By Gina Storey
When you think about where in the world you would like to explore – where really appeals to your sense of adventure – a few places come to mind.
Antarctica, trekking with gorillas, and possibly the Galapagos come to my mind.
I recently had the opportunity to visit the Galapagos and I was enthralled – I could easily go back.
If ever you are flying across the Pacific from Sydney to Santiago make sure you book a window seat starboard side.
As you fly up the coast line of Chile you will have the Andes outside the window as you track north which is quite spectacular.
Quito, the high altitude capital city of Ecuador was a delight.
I stayed in the centre of the old town at the wonderful Casa Gangotena, an historic building overlooking San Francisco Plaza – one of the main squares in this Spanish colonial city.
Think cobble stone streets, narrow alleys and wide open plazas, Gothic style Spanish churches, boutique chocolate makers, music playing and being surrounded by high mountains.
A couple of days exploring and taking the obligatory photo straddling the Equator was fun.
Flying west to the Galapagos we were met and transferred to our small vessel which we would call home for a week.
A small ship is what you need to aim for here.
Ours took a maximum 16 however there were only 12 of us onboard.
This means when you land on the islands that you visit there are only a few of you exploring rather than the bigger vessels where perhaps 100 of you are landing at a time.
Bizarrely a fellow passenger from Boston knew Tamborine Mountain!
Our days were spent bare foot onboard the vessel, snorkelling and kayaking in pristine waters and hiking around small islands.
We would be off and exploring two or three times a day depending upon which island we were near. The wildlife was amazing – Blue Footed Boobies, turtles, sea lions, iguanas, giant tortoises roaming around, wonderfully coloured fish, a plethora of birdlife and we even saw Galapagos penguins. Amazing.
Contact Travelling Places for more information. P: 07 5545 1600 E: travel@travellingplaces.com.au
