Gabriela at galapagosislands.com put together a great itinerary for us that included a yacht cruise of the Galapagos Islands aboard the Natural Paradise, Quito, Cotopaxi Volcano, and the Napo river aboard the Manatee.

You can read about all the destinations elsewhere - I'm going to focus on Gabriela and her service.

We have never relied on an agent or company to arrange our travel. However, when looking into Galapagos we were overwhelmed by the variety of ways to visit. Further, we wanted to do more than just Galapagos while we were in Ecuador.

We inquired at quite a few agencies, both foreign and domestic. One of those agencies was Galapagosislands.com. By far they were the most responsive, and being "on the ground" in Ecuador, they were the most knowledgeable.

Gabriela quickly put together a number of options for us, taking into account our travel preferences and prejudices, and worked hard to get us a very good price for the quality of visit we were looking for.

We booked months in advance, and by the time it came to travel, the unrest had happened in Quito. Having traveled extensively over the years, we booked our Quito flight three days before our yacht embarked, "just in case". Well, our flight was cancelled due to the unrest. Gabriela communicated with us continuously to keep us update on the situation "on the ground", telling us to get to Guayaquil from the USA instead. On the next day, we tried to get on the Guayaquil flight, but it was fully booked. The Quito flight was cancelled again. The airline put us on the Guayaquil flight for the next (and final) day - putting us in Guayaquil about 8 hours before our flight to Baltra to meet the ship. Close call. Gabriela got us a room at the Hilton near the airport so we wouldn't be stranded waiting for our next flight. She kept in touch continuously. Once we were on the yacht, we just "let it all go", confident once we returned to the mainland, Gabriela would be on top of things in the event any other changes needed to be made due to the political situation. Luckily, the unrest subsided and the whole trip went like clockwork.

When problems happen, that's the real test of an agent. Anyone can book stuff if all goes smoothly!

Should we ever return to Galapagos or Ecuador (and we might!), I wouldn't consider booking with anyone else. Likewise, I've told all our friends they don't even need to shop around. Just go to galapagosislands.com and ask for Gabriela!

Our trip to the Galápagos Islands was full of adventures. Snorkeling and hikes everyday. The guide was excellent, knowledgeable about every aspect of the Islands, animals and history. The small boat (max 16 passengers) was very well keep and the crew members where great. Only item to improve on would be a better food selection but, we did choose a price minded package. We would highly recommend this trip.

eliabeth took care of our trip
Galapagos Quito and the amazon.
it was one to remember for many years .
thank you for a wonderful trip