Ecuador & Galápagos 2026: Volcanoes, Rainforest and Giant Tortoises
Andrew, Debra, Sam & Lilly — 24 June to 13 July
Three weeks, four of us, and a country that somehow packs the Andes, the Amazon and the Galápagos into one trip. Here's how it went, region by region.
[PHOTO: family at the airport / departure shot]
Quito — 25–26 June
We landed late, so our first night at the Quito Condo on Junín 107 was a quick unpack-and-collapse. It turned out to be a fantastic three-bedroom base for the next couple of days — and only once we were up and about did we discover the neighbourhood properly: little bodegas dotted along the street and a string of good restaurants, including a brilliant breakfast spot in a beautiful old building (a fruit-themed name we're still trying to remember).
[PHOTO: the condo / Junín street]
Old Town was the highlight. Our guide Daniel took us on a walking tour starting at the Basilica — pope-mobile parked round the back — where we learned that the Pope is called "Papa," which also happens to mean potato. From there it turned into a proper food crawl: empanadas and local sweets, coffee, a liqueur tasting, and then a stop where we ground our own coffee beans and did a pour-over. The finale was a chocolate tasting, working up from 100% cacao through the percentages while trying to guess the flavours.
[PHOTO: walking tour / chocolate tasting]
Purely by luck, we were out in the city the moment Ecuador won their World Cup match — the whole of Quito erupted in cheering. Wrong place, right time.
[PHOTO: street celebration]
We also did a cooking class, joined by one other guest — Christine, a retired financier now deep into non-profit work — which made for good company as much as good food.
[PHOTO: cooking class]
Otavalo Day Trip — 26 June
A day trip out from Quito with Santiago as our guide, who turned out to be brilliant throughout — genuinely looking out for us and shaping the day around what we wanted to see.
First stop was the equator monument, with excellent explanations of the science behind it. We took turns hopping back and forth across the line and got the obligatory screenshot of the iPhone compass reading 0.0, 0. On the way there, we also stopped at a lovely local bakery, Biscoth (not to be confused with biscotti, though similar in spirit).
[PHOTO: equator monument / compass screenshot]
Then on to Otavalo market itself — a mix of genuine local craftsmanship and the usual tourist-market filler, but we dug around and found a few good pieces. I came home with a bone ring and a small stone-carved face. A properly fun day out.
[PHOTO: Otavalo market stalls]
Cotopaxi & Baños — 27–28 June
We based ourselves at La Floresta Hotel in Baños — a great choice, with roomier "border" rooms, the kids on their own floor above us. Breakfast was included, and on our first night Debra stayed back to rest while the rest of us went for Italian at a place called Ricca-something-or-other.
[PHOTO: La Floresta Hotel]
Cotopaxi itself was the story of the day. At around 4,500 metres the altitude had me panting almost immediately, and it was blowing a genuine gale — something like 30km/h winds. It was bad enough that Sam and Debra took one step out of the car, decided against it, and got straight back in. Lilly, Santiago and I made it across the car park and maybe a quarter of a mile further before turning back, watching at least two hats go cartwheeling across the tarmac as we went. We retreated down to a nearby lake instead, where the wind eased off and we all got a much gentler walk in together.
[PHOTO: Cotopaxi / windswept car park] [PHOTO: the lake walk]
Baños delivered on its reputation too — the town, the waterfalls, and a zip-line that was exciting enough that filming it was as much as I could manage.
[PHOTO: Baños waterfall / zip-line]
The Amazon — 29 June – 1 July
Our base here was the Hamadryade Lodge in Puerto Misahualí — genuinely one of the trip's wow moments. Glass-fronted, luxury cabin-style accommodation with air conditioning and a spectacular glass shower and bathroom, positioned so well that you could barely see the next cabin. It felt properly isolated, in the best way.
[PHOTO: Hamadryade Lodge cabin]
We'd planned to go white-water rafting on the Jatunyacu River but changed course for a more sedate boat trip instead — a good call in hindsight. The indigenous community visit was a real highlight, arranged through raftamazonia.com.
[PHOTO: Jatunyacu river / community visit]
That evening we put on our Ecuador shirts to watch the game against Mexico — with one memorable hiccup: the bathroom was closed off because of a venomous snake, discovered just after Debra had been in there. Timing.
