Puerto Ayora Tours & Trips

My friend and I made a last minute decision to head to the Galapagos and found Tour Radar to coordinate our trip. It was fantastic! It was certainly helpful to have insider knowledge since we had little time to do our own research. When we did have questions (and we did pretty much every day!) I have to give tremendous credit to Tour Radar’s local contact, Jeferson Paucar at Responsible Travel. I don’t think he is ever away from his work because he always immediately answered my DM’s no matter what time of day or night. He was outstanding. As for the trip itself, Galapagos is just magical. Isabela was our favorite island due to its smaller town size, beautiful beaches and friendly vibe. Snorkeling was incredibly amazing with the clearest water. We did the 6 hour Sierra Negra volcano hike. The hike up and back is a bit of a grind, but the enormity of the caldera and the hike down the other side into the lava flow area is amazing. Please bring LOTS of water and some bars. It is described as a 6 hour hike and it is just that. As an avid trail runner and hiker, I was expecting a lot of stopping along the way and thought I might feel slowed down. That was definitely not the case!

For people reading this and thinking about going to the Galapagos - just do it! It's simply a staggering place! The hotel (and I think tour operator) was Galapagos dreams who operate locally in the Galapagos. As regarding the tour it was a well organized series of day trips, with one over night stay, not a conventional tour with a group experience - which suited me better personally. The staff and guides were really nice and helpful. The Itinerary was very good, covering a solid amount different activities. I did enjoy talking to some of the local guides, their passion for the Galapagos islands and their conservation was really great to be around. The only poor value was the single £284 for a 'single person supplement', £84 more than it cost me to rent a 2 bed/ 2 bathroom apartment for 7 days after the tour.

My sister and I had dreamed of taking this trip for a long time, and coordinating the dates and sorting out all our questions felt overwhelming at first. But our rep for the Natural Paradise came through on everything, tours, airport pick-ups and even accommodating my new vegetarian diet. Not a single thing was an issue, and it turned into the most memorable sisters’ trip, with everything on our list: beaches, hikes, huge lizards, and amazing food!