Day 1: Arrival in Bogotá
After an 11 hour flight from Amsterdam with KLM, we landed in the bustling city of Bogotá. We checked in at our hotel, and after a brief rest, we strolled through town for food, before we headed to bed. The next morning we had to leave at 04:00 AM for the airport.
Next stop: Galápagos Islands – Ecuador
We flew with Avianca via Guayaquil to Isla Baltra. The small island next to Santa Cruz. A bus will bring you to the ferry (5 dollar), which only takes about 10 minutes to cross the ocean to the main island. The ferry costs 1 dollar. With a bit of luck you’ve spotted some big Iguana’s and flying Galapagos Rays already! From there on you can take a taxi (45 dollar for 5 persons) which will take you to the only main town on the island, Puerto Ayora. Via booking it is very easy to book your hotel and navigation on the island is very easy.
Don’t forget that the fee to enter the islands has been raised since October 1st 2024 and you now have to pay 200,- dollars to enter the islands.
Isla Santa Cruz: Highlights
On the Galapagos island you don’t have to look for the wildlife. Everywhere you go you find sea lions chilling on benches, big Iguana’s taking a nap or even big sea turtles and sharks at the shore. Our highlights on Santa Cruz where the following:
- Playa Tortuga Bay: A stunning beach reached via a 3-kilometer walking trail. Here, we snorkeled with and spotted a lot of white tip reef sharks, some stingrays, sea lions and different kind of fish.
- Charles Darwin Station: An educational stop where we learned more about the unique flora and fauna of the islands.
- Playa Los Alemanes & Las Grietas: A short water taxi ride brought us to these idyllic spots, perfect for swimming and enjoying the crystal-clear waters.
- Giant Tortoise Reserve (Rancho Primicias): We marveled at the giant tortoises in their natural habitat—a truly unique experience!
Isla Isabela: Natural Wonders
To go from isla Santa Cruz to Isla Isabela you can very easily book a boat online or at the towns centre. The boats leave daily at 07:00 AM and 03:00 PM and it takes 2 hours to arrive. The costs of the ferry where 30,- dollars, the water taxi to bring you to the ferry 1 dollar. Since I get seasick easily they adviced us to take the morning boat because the ocean is calmer in the morning. I still advice to take something for seasickness since the boat ride was still quite rough.
When arriving on the island you have to pay a port tax, which is around 10 dollars. Since it is a very short distance to the main town, we walked with our backpacks from the ferry to our hotel but it is also possible to get a taxi.
There is only one ATM on the island and we where quit short on cash, but this one isn’t always working so make sure you bring enough cash when visiting Isabela! All the supermarkets and restaurants we’ve visited did not take cards for payment. This forced us to only eat ‘menu del dia’s’ while on Isabela and I would not really recommend this, at least when you’re not into chicken soup with half of the chicken still in. We were able to bank transfer money to one small booking company near the beach, so we could book a trip, but this was only because this place had Starlink internet. The fact that there was little to no internet on Isabela gave it a real off the grid vibe which I really liked. After checking the ATM for at least 3 times, the connection was back on and we were able to get cash.
- Concha de Perla: Free snorkeling with sea lions in the early morning was unforgettable.
- Biking to El Muro de Las Lágrimas: A sporty day filled with lookout points and beaches, culminating at El Estero.
- Sierra Negra: A breathtaking hike to the volcano crater (16km). We booked this together with the tinoreras islet trip and the total was around 80,- dollars including lunch.
- Tintoreras Islet: Exploring by boat and snorkeling led to more penguin sightings, blue footed boobies, black tip reaf sharks, giant turtles and sea lions. We even spotted a pinguin!
Isla San Cristóbal: Adventure and Relaxation
San Cristobal does not have a direct boat connection from Isla Isabela. You first have to take the boat back to Santa Cruz from where you need to take the next boat to San Cristobal. Since I was a bit seasick the first time and heard someone say that there was supposed to be a small airport on Isabela with private planes I did some research and found out you can fly directly from Isabela to Cristobal. As far as I could find you had two companies who fly to Cristobal, Emetebe which said our flight would cost 7000,- dollars and Esav air for only 130,- dollars. I wanted to book via their website, but could only fill in 4 names, so I just sended a whatsapp to the phone number on the website and they arranged an extra plane for us so we could fly with al 5. It was a 6 person piper plane and one of the best experiences during our trip! We did have to pay some extra because we had big backpacks, but the 180,- dollars in total was really worth it. The airport alone on Isabela was an experience since there are no regular commercial flights going from there. The flight took approximately 40 minutes so even when you’re not really into inimini tiny small planes it is okay!
In my opinion Cristobal was the most touristic island of the 3 we’ve visited. And by most touristic I don’t mean that it’s crowded, the other islands where just more laid back and less developed.
Playa mann is the best spot to come to every evening to watch the sunset together with around 60 sea lions. They just chill and play on the beach and the baby sea lions roam around you. Our other top tips:
- Kicker rock: booked a trip to the best snorkel spot I’ve ever visited. We saw hammerhead sharks, Galapagos sharks, Eagle rays and more.
- Playa Loberia: A walk from the village took us to this beach, where we snorkeled with turtles.
- Muelle Tijeretas: This park offered stunning viewpoints and secluded beaches where we snorkeled with baby sea lions and rays.
- Puerto Chino: A taxi ride brought us to this remote beach, home to blue-footed boobies. The perfect spot to unwind.
- Cerra Colorado: The tortoise reserve was full with all different sizes of turtles. But you won’t miss the turtles if you don’t go here, because they are everywhere!
On forehand, we booked a return ticket to Isla Baltra, but I would really recommend to book a flight to Baltra and leave the Galapagos from Cristobal. We had to book another boat back to Santa Cruz to take our flight back to Ecuador, but it was still good to come back to Puerto Ayora and stay there for our last night!
Bogotá
After ten days on the Galapagos, we flew back to Bogotá. A highlight was Monserrate, a mountain with panoramic views of the city, accessed by a scenic train ride. But since I’m not really into big city’s it was totally okay we only stayed one night there. From Bogota we flew with Wingo to Cartagena to have a few days left and enjoy the 30 degrees weather.
Tip: Origen Bistro is an amazing and affordable (European standards) spot for lunch and diner in Bogota.
Cartagena: Tropical Finale
We concluded our trip in Cartagena, where the historic city walls and the colorful streets of Getsemani captivated us. We enjoyed the best pizza at Di Silvio Trattoria and sipped cocktails at Plaza de Trinidad. After a few days of laid back chilling at the pool it was time to go back home.