[PHOTO: watching the match]
We'd hoped to finish with Papallacta's hot springs and a nearby cave, but heavy rain closed both. We made do exploring the Daytos caves instead — worth looking up the connection to Neil Armstrong, of all people.
[PHOTO: Papallacta / Daytos caves]
Galápagos Cruise — 3–8 July
Aboard the Cachalote Explorer with Enchanted Expeditions, guided throughout by Darwin — appropriately named, and excellent at his job.
We joined the boat via Isabela, having spent one night at a hotel on the water where pink flamingos gathered. Up early, we dropped our big suitcases at the hotel we'd return to after the cruise, met the group and Darwin at the dock, and handed off our smaller bags before boarding an open bus for the day. First stop was a giant tortoise breeding centre, then up to a volcano where we hiked down into the caldera — an otherworldly, moon-like landscape, fumaroles smoking away and ringed in bright yellow sulphur crystals close enough to feel the heat off them. After the long walk back out — briefly up in the clouds — and the drive back down, we took a small boat out to the Cachalote Explorer itself for dinner and our first night aboard. The rest of the group had already had two nights on the boat, having explored Santa Cruz island before we joined.
[PHOTO: tortoise breeding centre] [PHOTO: volcano caldera / sulphur fumaroles] [PHOTO: boarding the Cachalote Explorer]
Twelve of us in total made up the group: the four of us, two American women travelling together as friends, a Danish family with three adult children, and a Swede travelling solo. Each morning Darwin sketched out the day's plan — usually at least one snorkel, sometimes two, plus an island hike, always back aboard for lunch after a 7am breakfast, with a snack after each outing and dinner to finish. We were extremely well looked after.
[PHOTO: Darwin's daily itinerary sketch] [PHOTO: group photo aboard]
The wildlife highlight came on 5 July: out photographing the stars and the Milky Way, we heard a blow hole and caught a dark shape and a flipper moving in the water nearby — almost certainly a dolphin. We also kayaked in and around the mangroves, spotting penguins, turtles and rays moving in formation.
[PHOTO: night sky / Milky Way] [PHOTO: kayaking the mangroves] [PHOTO: penguins / turtles / rays]
The snorkelling throughout was hard to single out — there was simply too much of it, all good. But the single moment that will stay with us: a completely clear view of the Milky Way and shooting stars overhead, out on the water, away from any light.
[PHOTO: snorkelling montage]
Isabela Island — 8–12 July
Back on dry land at La Casa de Marita, right on the beach.
Getting there, on the other hand, was a genuine ordeal — a so-called "ferry" that bounced us clean out of our seats every three minutes for a solid two hours. One night's stay was enough before we boarded for the six-day cruise, and we returned afterwards for four nights of proper relaxation.
[PHOTO: La Casa de Marita / beach view]
Isabela's real charm turned out to be low-key: we became regulars at a local bar with a big screen and cold beer, catching a good number of World Cup matches with the locals.
[PHOTO: World Cup at the local bar]
Getting Home
The journey back was long — 36 hours door to door — but well planned enough that it never felt chaotic: ferry to Santa Cruz, taxi, a small boat over to the airport island, then a bus up to the airport itself, followed by a two-stage flight to Quito with a stop at a coastal town along the way. We'd cleverly booked a few hours at the airport hotel — just five hours, but worth every minute for a shower, a nap and dinner before walking across the skyway to the terminal. From there it was Miami, then Chicago (with a two-hour delay for mechanical issues), but given we'd been travelling for a day and a half, it all held together remarkably well.
[PHOTO: airport hotel / departure]
Looking Back
It's hard to point to one single biggest surprise — the whole three weeks was a steady stream of fun and new experiences rather than one standout moment. If there's a thread running through it, it's this: with Lilly heading off to university in the UK soon, this trip together as a family is one we'll all hold onto — especially the two of them, Lilly and Sam.
For the kids, it'll probably be remembered as much for the pace as anything else — how busy it was, and just how much everyone appreciated those four final days of beach and doing nothing much at all on Isabela.
[PHOTO: final family photo]
More photos and videos to follow — this covers the highlights, but there's a lot we only caught on film.
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