in Guayaquil? The itinerary does not have an exact time for the tour start - it just says most international flights arrive late in the day. Not very specific. Aside from the bed configuration, are all of the cabins pretty much the same? And lastly - Do they give you wet suits to borrow or do you have to bring your own.
I appreciate any comments or insights.
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If the ship is the Isabella, they are all the same, very basic cabins, an expedition ship. Been on it twice. Great crew. If it is on the newer and more expensive ship, maybe Silverseas, no idea. You could easily skip Guayaquil, it’s not that interesting and there have been reports of unrest there recently. But if you have the gift of time, then I would go the day before to rest up. No need to stay around at the end, would go again in a heartbeat.
OMG , British!!! Aren't you in Singapore? I cannot believe you took the time to answer my querie! Thank you! Have a great trip! I hang on your every word.
Just returned home after a fantastic trip yesterday, Knee deep in opening mail and doing laundry. Yes and back to making our own beds, making food and cleaning our own eye glasses because they even did that for my husband when he was seen cleaning his on his shirt hem at the Four Seasons! 😂😂😂😂
Is it the Isabella II that you will be traveling on? Oh, and yes they provide wet suits. Be aware there are no keys to lock your cabin doors, There is a drying area for wet water shoes and costumes.
It looks like that tour is on the Isabel II. I did the Peru and Galapagos tour and that was on the Silversea Silver Origin.
Tauck (or Silversea) provides the wet suits (on loan). We also got a very high-quality mask and snorkel which we could keep.
I agree that there was not much to see in Guayaquil - at least we didn't see anything that interesting.
If you haven't been to Machu Picchu I would recommend taking the Tauck tour that includes Peru (Machu Picchu) and the Galapagos. In addition to seeing Machu Picchu you get the nicer ship - the Silver Origin. If you go that way, I recommend the Deluxe Veranda Suites.
The standard Peru & Galapagos Islands that includes Peru & Machu Picchu sails on the Isabela II. If you want to see Machu Picchu and sail the Silver Origin you need to take Hidden Galapagos & Peru.
Resting up before the trip to Baltra was helpful;we stayed one extra day in Guayaquil before the trip.It was relaxing to walk along the river bank;they have made it nice with water front restaurants.We saw security guards as well.We we’re cautioned about not going off beyond the main area.Since you reach a little after midnight,it was definitely helpful not to wake up early and leave for the flight to Baltra.Isabela is an old ship;Tauck could update their ship !
Metropolitan Touring, the self-proclaimed #1 Destination Management Company in South America, owns and manages the Isabela II (as well as providing the guides for Peru and Machu Picchu and the Naturalists for the Galapagos. Metropolitan has other expedition ships, including the Santa Cruz II which has about double the capacity of the Isabella and used for Tauck's Galapagos: Wildlife Wonderland.
I don't know if Metropolitan has plans to rehab or replace the Isabela II, but if you want one of the other ships (Santa Cruz II or Silver Origin) choose the appropriate tour.
The Silver Origin is a very nice ship, if you choose to go that way. It was designed specifically for use in the Galapagos and it's maiden voyage was just a year or so ago - so it fairly new.
Thank you to all for your comments and suggestions. We are NOT doing the combined tour because of the elevation at Machu Picchu and the travel times to and from. There was also a question as to whether or not we would need yellow fever vaccines going into Ecuador from Peru on that tour. We have no interest in getting yellow fever vaccines- rabies, cholera, all of the rest are fine, but we are both over 60 and have reason to risk the possible side effects.
Typo - NO reason to risk the possible side effects.
There are many of us who have long-since said good by to our 60's and have had the yellow fever shot. Not having the yellow fever shot may limit your ability to take any of Tauck's fantastic Africa trips in the future. I would check with your doctor or a travel doc before you decide to forego the YF shot.
Here is a link to one of the better short articles about the YF vaccine for older people: www.nathnacyfzone.org.uk/factsheet/20/individuals-aged-60-years-and-older
When we went to SA,Botswana and Zambia in 17,both of us got an exemption certificate for yellow fever and took it with our vaccination records.No one looked at it or asked for it.Not sure the yellow fever issue is a much ado about nothing!
South Africa, for example, only requires the yellow fever vacination for people coming from an area of yellow fever prevalence. I expect there's a list of those countries but didn't look into it in detail. I know they do not require yellow fever vaccination for people coming from the US or Europe.
I did ask about the cost of the vaccine locally and it was over $300/person. Pretty steep, in my opinion. I had the vaccine years ago when I was in the military and went to Vietnam, but I don't have my shot records from that time.
You can say that all entry/exit requirements are "much ado about nothing" if nobody checks. BUT as soon as somebody does check and you aren't prepared to provide the required documentation then it wouldn't be 'much ado about nothing'.
