Here’s the plan for the April, 2008 trip.

Arrival - you will be met at the airport and transferred to Cafe Cultura, our hotel. Dinner is on your own, although many of us will be arriving just in time to fall into bed. There are a number of nice restaurants not far from the hotel. Turn right out of the hotel, left on the first street and just keep walking and a variety of restaurnts will appear in the next 2-8 blocks. The hotel restaurant serves dinner as well.

Wed. City Tour. The bus and guide will pick us up at the hotel. This will include areas of historical interest, plazas, churches, museums, etc., plus a visit to Mitad del Mundo (”middle of the earth”), a monument at the equator with a fascinating ethnological museum about Ecuador’s indiginous population. A high point will be a marvelous gourmet lunch at Theatrum, said by some guide books to be serving the best food in Quito. Overnight Cafe Cultura.

Thursday After breakfast, drive to the CLOUD FOREST, on the way to the coast. Arrive in MINDO aprox. 10:30 and visit the MARIPOSARIO (a butterfly farm), with a large variety of butterflies and hummingbirds. The guide will direct us to a good lunch spot (price not included). On the way back visit an archeological place, TULIPE, where we can appreciate LA PISCINA DEL YUMBO. Yumbos is an aboriginal culture with many years of history. Return to Quito. Unfortunately the Cafe Cultura is fully booked that night, so Monica has found us rooms at Hotel Antinea, which looks pretty nice from its website. ( www.hotelantinea.com)

Friday, leave after breakfast for CALDERON, to see the masapan figures. Then drive to GUALLABAMBA to taste chirimoya, a delicious fruit typical of this region. Continue on to a very different Mitad del Mundo but stop on the way to Cayambe to taste dulce de leche and queso de hoja y viscochos. Then to Pto Lago in time for lunch at HACIENDA PINSAQUI. Continue on to San Antonio de Ibarra and Peguche waterfalls. Ovenight at Puerto Lago hotel, right on the shore of the lake (dinner included). (www.puertolago.com.)

Saturday, Up at 05:30 and drive to the ANIMAL MARKET, where the indigenous people trade a variety of animals, including cows, horses, lambs, pigs, etc. Then, after breakfast we visit the huge craft market at MERCADO DE PONCHOS where we will stay about 2 hours. (The guide books recommend getting there early before the tourist buses arrive from Quito.) Next on to COTACAHI for lunch, then drive to COTACACHI -CAYAPAS ecological reserve to see the lagoon and the volcano. Back to Quito and Cafe Cultura for the night.

Sunday - pickup at hotel, transport to airport for flight to Galapagos. We go through immigration where we pay our $100 each (cash American dollars) entrance fee and a new $10 transit fee (neither fee included in trip price). Then bus to the harbor where we board the Nemo II, our own private catamaran for the week. I’ve copied and pasted the itinerary below.

Sunday: Arrival to the airport in Baltra Island - visit to Bachas Beach

Monday: Visit to Bartholomew Island and Sombrero Chino in the afternoon

Tuesday: In the morning visit to Breeding center in Isabela Island - in the afternoon visit to Tintoreras Lagoon

Wednesday: Arrival to Floreana Island, in the morning visit to Post Office Bay and in the afternoon visit to Punta Cormorant

Thursday: Arrival to Espanola Island, in the morning visit to Gardner Bay and in the afternoon visit to Punta Suarez

Friday: In the morning visit to Santa Fe Island and in the afternoon visit to Charles Darwin Station in Puerto Ayora (Santa Cruz Island)

Saturday: In the morning visit to South Plazas Island and in the afternoon visit to North Seymour Island

Sunday: In the morning visit to Caleta Tortuga and transfer to the airport in Baltra.

April 27 return to Quito, airport pickup and transport to Cafe Cultura for another night.

April 28 - depart Quito for home. The guidebooks talk about a $25 each departure tax payable in cash at the airport, but last year we discovered it had been included in the ticket price. Best keep $25 in reserve, just in case.

For those of you who would like a map outlining our route, I found one at http://www.eqtouring.com/pages/nemoII.html#

Boat life: One of the reasons for choosing the Nemo II is that as a catamaran it is more roomy and stable than the typical Galapagos boat, but it is still a boat and will seem cramped compared to hotel rooms. All have private toilets and tiny shower. For those of you who want to see the outline of the boat, I found one at http://www.southernexplorations.com/galapagos-BoatNemoII.htm (but the pictures are of Nemo I.)

