I just won a trip to the Galapagos Islands - any advice?

As you may know, I enter every contest known to man. I listed some of my winnings in an earlier post. I saw a contest on Facebook last week that was open only to residents of around thirty or forty counties in the U.S. I wasn't eligible to enter, but my son and daughter, who attend college in California, were eligible. I e-mailed them and told them to enter and explained that, because it wasn't advertised and it was available to very few people, it was probably the easiest contest that I've ever seen in all of my years of entering contests. Anyway, to make a long story short, my son called me a little while ago and told me that he had won the contest, TWO ROUNDTRIP TICKETS TO THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, which means that I'm going with him!

We don't know all the details yet, but we may choose to fly into the Galapagos and out of a different location, if possible.

Since I've never been to the Galapagos Islands, I would like some advice from the many knowledgeable community members here. Is May a good time to go? Any recommendations on where to stay? Which cruise company do you recommend? How long should we go for? Any information would be much appreciated.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by thepiranha

As you may know, I enter every contest known to man. I listed some of my winnings in an earlier post. I saw a contest on Facebook last week that was open only to residents of around thirty or forty counties in the U.S. I wasn't eligible to enter, but my son and daughter, who attend college in California, were eligible. I e-mailed them and told them to enter and explained that, because it wasn't advertised and it was available to very few people, it was probably the easiest contest that I've ever seen in all of my years of entering contests. Anyway, to make a long story short, my son called me a little while ago and told me that he had won the contest, TWO ROUNDTRIP TICKETS TO THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, which means that I'm going with him!

We don't know all the details yet, but we may choose to fly into the Galapagos and out of a different location, if possible.

Since I've never been to the Galapagos Islands, I would like some advice from the many knowledgeable community members here. Is May a good time to go? Any recommendations on where to stay? Which cruise company do you recommend? How long should we go for? Any information would be much appreciated.

---

WOW--another win!! Congratulations; sounds like a great prize! You are one lucky B_____d! (I think that means "basketball dad")

Congratulations, you sure are lucky. I try to enter some of the contests, but I have never won anything...
As far as info on the Galapagos Islands goes, I think bonniejoy is going there shortly. She might have the best info for you.
Happy travels!

Hi P...we are going to The Galapagos in March. We are using Haugen Cruise company and the Cormorant Boat. We wanted a smaller boat with cabin balconies. I think our boat is a 16 passenger ship. We are working with Happy Gringo to coordinate our trip. We are flying into and out of Guayaquil. Most people use Quito.

Bonniejoy, was there a reason why you chose those companies over other companies? There are a lot of options and I would like to whittle them down, if possible :). Thanks!

We narrowed it down to a very small boat, small group, balcony off room, and fair prices. We contacted Happy Gringo after doing a lot of research. We didn't need the big boat experience. We also narrowed down our location. We wanted to go west in the Galapagos-most big boats don't go there. So, with the proper itinerary, size boat, and price, we came up with The Cormorant.

Thanks for the advice :).