I'm in the camp of being prepared to provide all required documentation just in case they ask for it. If they don't, no big deal.
When we took the Botswana tour a few years ago, the officials got onto the bus as we crossed into Botswana and wanted to see everyone’s certificates. Everyone had one, so I don’t know what would have happened.
The risk of contracting Yellow fever may be low, but if a country requires proof of vaccine, you risk not being able to enter the country. A grumpy border agent may of course not accept an exemption letter. Tauck makes it clear in all their documents that they are not responsible if you do not have the correct paperwork to prove vaccination. The decision is up to you of course. So many countries we visit require it.
I am all for being prepared !We we’re lucky that nobody looked at it. The exemption letter with a physician signature from a vaccination clinic would be hard to be passed up.
Many foreign border officers are unpredictable, you can’t guarantee that.
@British - Your comment about vaccine certificates and Botswana - What vaccinations were required on those certificates? Was that for Yellow Fever?
In 2019, as we entered Kenya from Tanzania, we had to produce our yellow fever certificate to the local officials prior to entering the ‘airport’, a couple was ahead of me and they had exemption papers. They were directed to another area - I don’t know the outcome. Suffice it to say, I found it was better to have the papers and vaccines required by the country of entry rather than to hold up the group trying to challenge the rules.
Here's a map from the CDC about yellow fever and the need for vaccinations.
https://www.cdc.gov/yellowfever/maps/africa.html
The CDC and the State Department have good information about necessary vaccinations for different countries. Here are the links for Botswana:
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/botswana?s_cid=ncezid-dgmq-travel-single-001
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Botswana.html
Mike, I was talking about the Yellow fever card, which of course is yellow. We leave it in our passport case, also in there now are our Covid certificates. We carry duplicates around with us protected by plastic sleeves. We received our fifth Covid vaccine on Monday night, not even a sore arm.
Mother of Poodles, read up all you can about the Yellow fever vaccine on official websites such as CDC and the manufacturer. It’s risks are minute, far less than say the Covid vaccine. Drs are cautious to cover there own backs. If you are going to be traveling to more exotic places in the future, I really would consider the Yellow fever vaccine, so many places require it. Personally, the thought of being sent home on arrival when I’ve paid something like $15,000, no way!
We went to a travel clinic before we did the Hidden Peru and Galapagos trip. They did not recommend the yellow fever shot. It was easy and we wanted to be safe. They also gave us altitude and Montezuma revenge meds to take with us in case we needed it.
Here's the CDC map for risk of Yellow Fever in South America. Looks like Machu Picchu is out of the risk area.
https://www.cdc.gov/yellowfever/maps/south_america.html
I have no idea about requirements for a yellow fever vaccine in Peru or Ecuador. but if the country requires it for entry, then that is what is important, it’s not whether there is a risk there.
No vaccines are required for either Peru or Ecuador. Here are the Department of State pages describing the requirements for the two countries.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Peru.html
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Ecuador.html
British and others: I am not in any way trying to deter anyone from getting the latest ‘omicron’ vaccine, but would like to ‘enlighten’ the expectations. We had the vaccines on the 20th and as with British had no reactions not even a sore arm … until eight days later. I became violently ill for seven hours …. Eloise was fine. I took two covid tests thinking maybe I had acquired covid before having the shot. Both were negative. I recovered in twenty four hours. My wife’s walking buddy is a nurse at our largest local hospital, and she has said that reactions to the ‘updated’ booster are far from uncommon. I would still get the shot again, but there may also be a down side that you have not read about.
We got the latest (#5) vaccination yesterday morning. Fine until night. Both of us experienced a sore arm and a brutal headache. I also had chills. Spent today home in my pajamas. Most I could eat was a few pieces of toast. Feeling much better now and certainly would get the vaccine again as needed.
In my personal research, I’ve found that people who get the Moderna have far more reactions than the Pfizer people do, plus they seem to be the people we know who have contracted Covid later, as I say, just my personal observation of people I know. In our county, at the start of the vaccinations, the original vaccine available was the Moderna one. We couldn’t get an appointment for love or money back then. Just as we finally secured them, Moderna supplies were hard to find so the county switched to Pfizer, so we got that one. At the time, we were made to wait four weeks for the second dose instead off three because ‘it was more convenient’ for them as they were were giving second doses of Moderna too. I was furious, wanting that second shot so badly so I could see my grandkids. Seems with research that a longer gap was better.
This is still travel related, flagger, hold your finger!
I had the bivalent Covid booster 2 weeks ago. I woke up the following morning with a low grade fever. It was gone by the evening. Out of the 5 Covid vaxes I had, this was only the second with side effects. All 5 were Moderna, which studies have shown to be more effective than Pfizer.