A typical day starts with breakfast, then off for the morning tour. Occasionally we had coffee and a snack then an early morning tour, followed by breakfast if we wanted to “beat the rush” at popular sites. Lunch is back on the boat, followed by siesta while the boat travels to the next spot. The afternoon walk is at a different area. Dinner is on the boat, followed by whatever evening entertainment we care to provide. The guide will outline the plans for the next day. During the night, the motors start up and the boat travels to the next island for next day’s tour. We usually snorkeled late morning and again mid-afternoon for an hour or so, but there were times the water was too choppy and we couldn’t. Diving may be available at an extra cost.

All food and drinks are provided on the boat, and are tasty and plentiful. (It will take a lot of restraint not to gain weight on this trip!) Drinking water is free, constantly available, and is the only food/beverage you can take with you on the island excursions. Sodas, beer, and wine are available for purchase on the boat - honor system. You can bring your own wine purchased in Quito and on the Friday shore excursion there are several wine shops if you want to expand your options beyond the boat’s obviously limited “wine cellar”.

Evenings are pretty much up to us and I expect for most of us it will be early to bed. They have a CD player and DVD with TV on board. We can bring our own CDs and DVDs. I’ll bring some cards–I believe there are some bridge players among us???

Those of you who have travelled with me before know that I generally pack a lot of activities into each day and there is not a lot of “down” time. This trip is different. There is a lot of time to just relax on the boat. Last year I mentally looked at the boat as just the means of getting us from one activity to another. This time I’m looking at the trip as a peaceful time on the boat, with some fascinating activities to liven up each day. I realized that people pay good money to just cruise on a yacht for a week–and we get to enjoy that experience, PLUS see all the animals, fish, birds, etc.!!! So plan on relaxing. One thing the Nemo II lacks is really comfortable “hang out” space. The trampoline between the hulls at the bow is soft, but in direct sun most of the time. The upper deck is nicely shaded and has some wooden chairs, but we often just lounged on the deck, which got a bit hard after a while. One thing to consider bringing would be a short foam mat, or a little air mattress, just to make the deck a bit softer for our butts (not that most of us don’t have enough padding there already!).

Electricity on the boat and in Ecuador is 110 v., the same as the US.

The dress code is VERY CASUAL with T-shirts, shorts, bare feet or sandals on the boat, and one pair of long pants and a windbreaker for cool evenings. (The only black ties you’ll see are on the penguins and the steward when he dresses up.) There are no laundry facilities. Fresh water is limited so washing clothing is discouraged. They don’t want sand from the shore brought on the boat, so you’ll be asked to remove your excursion footware while on the boat.

There will be lots of time for snorkeling and that is one of the highlights–seing the tropical fish, the sea lions, turtles, etc. Even if you’ve never snorkeled before, you’ll want to try it. Snorkeling gear is provided on the boat at no charge. You can bring your own if you wish, especially if you have prescription goggles. Because of the Humboldt current coming up from Antarctica, the water is surprisingly cold (75-80 degrees). I didn’t have any problem with the cold, but if you chill easily you might want to bring a “shorty wet suit”, which is one piece, 3 mm. in thickness, and covers only the upper arms and legs. I don’t know if any of you are into diving, but if you are, the Nemo II has diving equipment available for rent. I understand that with an extra payment (it was $75) one can do an introductory dive with no previous training or certifcation, and I plan to give it a try.

The twice daily expeditions are via the “panga”, a rubberized dinghy and are led by our guide/naturalist. I’ve been promised that Juan Carlos, who was our guide last year will again guide us. He is great!!! None of the walks are very strenuous and they typically last 1-2 hours. WE MUST STAY ON THE TRAILS AND STAY WITH THE GROUP! Some landings are “wet”, ie we jump overboard into waist deep water and wade ashore. Others are “dry”, i.e. bumping up against a rock or pier and clambering out. Some trails are over rough lava, which can be quite sharp. TEVAs make excellent footware as they can get wet and provide good solid soles to protect against sharp edges. Old sneakers or walking shoes can also work, although they will get wet on wet landings. You’ll want a day pack for camera, a folding umbrella, sun screen, etc.

It should be a great trip!!!