Isabela is the largest Galapagos island by size but not by population. Santa Cruz is roughly 380 square miles but is home to over 18,000 people.  In comparison, Isabela is over 1,770 square miles but only has a population of about 2,200. The overwhelming majority of the island’s residents live in the town of Puerto Villamil. The port town is small and laid-back, which made it a perfect place for us to base our trip. We spent 5 days on the island and appreciated the chance to slow down and relax after our active days. While there is a small …

When traveling internationally with kids, you are bound to have some uncomfortable moments. Our most notable one to date had been a nerve-racking border crossing from Belize to Guatemala and an equally nerve-racking drive back to the border when our driver stopped to pick up a mystery package hidden on the side of the road. If you’re lucky, you get through those moments safely and they become part of a great story that your kids will tell their kids one day. We added another one of those moments to our family travel history on our day tour to Los Tuneles …

We knew that our hotel on Isabela, Iguana Crossing, was within walking distance of town and had an amazing beach view. When we got there we discovered that it is also adjacent to a Flamingo Lagoon. When I think of the famous birds and wildlife of the Galapagos, flamingos aren’t the first things that pop into my mind. But I was excited to learn that they live on the islands and that we would have the chance to see them right in our own backyard. (We had opted out of doing this with our tour guide as part of the …

Located on southeastern Isabela Island, Sierra Negra is one of the largest and most active volcanoes on the Galapagos. Like the other volcanoes on Isabela, Sierra Negra is a shield volcano featuring a low profile, a wide opening, and gently sloping sides. Its caldera measures more than 6 miles in diameter, making it the second largest in the world. It has erupted 9 times since 1900, with the most recent eruption in 2018. As part of the package through Iguana Crossing, we had a private tour of Sierra Negra. Our guide and a driver picked us up at the hotel …

After our morning tour to Las Tintoreras, we went back to Iguana Crossing for lunch and then were picked up for our afternoon tour, a guided bike ride to the Wall of Tears. We were picked up and driven to a bike shop in town where we were outfitted with bikes and helmets to start our next adventure. The entrance to the trail to the Wall of Tears was just past our hotel so we actually doubled back to where we started. We rode through town down the (paved but covered with dirt) main street and past our hotel. We headed …

Our first tour in the Galapagos was the half day tour to Las Tintoreras from Puerto Villamil, Isabela. This tour involved a (thankfully!) short boat ride, a walk and a snorkeling stop and lasted approximately 3 hours. It was a great introduction to the unique landscape and wildlife of the islands. We were picked up from our hotel and driven to the pier where we boarded a small boat with about 6 other tourists. I was admittedly nervous about getting on a boat again after the horrible ride from Santa Cruz the day before. I was somehow simultaneously relieved and …

This seems like a theme in the “logistics” section of this trip but I was stressed about the inter-island ferries too. While my stress over the pre-travel and day-of-travel requirements turned out to be unfounded and the stress of the Baltra to Puerto Ayora transfer was minimized by our driver from book-ec, the ferries turned out to be every bit as stressful as I feared. Our driver was wonderful and helpful but spoke limited English (and we spoke even more limited Spanish). He pointed out some restaurants for lunch as we drove through town but when he dropped us off …

To get to the Galapagos Islands, you can fly into either San Cristobal or Santa Cruz (Baltra Airport). The San Cristobal airport has the advantage of being closer to the main town on the island, whereas the journey from the Baltra Airport to Puerto Ayora in Santa Cruz requires a bus, ferry, and taxi. Despite this, we thought Santa Cruz was more central to the activities we were interested in and provided direct access Isabela so we opted to fly into Baltra. Like many small airports, there are no jetways from the planes to the gate. When you arrive, you exit …

Even in normal (non-pandemic) times, the Galapagos is a difficult destination to get to. In addition to its far-flung location, there are unique entry requirements that were put in place to help preserve the fragile ecosystem there. Throw in a global pandemic and covid testing requirements and the trip becomes even more daunting. Permanent (non-pandemic related) requirements include a special baggage screening, the purchase of a Transit Control Card, and payment of a National Park Entrance fee. A lot of articles I read about these requirements made it sound overly complicated so I was a little stressed about it, but it …